Reporting Bugs

[Zelknolf]

So!

People have been sending me a lot of bugs lately. Which is good! Thankyou to those who are trying to help out, but here's the rub-- a lot of them are getting lost to entropy, time, or eccentricities of reporting, so a few guidelines for reporting these in ways that are likely to get fixed:

1) Never report a bug in chat.
The tech team idles rather regularly, and the chances of your report being lost because Windows decided to restart itself, a chat client crashed, a window auto-closed because the client thought it was a good idea, or just bad timing combined with bad connections is very high. If a bug report is lost, then we have a known issue that will never get fixed (and that's bad).

If you believe a bug to be exploitable (that is, unexpected behavior gives mechanical or financial advantage), feel free to PM anyone on the tech staff or the HDM of the server you're on; none of the people on those lists are the sort of chumps who'd just bury a bug, and you can be reasonably sure that it will get forwarded around until someone knows what's going on. If it's not exploitable, the next question to ask is if it's server specific. This isn't always clear-cut, but I've taken up the mantle of Tech's documentation point, so I sniff through the server bug threads too if something gets misposted. But! To save post shuffling:
-- If it's a quest, it's probably a server bug, and should be posted in the server's bug thread.
-- If it's a problem getting around in an area, it's probably a server bug, and should be posted in the server's bug thread.
-- If it's an NPC doing something strange, it's probably a server bug, and should be posted in the server's bug thread.
-- If it has to do with death, it's probably an ACR bug, and should go in the ACR bug thread.
-- If it's a feat, it's probably a Obsidian bug, but its only hope for a fix will be through the ACR, so it should go in the ACR bug thread.
-- If it's a spell, it's probably an Obsidian bug, but its only hope for a fix will be through the ACR, so it should go in the ACR bug thread.
-- If it happens as part of logging in, it's probably an ACR bug, and should go in the ACR bug thread.
-- If it happens as part of logging out, it's probably an ACR bug, and should go in the ACR bug thread.
-- If it's part of the user interface (i.e. DMFI tools, PC tools, etc), it's probably an ACR bug, and should go in the ACR bug thread.

You can find the server bug threads here:
TSM: http://www.alandfaraway.org/forums/view ... 90&t=45786

BG: http://www.alandfaraway.org/forums/view ... 42&t=45532

Moonshaes: http://www.alandfaraway.org/forums/view ... 93&t=42440

And you can find the ACR bug thread here:
http://www.alandfaraway.org/forums/view ... 9&start=45


2) Always include as much detail as possible when reporting a bug.
I get a lot of reports that amount to "[x] doesn't work" or "[x] is bugged." -- and while this does point us toward something that doesn't work the way you expect it, that doesn't really tell us what we're looking for. If an orc spawn is "bugged," that could be anywhere from a failure to spawn to orcs spawning in pretty pink dresses (when the builder said spiked shields and battleaxes... or vice versa. If the builder says pretty pink dresses and they've got scowls and spiked clubs, that's also a problem.) And this creates a problem-- a lot of bugs don't get fixed because the people who can fix them have no idea what you're talking about. After all, we test these things when we put them in, and we either genuinely believe that they work fine or we're confident that we've told you all of the ways that they don't-- so you have to say exactly what's wrong, or we'll repeat the same tests we did before pushing the content to play and exclaim "What's this person talking about? It works just fine!"

3) Try to reproduce the bug.
While it's possible to fix something based on it misbehaving once, because there was something that made the computer think that it was a good idea to do what it did, bugs a usually more complex than one click producing a catastrophic failure, and people are prone (both to their benefit and detriment) to assume that they've done everything exactly the way they thought they have and that feedback was identical until something happens to prevent their progress. Often, this is not the case, and the initial assumption (typically that the action immediately before the bug is observed caused the bug exclusively) can be quite misleading. But! This can often be narrowed down by just trying to make it happen again; and you have the benefit of going through the steps more slowly and thoughtfully and being more likely to record what's going on while you go along.


I know it all sounds like a lot of stuff to do, but I promise that the ends of doing so are that the bugs reported with more and better information in better places are more likely to get fixed-- and the more bugs we fix, the less time you spend bouncing your head off of the keyboard and the more time you get to spend playing the game; think of it as an investment now that pays tiny dividends of reduced frustration for the rest of the time you play here.

And thankyou to all who take the time to report the oddities we see. I promise that the good work of those who diligently gather information for us makes the lives of builders and scripters much easier.



The majority of this content is on Drupal as of today. If you ever need to find this again, whether you want links or want bits of info, don't wade through the forums to find this post (it will and should end up buried somewhere in page 47); Technical Documentation -> For Everyone: Reporting Bugs. It's right at the top of the page, where it's easy to find.

[NESchampion]

I think bug reporting might be bugged.

(Thanks for this post Zelk, very helpful).

[hollyfant]

Point #3 might need a slight addendum:

Never try to reproduce a possible exploit or cheat, unless specifically instructed to do so by a local DM.

[Zelknolf]

Feel free to edit the Drupal page; it should be available to you as head of standards.

Should probably add that you have to report what exactly your ill-gotten gains are, regardless of what you do or don't reproduce, so that DMs can correct your character.

[Veilan]

There are no bugs. There is only untapped improvement potential.

[Castano]

+1 Zelk.

Please do not post X is broken.

I know you are trying to help, but details solve bugs. If you tell us X broke when you were at step ____ in the action it will narrow down the variable at fault.

I can delete any exploit gains of gp or xp on MS, so no worries if you repeat one for data acquisition..repeat and not reporting it = guess. mwahaha
thanks everyone for the bug threads we have fixed alot of stuff due to sharp players paying attention.

[Zelknolf]

An appended couple things to this list:
Do not attempt to cast blame inside of a bug report; it is a certain way to turn off any of the volunteers who may otherwise help you, especially if you're wrong about why something is happening.

Do research on the issues you report before distributing what is potentially false information to other players. If you don't wish to do research, please simply report and allow people who are knowledgeable to learn of the current state of things and distribute necessary information.

[t-ice]

I have a bug on a (I think) broken character file. (Insane bonus to one skill somehow) Is that a ACR bug or server bug? Created ticket anyway.