As the shadow of 'Patch Day' looms heavily over the EverQuest II community, I thought it would be interesting to share a peek into the flurry of behind the scenes activity that takes place when we patch the game. It's sometimes difficult to remember that there are people working at a frantic pace to ensure that a patch goes well, especially when you are staring at the launchers progress meter; so I solicited comments from people involved in a game update from the beginning to the end to give a bit of insight on how the day goes for them.
Most people, when asked to think about the people who make a game update happen, think only of the designers and programmers that make the core game. That's not a complete picture though, as it leaves out all the other teams involved in a live game. Naturally the designers and programmers have an active hand in the process, as do the producers for the EQII team, but the scope of involvement is much broader.
It is far better to let some of these folks speak for themselves though! Here are a few comments from the people involved in bringing a game update to fruition.
"I work with the development staff and the respective game teams to identify any expected issues that affect Customer Service. Before we launch an update I have to work closely with development to create documentation outlining quest walkthroughs, and any commands that the CS Staff uses to assist with customer resolutions."
David Schmidt - Customer Service Training Specialist.
"Since my main focus is on the Test server, I work on getting the update out for weeks at a time. Everything from player written bugs, running groups on Test and supporting the players on the server with testing, I and the players of Test work quite a few hours getting it ready. I owe a big thank you to all of them!"
Kris " Venos" Kleinow - EQII QA Test Server Liaison
"I log into chat while the servers are still down as my GM avatar to talk with players and keep them entertained while we all wait".
Amy " GM Kimbial" Leo - EverQuest II Customer Service
"Patch day? You mean that stuff I worked on a month ago? I'm already working on the next LU!"
Jeremy Gess "Jindrack" - Game Designer, EverQuest II
"Sacrifice a ratonga."
Joel "Zliten" White - Game Designer, EverQuest II
"By the time you're reading this, it's already too late! On the more serious side, I'm busy trying to squeeze in last-minute bug fixes these days, trying to get a nice, clean house before we head into spring and the next big thing."
Noel "Ilucide" Walling - Game Designer, EverQuest II
"We coders fix bugs and work on new features, in addition to making sure the client and servers are stable even to the point of being on-call 24 hours a day."
Joshua "Autenil" Kriegshauser - Sr. Programmer, EverQuest II
"I work with the QA dept to organize a final sweep over the build in an environment that is as close to live as we can get. I get any server configuration changes ready to send out just before we launch. I coordinate with our Operations teams, DBA's and international teams to make sure everyone is ready and has what they need. I finish compiling the release notes, which involves a lot of emails back and forth with people pinning down what they changed and what that means. I try to review the test server forums, /bugs and /feedbacks in as much detail as possible to make sure we aren't forgetting something big that our players have told us about. And then the fun part: Deal with anything that does pop up as a problem which has sometimes been known to happen ;)"
Jennifer "Kirstie" Gerull Associate Producer, EverQuest II
"Since the majority of my job involves making sure that Game Updates go smoothly, the days before a Game Update are very busy for me. At this point, all the planning and play testing has come together, so mostly I am monitoring the bug queues – and then racing around the office bugging, wheedling, and cajoling the developers to make sure that the right fixes are getting in and getting sufficient testing. I also review the update notes, make sure that the right tickets have gotten in for the Operations and Database teams, and generally coordinate and calm any resource conflicts and last-minute panics."
Sandra "srand" Powers, Live Producer, EverQuest II
"It's a good patch day when there isn't anything other than reading update note revisions 100 times - to make sure that we don't have anything in there that isn't going in, and that we didn't leave anything important out. Srand and Kirstie do such a good job running that part of the show now that I don't have nearly the panicking that I used to."
Scott "Gallenite" Hartsman, Senior Producer, EverQuest II
As you can see, everyone on the team has their hand in getting a game update together and out the door. As this is my first game update with the EQII team, it's been a fascinating process of discovery for me to see how things move from idea/intent to delivered content and changes. While my primary focus on patch day is to make sure the community knows what's happening with the patch, I also work hard to make sure Gallenite has to approve at least 100 revisions to the game update notes!
Humor aside, I hope that these comments provide a little insight into the actions a great number of people are taking to bring an update to the game to reality! Also, please feel welcome to share a few words about what you do on patch day to get ready for all the new fun!
--Grimwell
