The PTB Needs to Change
The PTB, something that should be used to get players to test and give feedback on extremely recent versions of the game that are near-completion. However, the PTB has too many flaws to ignore and if the development team were to at least listen to this, please, change the PTB so that it isn't a slog for testing changes to existing mechanics, or introducing new mechanics or even characters.
Here's a rundown on what needs to be changed about the PTB itself in order to actually make it better:
No More Grind
Currently in the PTB, especially when new Killers and Survivors are released, you still have to actually grind for the Perks, add-ons and items in order to even be able to play them. Not only just their perks, but everyone else's perks, too, which makes the overall experience less positive if players don't have enough Bloodpoints.
So here's a couple changes that would be implemented to fix that!
- All Survivor Perks, Items and Add-Ons are available from the start.
- All Killer Perks and Add-Ons are available from the start.
- The new Survivor and/or Killer will always start at level 15.
- All Perks will now be at their third tier.
- All Survivors and Killers start with 50 Items and Add-Ons.
This allows for the best way to test out if a Survivor or Killer is working as intended and would make for an overall more interesting experience in playing. This would also be the best way to ensure that bugs don't actually make it to Live servers, or as little bugs as possible hit Live.
Bloodpoint Gains in the PTB
In order to ensure that the new grind-less system works as intended, Bloodpoint gains are now increased by ten times the amount they normally are, increasing the maximum total of Bloodpoints gained in the PTB to 320,000.
This is to also help and see if there's anything wrong with the Bloodweb or Prestiging and can be fixed earlier.
Near-Limitless Bloodpoints
Due to the fact that the PTB is meant to be a test build, the Bloodpoint cap is increased to 999,999,999 Bloodpoints. If you can somehow manage to get that much, even with the increased gain, that'll be something mighty impressive to achieve.
New Test Build Model
As it currently stands, the current single test build model for the game is very unhealthy and doesn't allow proper feedback to be implemented in a timely and efficient manner. So, instead of keeping to that archaic system, here's a new, better suggested model of builds that would improve player feedback and testing out the new changes to the game.
Experimental Test Builds
Experimental test builds are basically builds that happen before the "Beta" test builds. These are more alpha versions of the tests that feature a lack of animation quality but are there to let players offer feedback on if the new Survivor, Killer, Perks, Items and/or Add-Ons are working as normal, or if there needs to be a change before going to the Beta Test Builds.
These test builds would last approximately 2 to 3 days in order to get feedback before being changed. These builds would be changed up to 3 times for fine tuning the product.
Beta Test Builds
What we currently call the "Public Test Build", Beta Test Builds are essentially additional builds that allow players to see the progress of the Survivor/Killer in the upcoming chapter and give feedback, or to test out changes to a Killer or Survivor, Perk, Item, Add-On, or all of the above, within a mid-chapter patch or otherwise. This would give keen insight into what the developers need to ensure the best possible outcome for the release of the patch.
These test builds would last approximately 1 week in order to get feedback.
Additionally, some Beta Test Builds featuring changes to currently existing characters, mechanics or features, or bug removal and spotting, will be called "Health Test Builds".
Pre-Release Test Builds
Probably the one thing that needs to be done is a pre-release test build. This test build is actually the final build that is set to release later on, but is given to players a week prior to it being on live in order to ensure proper feedback and bug fixes before things get out of hand.
Considering the Binding of Kin, Resident Evil and Hellraiser chapters were littered with significant issues, this would be able to detect those issues and nip them in the bud before release so we don't have a repeat of Resident Evil's disastrous chapter release.
Disabled Features
Considering the fact that the PTB doesn't need these features, the following features are disabled on the PTB and would only be enabled on live servers:
- The Rift
- The Store
- The Shrine of Secrets
- Auric Cells
- Iridescent Shards
As these features aren't completely necessary or could lead into major issues down the road, any option that leads to them will be disabled outright.
And this is how you could improve it significantly, BHVR. Let players test earlier builds, let them test for longer, and give us a pre-release final build before it goes live so that you can ensure nothing gets screwed up in the process. Oh, and of course make it more accessible to test things out instead of forcing us to grind.
I'm certain that this would help immensely and would be very much so a positive change for the game's health as a whole.
Comments
I'm on console and yeah it's quite annoying when I want to see the new content asap, but I have to wait for streamers or content creators to grind through the new characters to see the new tier 3 perks or add-ons.
i think when you unlock a teachable it should automatically be placed at level 1 for every other character. and everytime u prestige ur teachables also go up a level for everyone else. so if i have steve/jonathan and get his teachable everyone gets is but if i prestige to 3 everyone elses steve teachables get bumped to 3.