PTS - Your experience, rewards, effort is it worth it?

[Gnirf]

I have thought about this for quiet some time. But I am not sure if I have found a good thread about PTS. I am a veteran but I have never bothered with PTS.

Therefor I am looking for some advice of how to decide whether it can be worth it or not.

Now I have some own caveats that I want answered if you can.

First I am not interested in PTS for trying new things or giving feedback - it is a pure reward on the real server vs effort thing.

I play and grind enough during weekdays so there is no time on those days, but I might squeeze in a few hours on a weekend if the rewrds are worth it.

So one thing is it easy to maintain the PTS server and how do you do it upload a new every iteration, are they autouploaded f.e. Space is no problem.

Second - are there enough players

Third - the reward structure - is it bottomloaded i.e. even if you play just a few games you are given good rewards on the real server. Is it diminishing returns, what is your recommendation? Because the rewards should if it is interesting be good enough that they compensate what I miss if i play on the regular server. I suppose if you want community tokens it is extra interesting - but what about other rewards.?

One reason that I am thinking of PTS is todays BP construction - where the past progression rewards are far worse than before, so at this point in a BP I might be tempted if the rewards are good/meaningful.

Are there similar reward/missions in that it pays to play coop like the normal server? Is it a lot of bots generally or how do you plan your PTS play.

Why are you that takes part in PTS doing it? What is your feeling for the reward structure? 

I know that some of you takes part in PTS but I have not seen any real discussion in what I want to know, at least for some time so it is the situation today that is of interest. 

[Leo_Apollo11]

Hi all,

Last PT alone brought me 12K+ "Community Tokens"... it is 100% worth it... I can do PT session in around 2 hours... so 4 hours per month (patch)...

 

Leo "Apollo11"

[a252]

Depends if the reward worth something to you.

I grinds community token in pts. Once I am done with those mission I am done for the pts session. I usually don't give feedback.

Usually people finish off their pts session at the first and second day, so towards the end people are more often to complain about long queue time as most people have done with pts early aren't going to sign in to do extra.

 

The reason for grinding community token as if I combine with twitch reward, I can get a T7 boat every season from lootbox. If it is not free premium boat I won't bother

[clammboy]

Sorry but the only thing I grind is my teeth.

[o4x4]

It just takes time to install/update and set aside about 60gb of disk space, then just login and get rewards even without playing. 

I enjoy superships in PTS, and the rewards are just bonus.

[thornzero]

It is easy; but sometimes if you really want something you are going to suffer unreasonable queue times. Sometimes I just have too much going on the live server to spend much time on pts.

[Nevermore135]

2 hours ago, Gnirf said:

So one thing is it easy to maintain the PTS server and how do you do it upload a new every iteration, are they autouploaded f.e. Space is no problem.

The PTS client automatically updates in the same way that the main client does.

2 hours ago, Gnirf said:

Second - are there enough players

The only time I’ve run into queue problems on the PTS is if I’m trying to grind the missions in special modes late in the session (Monday, for example). Players seem to go for those missions early, and those modes aren’t populated with bots likes Randoms and Coop.

2 hours ago, Gnirf said:

Third - the reward structure - is it bottomloaded i.e. even if you play just a few games you are given good rewards on the real server. Is it diminishing returns, what is your recommendation? Because the rewards should if it is interesting be good enough that they compensate what I miss if i play on the regular server. I suppose if you want community tokens it is extra interesting - but what about other rewards.?

While there are some other rewards offered (like tactical containers that contain premium time and, at least this time, permanent camos), the main draw for me is the community tokens - I have most of the tier V and VII premiums available (only missing WV’44 and Hyuga) and most of them have come from exchanging CT for the appropriate containers in the Armory.

I typically play a single high tier Random battle for the first few days of the PTS to get the tokens for the easy BXP mission, and then play a few battles a day to complete the “special game mode” mission chain (for example, 5 battles w/50k damage in Piñata Hunt). Ignoring the usual sub-exclusive mission that seems to always be on the server, I will maybe have to pay a couple more battles to get the rewards I want.

IMO, it’s overall a pretty minor time investment and I typically don’t have any problems getting what I want out of it during the five days (Thursday-Monday) that the PTS is typically active).

I also occasionally have fun with the surveys that usually pop up in port after your first PTS session each month.

Edited March 9 by Nevermore135

[desmo_2]

Public Test is the quickest, easiest source of Community Tokens.  Since you can get Tier 7 and Tier 5 premium ship containers with Community Tokens, I would say it is worth it.

I have every Tier 7 and Tier 5 offered in those crates, but I am still playing PT and hoarding the Community Tokens in the event the drop list is updated.

[Gnirf]

Thank you for the answers so far

Edited March 10 by Gnirf

[Leo_Apollo11]

Hi all,

10 hours ago, desmo_2 said:

Public Test is the quickest, easiest source of Community Tokens.  Since you can get Tier 7 and Tier 5 premium ship containers with Community Tokens, I would say it is worth it.

I have every Tier 7 and Tier 5 offered in those crates, but I am still playing PT and hoarding the Community Tokens in the event the drop list is updated.

I have 2 Tier VII ships to get this way and I will be done... I made mistake of getting "Veteran Containers" when there were no more ships last time around... I should have saved the "Community Tokens"... the 25+ Veteran Containers I got were 100% rubbish...

 

Leo "Apollo11"

[palestreamer]

21 hours ago, Gnirf said:

Second - are there enough players

Third - the reward structure - is it bottomloaded i.e. even if you play just a few games you are given good rewards on the real server. Is it diminishing returns, what is your recommendation? Because the rewards should if it is interesting be good enough that they compensate what I miss if i play on the regular server. I suppose if you want community tokens it is extra interesting - but what about other rewards.?

Most randoms on PTS, even T10, have at least a couple of bots, but not always. Busiest on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

I find the rewards on the live server, for time spent on the PTS, are slightly better than time spent on the live server. You make about the same credits and xp (paid onto the live server), but you get more coal, and of course, plenty of community tokens. Not to mention the doubloons just for logging in. I usually just grab all the comm tokens, and then stop there and get back to the grind on the live server. I have gotten many premiums with all the comm tokens over the years.

For me, it is the opportunity to play superships, and get paid better for the time than you would on the live server when playing superships, which are expensive to play. Hannover is addictive!

[Gnirf]

50 minutes ago, Leo_Apollo11 said:

Hi all,

I have 2 Tier VII ships to get this way and I will be done... I made mistake of getting "Veteran Containers" when there were no more ships last time around... I should have saved the "Community Tokens"... the 25+ Veteran Containers I got were 100% rubbish...

 

Leo "Apollo11"

Yes I will only hoard tokens atm, I have all t5 and 7 ships, but I want an update on the low tier conatiner, Ning Hai?? that illusive premium I am missing so that is what i want.

Now I generally lay low with premium ships apart from DYs during the year. The WV I got last year before the christmas crates so I could scratch one. So after all the T7 crate is pretty expensive so it is just good to have in store tokens. Thank you for your experience with Veterans , at first glance they did not seem too bad but if you have the ships it is not that relevant.

[Gnirf]

45 minutes ago, palestreamer said:

Most randoms on PTS, even T10, have at least a couple of bots, but not always. Busiest on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

I find the rewards on the live server, for time spent on the PTS, are slightly better than time spent on the live server. You make about the same credits and xp (paid onto the live server), but you get more coal, and of course, plenty of community tokens. Not to mention the doubloons just for logging in. I usually just grab all the comm tokens, and then stop there and get back to the grind on the live server. I have gotten many premiums with all the comm tokens over the years.

For me, it is the opportunity to play superships, and get paid better for the time than you would on the live server when playing superships, which are expensive to play. Hannover is addictive!

That last bit got my attention, I have all Superships but I do not play them, are my account somehow transferred to the PTS or do you have to grind your way up?

It seems like the former when I read your post.

[thornzero]

22 minutes ago, Gnirf said:

That last bit got my attention, I have all Superships but I do not play them, are my account somehow transferred to the PTS or do you have to grind your way up?

It seems like the former when I read your post.

After your first log in to pts, the next pts your account is copied over. [and as long as you keep logging in it will be there.]

There is enough resources and little to no xp required to get a TT ship. But if you have most of them it won't matter.

Also premiums copy over. But I got a few premiums from xmas in pts and they disappeared by the next pts. 

I also got two single colour camos on one ship to try out and one of the camos disappeared the next pts run.

[Wolfswetpaws]

23 hours ago, Gnirf said:

I have thought about this for quiet some time. But I am not sure if I have found a good thread about PTS. I am a veteran but I have never bothered with PTS.

Therefor I am looking for some advice of how to decide whether it can be worth it or not.

Now I have some own caveats that I want answered if you can.

First I am not interested in PTS for trying new things or giving feedback - it is a pure reward on the real server vs effort thing.

I play and grind enough during weekdays so there is no time on those days, but I might squeeze in a few hours on a weekend if the rewrds are worth it.

So one thing is it easy to maintain the PTS server and how do you do it upload a new every iteration, are they autouploaded f.e. Space is no problem.

Second - are there enough players

Third - the reward structure - is it bottomloaded i.e. even if you play just a few games you are given good rewards on the real server. Is it diminishing returns, what is your recommendation? Because the rewards should if it is interesting be good enough that they compensate what I miss if i play on the regular server. I suppose if you want community tokens it is extra interesting - but what about other rewards.?

One reason that I am thinking of PTS is todays BP construction - where the past progression rewards are far worse than before, so at this point in a BP I might be tempted if the rewards are good/meaningful.

Are there similar reward/missions in that it pays to play coop like the normal server? Is it a lot of bots generally or how do you plan your PTS play.

Why are you that takes part in PTS doing it? What is your feeling for the reward structure? 

I know that some of you takes part in PTS but I have not seen any real discussion in what I want to know, at least for some time so it is the situation today that is of interest. 

Personally, playing on the Public Test Server, occasionally/casually/when-I'm-in-the-mood (which is a handful of times every three months) is worth it.

I get to test-sail ships and new game mechanics before they go to the live-server.  And the extra practice helps when the update arrives on the live-server.

The PTS is only available to play on weekends.  It automatically updates, just as the live-server does. 
You can "pause" it, if you like, though, and finish the download/install later if it wants to update at an inconvenient time.

There are usually enough players during the times I've played.  
That said, it can vary and may be influenced by the nature of the event happening at the time. 
Some modes may be more popular, due to their novelty.

The rewards which carry-over to the live-server vary.  Sometimes they're nice.  Other times it will behoove you to read the news & dev-blog articles in order to make an informed decsion.

The PTS is multi-cultural.  It combines the player populations from NA/EU/ASIA servers.  This can sometimes affect games with severe ping/lag phenomena.
Battle Chat is sometimes restricted and sometimes not (in my experience).  Restricted mocde may only allow for quick-chat messages.  Unrestricted allows free typing of messages.  Expect multiple languages to be in use when free typing is allowed.

If you play Co-op in PTS the rewards will be similar to the Co-op rewards on the live-server, but they'll stay in your PTS account (except the rewards which are specifically offered via missions/tasks to carry-over to your live-server account).

Credits & doubloons.
The PTS system is *generous* with a periodic allotment of credits and (30,000) doubloons, which can only be used on the PTS.
It is very difficult to run-out of credits.
It's possible to temporarily run-out of doubloons.  But, wait a month or so and they'll re-fill.
The goal here is to get players to try ships and configurations of hull modules and captain's skills.
Retraining a Commander costs zero doubloons on the PTS, by the way. 

Cross-over / migration effect.
Unless the PTS is running a specific testing event which restricts available ships for developer testing purposes, eventually all of your live-server ships and commanders, including the premium/collaboration content, will be "cloned" and the clones will migrate to your PTS account so you can play them there in addition to all the tech-tree and novelty mode stuff available.

Commanders.
You'll have no shortage of 19 or 21 point commanders available to use with PTS ships.  They're just waiting in the reserve barracks.
As mentioned before, they can be re-assigned and re-trained for a cost of zero doubloons.

Armory/Premium Shop
Since this is a testing environment, the items available in the armory are somewhat limited.  
Ship modules, legendary upgrades and similar stuff available for coal and credits are available.
(Coal can be obtained via daily progress containers and missions/tasks which reward it.  It can only be spent on one's PTS account.)

Clan name.
It is possible to purchase/create a Clan on PTS (I did, just so nobody else could take my preferred Clan Tag and I could keep my 'branding' consistent).
That said, there isn't much Clan activity on the PTS that I am aware of.  Most people do that on the live server, I imagine.

Superships.
The PTS environment provides a lot of credits.  Which makes it cheap/cost-effective to sail super-ships.
Who cares about the cost of the ship and its servicing when you're rolling in more credits than Scrooge-McDuck can sneeze at, eh?  🙂 

Dockyards.
Dockyard events on PTS have reduced play requirements, in my experience.  And the rewards are mostly kept on the PTS server.
This is a testing environment.  The devs want to make sure the programming works and deal with any bugs that are discovered.
The actual "grind" on the live-server is usually greater than the PTS.
If you complete a PTS Dockyard, you'll get a nice splash-screen announcing your success.  Take a screen-shot of it. 
It's a souvenir.  You won't get the ship.  🙂 

Playing on the PTS is worth it, for me.
It's a side-gig, compared to my normal live-server WOWs activity.
I don't play every weekend, but a handful of times every few months is enough for my purposes.
I've also divisioned with @Ensign Cthulhu and others during his live Twitch stream.  We got to sail superships that aren't in our live server Ports, yet.

Some events, such as the Hot-tub Rubber Duckies, can be a lot of fun.  🙂 

[Wolfswetpaws]

1 hour ago, Gnirf said:

Yes I will only hoard tokens atm, I have all t5 and 7 ships, but I want an update on the low tier conatiner, Ning Hai?? that illusive premium I am missing so that is what i want.

Now I generally lay low with premium ships apart from DYs during the year. The WV I got last year before the christmas crates so I could scratch one. So after all the T7 crate is pretty expensive so it is just good to have in store tokens. Thank you for your experience with Veterans , at first glance they did not seem too bad but if you have the ships it is not that relevant.

Occasionally Community Tokens are a currency which is used in Lighthouse Auction events on the live-server.
So, hoarding CT now might be useful later.
This, of course, is in addition to the items available in the Armory in exchange for Community Tokens.

[Gnirf]

Just bumping this thread as I on you forumites positive response downloaded the pts. I have played quite a lot of Asym battles and finished 3 such chains. DY I have fixed the first three stages. 

Noticed that a few tokens were easy but the others took some time. Even though Asym is fun the rewards are for such a chain not that much if I compare with playing coop (i.e. Totally free on the Real server but I did it for fun and that the BP this time is easy to fix the points for. 

Do you find this BP typical rewardwise? Maybe it is more people playing Asym tahan other PTS times. Early today that first session of Asym chain there were sometimes waiting times up to 6-7 minutes a few times, but now this late session which now is finished the times were short.

I will finish the DY but not perhaps only 1 more Asym chain, because that takes over 2 hours if you are unlucky. I have only the given ships as it is the first time so I can not play Musashi. Have played NC.

I know that the original postings were a few weeks ago but I think it is fair to return with my results and findings.

Will use PTS now and then but if I will play this much for those Asym chains or similar demands areal interesting mode and that I can find time from the real server. Next update where the real server is Asym the time will be very small I predict.

 

Edited March 23 by Gnirf

[Admiral_Karasu]

We were just discussing PTS, among other things, in this other thread, about farming tokens to exchange for crates and stuff.

 

[Nevermore135]

38 minutes ago, Gnirf said:

Do you find this BP typical rewardwise?

The Event Pass rewards are only given on the test server, and are also usually at least partially different from the version that goes live (for example, the doubloons on the paid track will almost certainly be replaced with something else on the live server).

The rewards that do transfer to the live server are the final rewards from mission chains in the “PT Rewards” and “Special Tasks” tabs as well as the bonus Community Tokens for completing the dockyard after grinding at least five stages, as detailed in the news article.

38 minutes ago, Gnirf said:

Early today that first session of Asym chain there were sometimes waiting times up to 6-7 minutes a few times, but now this late session which now is finished the times were short.

“Special” modes like Assymetric Battles are the only ones on the PTS that aren’t populated by bots to keep queue times short. If you avoid playing during late night and morning hours for your server you shouldn’t encounter long queue times (especially for assymetric battles, which only require 5 players). I have only encountered long wait times at reasonable hours once, and that was during the last PTS when trying to queue for Piñata Hunt (12v12 PVP) on Monday (the last day of the session).

Edited March 23 by Nevermore135

[Navalpride33]

On 3/9/2024 at 5:55 AM, Gnirf said:

Therefor I am looking for some advice of how to decide whether it can be worth it or not.

For veteran players... No its not worth spending time in PTS and adding more time to complete CM on the regular server... Nothing you do (other the complete the CM for the PTS rewards), will stay recorded in PTS.

PTS was never for the rewards for veteran players... Now for new players?? Heck yes! Have at it and take what you can get.

If its for the rewards... No dont join PTS..

If you only want to know whats in the next patch before the main populous does??? Have at it. 

If you do go to PTS, remind the others' PTS is a non-progress server.. Meaning, dont take the battles in PTS so serious... In the end, every progress is wiped out with every new patch. Leave your competitive spirit to your server region.

 

 

 

[WES_HoundDog]

Haven't been on test server since CV rework.   No amount of reward is worth downloading that montracity just to have all your feedback ignored.

[Admiral_Karasu]

8 hours ago, WES_HoundDog said:

Haven't been on test server since CV rework.   No amount of reward is worth downloading that montracity just to have all your feedback ignored.

I have it downloaded, installed and updated, but it's been a while I've been on PTS.

[Unlooky]

Haven't played on PTS in a while. I'll only play to play with friends from other servers. I find it pointless and unsatisfying since I'm not making any progress towards my actual account. Matches are obviously full bot lobbies. Maybe if there's something genuinely interesting to me I will play on it, but otherwise no.  

[New_Jersey_prpr]

I grab all the community tokens and premium account container and then leave. Several hours of relaxed grind (since many missions can be done with co-op) is still worth it imo.

[desmo_2]

@Gnirf As you play the Public Test Server, there are a few things you need to keep in mind:

• The rewards you get on your main account from the PTS server are listed in the news article about that PTS session.  Only some of the missions on PTS offer main account rewards (PT Rewards, and I think Special Mission rewards).
• Any super containers or premium ship containers you earn while on the PTS do NOT count toward your main account.  Even though it looks like you won it, you may not even see it on your PTS account.  Even if it does, it will disappear from your PTS account once that session (weekend) ends.
• Dock Yard events are much faster to complete, with much lower requirements, than will be on the main server when that Dock Yard goes live.  PTS is just testing the process.  You also will NOT get to play the new Dock Yard ship on PTS or main account even once you complete the Dock Yard missions on PTS.
• Sometimes the rewards you see on PTS for certain event missions will not be the same as when the event goes live on the main server.