Insults flying, duels at twenty paces and "your mom" jokes filling up the LookingForGroup channel. Welcome to the Test Server.

After queueing for over three hours, I popped on to the US Test Server yesterday to see if I could get a glimpse of Naxxramas. There are a few improvements over previous test experiences -- actually having flight paths is a nice touch. However, some of the fellow inhabitants leave a lot to be desired.

I understand that it's very appealing to want to try out a new level 60 character, but the general level of competence was frighteningly low -- both in PvP and an instance group. Multiple wipes on trash mobs led me to much despair, with little strategy or organisation. Add to that the fact that almost everyone is playing sexy classes such as rogues, and it's hard to even get a full instance group together. Players in my group kept switching characters, as if playing another class ham-fistedly would help with our wiping problem.

The Test Server is a fun place to mess about and try things out, but the immense amount of lag and lack of co-ordination drive me to despair. If only the serious players could be separated out from the less serious, then some actual 'testing' might happen. For now, it's waiting in a queue of thousands to see players with names like Omgwtfpwnbbq raiding Crossroads.

Tags: behaviour, rants, test

Filed under: Patches, Odds and ends