PTS FAQ

[mattshotcha]

GENERAL

What is the PTS?

The PTS, or Public Test Server, is a game version on which new Updates will be made available before their official release, in order to allow the community to try them and provide feedback to the development team.

Who can access the PTS?

The PTS is available to all PC players (both Uplay and Steam) who own a copy of The Division.

Please note that you may experience login queues as the server has limited capacity.

When does it open?

The PTS will open publicly on Monday, September 26th.

Why is it not available on consoles?

In order to successfully learn from the PTS, we must be able to constantly iterate and quickly react to community feedback. Also, it may happen that updates deployed on the PTS are partially unstable or do not represent the overall quality of the game. To deploy updates on a console, we need to go through a process called certification, during which the update needs to be tested and match a list of requirements in order to guarantee a high quality gameplay experience. Due to the very nature of the PTS, it would be very hard for us to release updates as regularly and quickly on console versions than it will be on PC.
With that said, we are investigating ways to make the PTS available to console gamers in the future.

What experience should I expect on the PTS?

The PTS is a testing server. By playing on the PTS, you must understand that:

• You will face issues, bugs, and crashes
  
• You may also lose items and progress
  
• The PTS version is not final, and features may be incomplete, or missing entirely
  
• Localization may be missing
  
• The PTS is not for playing and enjoying the game

Is everything on the PTS going to make it to the live game?

No. We may use the PTS to test things before deciding if they should make it to the live servers or not. Also, based on community feedback, some aspects of the features and modifications implemented on the PTS may change entirely before implementation on the live servers.

ACCESS

Do I have to download the game again to access the PTS?

Yes, the PTS is a different product and you will need to download the entire game client again.

Where do I download the game client?

The PTS version will directly appear in your Games on Uplay and Library on Steam. From here, you can download and install it as a normal game.

Do I have to create a new character on the PTS?

No, your characters from the live game will be transferred to the PTS. However, in some cases, we may ask you to create new character for testing purposes.

****Players will not have their characters transferred to the PTS on Sept 22 or 26, instead we will ask that you try the update with a fresh level 30 character. To do so, you can create a character and walk through a special “gate” in Brooklyn that will level your character up to 30 and give you 30 purple items. The goal will be to test the progression through Tiers 1 to 4. Characters will be transferred during a later phase on September 29th****


Will my progress on the PTS transfer to the live servers?

No, your progress will not transfer. Also, your character data will be imported from the live servers to the PTS regularly, and overwrite your current progress on the PTS.

Will the PTS remain open constantly?

We will keep the PTS open for as long as needed in order to get as much feedback as possible. However, once we’ve gathered enough feedback, the PTS will close and only reopen when we have new things we would like to test.

FEEDBACK & DISCUSSIONS

Where can I give feedback?

You can give feedback on the PTS forums. These will open on Thursday, September 22.

Where do I get information on what’s new on the PTS?

We will publish all information about new changes and opening and closing times on the PTS forums.

Is there an NDA on the PTS?

No, the PTS is not protected by any NDA and you are free to talk about it publicly, make videos, livestream, etc. However, in some cases we may decide to implement an NDA during specific test phases.

TECHNICAL TEST

What is the technical test?

Before making the PTS available to the public, we must first test the complete access flow (download, login, character transfer, etc.). To do so, we will invite a selection of players to a 4 days technical test that will allow us to find out if any changes are needed.

When will the technical test take place?

The technical test will begin on Thursday, September 22 until Sunday, September 25 (included).

Who will have access to the technical test?

In order to thank our dedicated community, we have decided to invite all PC players who registered to the Elite Task Force, even if they were not selected to participate in the event.
If need be, we may open more slots in which case we will open a new registration form and invite additional waves of players.

Does the technical test apply to both Steam and Uplay PC players?

Yes, both Steam and Uplay PC players will be invited. However, for the technical test only, Steam users will receive a Steam Key to redeem access to the PTS.
This step only applies to the technical test and will not be necessary after the public opening on September 26.

[Freizeitklempner]

Thanks for this good info. I can see the light at the end of a tunnel

[Nenne.]

"What experience should I expect on the PTS?

The PTS is a testing server. By playing on the PTS, you must understand that:
You will face issues, bugs, and crashes
You may also lose items and progress
The PTS version is not final, and features may be incomplete, or missing entirely
Localization may be missing
The PTS is not for playing and enjoying the game"

This is exactly same as game is today so whats the difference here ?
Now this is not sarcasm or irony i am serious here..
There is nothing different here as in game...

In the last interview i saw from Ubisoft. They said they are going to get ride of all the annoying things in game.
You dont need a PTS server for that. we can all make a list out here than Ubisoft can start working on it tomorrow thats not gonna be a problem at all.
Just say so and i will gladly give you a list of all annoying things in game...

Dont get me wrong here guys i am not whinnning or things like that. But i have seen things like this so many times over the years i played and none of them have come out with good caracter at all.

This is just another way to buy time...Just get ride of the annoying things and you have a great game. Ah well hackers and that to ofc but for that you dont need a PTS to undestand that do you ?

[mattshotcha]

Originally posted by Nenne.:

"What experience should I expect on the PTS?

The PTS is a testing server. By playing on the PTS, you must understand that:
You will face issues, bugs, and crashes
You may also lose items and progress
The PTS version is not final, and features may be incomplete, or missing entirely
Localization may be missing
The PTS is not for playing and enjoying the game"

This is exactly same as game is today so whats the difference here ?
Now this is not sarcasm or irony i am serious here..
There is nothing different here as in game...

In the last interview i saw from Ubisoft. They said they are going to get ride of all the annoying things in game.
You dont need a PTS server for that. we can all make a list out here than Ubisoft can start working on it tomorrow thats not gonna be a problem at all.
Just say so and i will gladly give you a list of all annoying things in game...

Dont get me wrong here guys i am not whinnning or things like that. But i have seen things like this so many times over the years i played and none of them have come out with good caracter at all.

This is just another way to buy time...Just get ride of the annoying things and you have a great game. Ah well hackers and that to ofc but for that you dont need a PTS to undestand that do you ?

I'm not sure why anyone would not want a PTS. You say in your reply you can rattle off a list of suggestions to change/fix/remove but now what about other community members? In this scenario you present are you assuming that every single player that plays TD agrees on these issues? That is simply not the case. The letter T in PTS stands for Test. Exactly that is how this differs from the game and why this is a necessary addition. We have flexibility with the test server that we don't otherwise have.

Different elements interact and effect other elements in many different ways when working within game development. A PTS allows us to tweak and tune to get precise changes maximized for community interests.

I can understand frustrations with the game in it's current state. What I cannot understand is opposing attempts to right the course of the game for the whole community.

[Lyon-CZ]

The main problem is, things like that should happen before launching the game, serious developers call it "open beta". Not 6 months later, when it's too late to save the game.

I don't want to be disappointed again, so better expect nothing good. But this is definitely the last chance to save few remaining players in the game. If you fail, you can close servers and completely shut it down.

[Reizo Ryuu]

They are trying to fix and change a whole lot of things based on a massive amount of feedback they gathered, every "serious" developer of an online game will do this via a test version of the game.
This sort of thing isn't done via an "open beta", because those are for testing core things, not give you the entire game to play through; this game did have a beta and the impressions were mostly positive

[that guy strife]

Also, your character data will be imported from the live servers to the PTS regularly, and overwrite your current progress on the PTS.

Why have resets for PTS characters ? I get that putting new items in the game or drastically altering stats/abilities/talents would warrant it, but you make it sound like it'll happen at random times.

[mattshotcha]

Originally posted by that guy strife:

Also, your character data will be imported from the live servers to the PTS regularly, and overwrite your current progress on the PTS.

Why have resets for PTS characters ? I get that putting new items in the game or drastically altering stats/abilities/talents would warrant it, but you make it sound like it'll happen at random times.

Not at random times, but getting reset to the live version is mandatory for this situation in order to accurately identify issues as they come up. However, if changes tested in the PTS pass the mark and make it to the game, you might not have to lose that progress.

[NecroAether]

Do I have to transfer my characters? Can I just create a new one? I mean I play with alot of people as it is now and don't wanna be excluded from playing.

[mattshotcha]

Originally posted by NecroAether:

Do I have to transfer my characters? Can I just create a new one? I mean I play with alot of people as it is now and don't wanna be excluded from playing.

I would have to verify how that will work. The PTS save will not be applied to your Live Environment character but I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to just create a PTS alt.

[that guy strife]

I would expect ''importing'' your main as a base for the alt, but then having only loot drops for stuff that needs to be tested. Don't see why you'd have to build from scratch for a test server.

I'd also expect to be able to access the same friend list, with the additional ''PTS'' barrier of course (meaning you would be displayed as in PTS, and your friends would have to enter PTS before being to able to join you).

[ImOnYourSide]

Is this still coming out the 19th?

[ArmorLock]

Bugger, my pc space is almost full ._.

[Mika]

so，here，it's 19th Sep……eagering for the PTS, I just wanna know the exact open time of that

[ThisIsFrostiK]

I love how it's 19th Sep, and no one even botheresto talk to us or give any info

[Q.myste_xiaokun]

the last time to save the game! i hope to better!Please don't let me down.