News 1 29 - Effective bug squishing

NEWS article 1-29:

Dateline 12/30/2014: EFFECTIVE BUG SQUISHING

We rely on players to tell us when something's not right. It happens all the time -- a new area goes in, or a tiny combat change, and suddenly Bad Things are happening. Virtually all BUGs and TYPOs are looked at by a GM within 24-48 hours, and sent to the GM in charge of that area or system, and often your BUGs are the only way we knew something was wrong.

You can help us make the game better by sending us BUGs and TYPOs that let us easily identify what the problem is and where it's occurring. Some hints:

1) If it's at ALL possible, stand in the room where you were when the problem happened when you send the bug report (we get the room information with your BUG).

2) Identify what caused the problem to show itself. If you typed something in and got a weird response, tell us exactly what you typed. If you see a problem with what happens when someone else is doing something, if possible identify what it is they were doing. (Meaning, if it's a verb, which one?)

3) If it's a bug involving an item, if at all possible tell us where that item comes from (festival merchant? Mentor giveaway? alteration? catalog store?).

4) It's really nice if you can cut and paste the exact language involved. Sometimes a word or a phrase can help us track down exactly where a problem is happening in a huge system.

5) Be specific! "Combat is broken" doesn't help us much. Tell us as much as possible about the problem and what happened right before it, so we can be more effective in finding it.

6) For many things, the boards are a more effective way to communicate with the GM in charge of a given system. If you're not happy about a change and want to explain why you think it was a mistake, the boards will give you a lot more room to express your reasoning, and will be a lot more effective.

7) If you encounter a bug that can be abused to grant money, items, or experience, in addition to submitting a bug report, use ASSIST to show the staff what you found.

8) If it's a problem that you're pretty sure is unique to you (like a typo in an altered item), use ASSIST rather than BUG. If it's a REALLY serious problem that you're pretty sure is an emergency (like every time you power perceive in a room, everyone else in the room dies), use REPORT.

To report a typo, please use the BUG command. Thanks!