So, you wanna try the PTR but

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

you don’t want to download and install another 50+ GB of data?
They made some changes to help out.

@Lore

We’re actually testing some new improvements that allow the client to share the majority of game data between installs, so you don’t need multiple copies of the entire game in order to test things on PTR.

To use this, you’ll need to be using the Beta version of the BattleNet app.
(Click the Blizzard logo in the upper left -> Settings -> Beta -> “Switch to Beta”). Then, when you install the PTR, it’ll only need to download about 2.5gb of data. Note that if you have the PTR already installed, you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall it to use this new tech.

Once it’s installed correctly, you’ll see a new folder called “ _ptr_ ” under your World of Warcraft folder, which should be MUCH smaller than a completely separate install.

[Dæmonjesùs-saurfang (Dæmonjesùs)]

And to be honest if people want a better game it really can’t hurt having more people there testing and giving specific feedback, either in game or on the forums. The communication isn’t great, but having more people do this increases the chances of being heard and influencing change.

Rather than the alternative of waiting and being surprised so many bugs get through or mechanics that don’t work.

[Licelmine-amanthul]

Imagine being an unpaid beta tester for a dead game, downloading 50gb so your feedback can go straight to paper shredder.

[Neirel-stormrage]

Thank you for this, sadly when buying a new house they lied about having decent internet speeds in the area. I got stuck with pretty slow internet and while I wanted to test things on the PTR my download speeds made that kinda annoying.

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

IMO, the post that Lore made in the PTR forum regarding this change should have had a linked blue post here in General as well.

[Kittredge-azjolnerub (Kittredge)]

I think a lot of people might be put off after the “they didn’t listen to feedback during the beta, fiasco”, even if it wasn’t true.

[Dæmonjesùs-saurfang (Dæmonjesùs)]

Not going o defend it as it is, but I do believe that the more that do it, the more chance we have as a community to make changes and be heard.
But as it stands the numbers aren’t there and some of the feedback resembles GD in many ways, people asking for individualized changes, like Ztroll warlocks for example, rather than game breaking stuff… maybe a bit too idealistic, but it should be a tool (like a carjack) that should be part of a players arsenal for improving the game overall.

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

Well, TBH, I treat the PTR as a way to help keep me (and others…there…I said it so I’m not that selfish) from running into stuff that just stops your progress cold. I don’t run through near enough of it to really make a difference, but what I usually do is to run through what I would actually be doing when the patch goes live.

[Fugubar-thrall (Fugubar)]

I just tried that. Uninstalled PTR from the launcher, selected Install, and it says it wants to install 59.6 GB to the original location. Started the install, and it recreated the PTR directory. No change.

[Fugubar-thrall (Fugubar)]

Thank you for this, sadly when buying a new house they lied about having decent internet speeds in the area. I got stuck with pretty slow internet and while I wanted to test things on the PTR my download speeds made that kinda annoying.

And that surprises me. Given how important Internet access is these days, it should be included in every real estate listing by default. I recently did some home shopping on Zillow, and there was nothing there. I had to find out what ISP’s were in the area, go to each of their sites and enter the address to see what they offered there.
It’s like going to buy a car only to find you have to get the maker’s full bill of materials to see what engine it comes with.

[Carissaria-aggramar]

they lied about having decent internet speeds in the area

So true

[Neirel-stormrage]

Yeah I was told I could get around 18GB here but after I moved I found out it was only like 3GB. its a little different in my situation as I moved into a holler (the land between two mountains so I can understand but it still sucks, at least the land is great but bad internet…

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

I just tried that. Uninstalled PTR from the launcher, selected Install, and it says it wants to install 59.6 GB to the original location. Started the install, and it recreated the PTR directory. No change.

Did you do the part where it says you need to change the launcher to the beta version first?

[Chalabha-area-52]

Awesome worked great for me.

[Fugubar-thrall (Fugubar)]

Did you do the part where it says you need to change the launcher to the beta version first ?

Yes, but it still insists on installing to D:\Program Files\World of Warcraft Public Test.
What does your launcher show for the install locations of PTR and live?

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

For me, both the PTR and Retail installs to \World of Warcraft, with the folders being named_ptr_ and _retail_
Here’s a couple of things you might try.
First, select the PTR from the list of games and make sure it shows Install. If it shows Play, then mouse up to options, then click on uninstall game.
Next, delete that \World of Warcraft Public Test folder.
Next, go into the Settings of the launcher and change the path for the PTR install to be your normal WoW folder, which I would assume would be
D:\Program Files\World of Warcraft
Then restart the launcher.
After you do this, choose to Install the PTR, and ensure that the download is going to change from what you’ve been seeing. Otherwise, you might take this over to tech support under the PTR forums.

[Svenska-caelestrasz (Svenska)]

Keep in mind new testers are likely to get hit with the various “I can’t log in” issues, and if you want to do KT or Zandalari unlocks, do NOT make one until after doing so. You’ll get locked out of it.

[Fugubar-thrall (Fugubar)]

For me, both the PTR and Retail installs to \World of Warcraft, with the folders being named _ptr_ and _retail_

I just got an update to the battlenet app tonight. The PTR install works correctly now. Only a 2.4 GB download, and it created _ptr_ in the main WoW folder.
I had checked for updates a couple days ago, and there were none at that time.
It’s nice not having to download the whole world’s data again just to install PTR with it’s few changes.

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

It’s nice not having to download the whole world’s data again just to install PTR with it’s few changes.

Agreed.
Even though I run 1GB fiber so download time isn’t an issue, it’s always been about the redundancy of files and wasted space.

[Tiapriestess-whisperwind (Tiapriestess)]

You’ll love the fact that with the PTR folder residing alongside the Retail folder, if you use either one and the Battle.net app does one of its “fake” updates, both the retail and PTR versions will go through the fake update instead of just the one you logged into. This can only be avoided by starting the game using the actual game client app instead of using the Battle.net app to log into the game.

That’ll drive quite a few players up the wall in a very short amount of time.