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Very Vanilla MQ (Test Server)

Vanilla - Very Vanilla MQ (Test Server) (3 Viewers) 3.1.52472.1

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I decided to give eq a spin again. I re-joined the community on the 26th of Oct.

Since I have rejoined there has only been one day that i could play for the last 2 weeks due to 24/7 patching

I am retired so there is no lack of time to check when the patch is up.

I waited almost 2 weeks then got a day to play. I rallied up the troops and before i could finish setting them up .. what do you know .. patch day

I pay the same $10 as someone on live servers yet get less than 50% of the value of my subscription

Can we get an eta on patches at a bare minimum. I am on a fixed budget, i can not afford to play on live
 
Pariiah said:
I decided to give eq a spin again. I re-joined the community on the 26th of Oct.

Since I have rejoined there has only been one day that i could play for the last 2 weeks due to 24/7 patching

I am retired so there is no lack of time to check when the patch is up.

I waited almost 2 weeks then got a day to play. I rallied up the troops and before i could finish setting them up .. what do you know .. patch day

I pay the same $10 as someone on live servers yet get less than 50% of the value of my subscription

Can we get an eta on patches at a bare minimum. I am on a fixed budget, i can not afford to play on live
Click to expand...
That sounds pretty frustrating, sorry that's happening. Here's some context/info that might help with at least being more informed of what all happens here.



What to expect on patch days?
When eq patches MQ has to be rebuilt. (you also have to patch EQ --- this way you avoid "Version Mismatch" issues)

Once MQ is updated RG can build - we now have an automated system that rebuilds RG as soon as it is updated - which means our previous method of "let's give it a quick test" is no longer there, and sometimes there ends up being another smaller patch later to correct if something got missed - so re-check on patch days if you are having issues.

EQ could change literally anything and it would require the way MQ interacts with that portion of EQ to be completely reworked. It is normally just offsets, sometimes struct changes --- with the large changes eq has been making over the past few months (updates and backend improvements) there are more things than just offset changes that are happening, so it can certainly be a lot of work for the devs.

Curious when Very Vanilla will be updated?
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MacroQuest for Live servers:
MacroQuest for Test server

EQ patches go like this: (in theory)
2nd* tue/wed = test "real" patch
3rd* wed = live patch
4th* tue/wed = test "true up"
the tue over the wed is a more recent thing (I suspect klanderso has more to do with that, and having time to ensure working stuff before the weekend and upset people - klanderso is pretty awesome)
* holidays subject to cause shifts in days or even week

test is notorious for being like "oops we forgot the 'dont crash plz' file, gotta patch again", or "woops we added +1 to crashing, we meant -1", so "on paper" it is double the patches, but very frequently ends up being more than double the work (i imagine, I'm not doing the work - I'd love to learn enough at some point to help facilitate doing so, however).

Test also introduces new stuff before it goes to live - over the past couple of years EQ has been making a lot of substantial code changes - not just a "here's a monthly patch" where they adjusted an aoe value or something simple. On top of that, once you get into October/November you start seeing stuff from the expansion going onto the test server, even if that stuff isn't released yet. The good news is that gives the MQ dev(s) more time to implement it, the bad news is that it is more work. Thankless unnoticed (for the most part) work.

MQ itself is open source and by volunteer(s) - RG which builds and distributes that is obviously paid for. When MQ is updated, RG does the best it can to immediately build and make available an updated build
If you wanted to show your appreciation to the MQ devs for their volunteer work:

brainiac:
https://www.redguides.com/tip/brainiac
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Pariiah said:
I decided to give eq a spin again. I re-joined the community on the 26th of Oct.

Since I have rejoined there has only been one day that i could play for the last 2 weeks due to 24/7 patching

I am retired so there is no lack of time to check when the patch is up.

I waited almost 2 weeks then got a day to play. I rallied up the troops and before i could finish setting them up .. what do you know .. patch day

I pay the same $10 as someone on live servers yet get less than 50% of the value of my subscription

Can we get an eta on patches at a bare minimum. I am on a fixed budget, i can not afford t
Click to expand...
If you are going to play on the test server, you can expect to have long periods of MQ being down. RedGuides has nothing to do with the test server build being up or down. Brainiac has a real job and a real family. He does the best he can to get to the test build, but the test server is notorious for patching without notice. When Live patches, he gets to it a lot quicker than test, simply because that is where most of the player base is for both RG and that other site that shall remain unnamed. I play exclusively on the test server, and I can promise you that complaining here is not going to make the process go faster. I have been the person you are now. I used to get pissed off because the test build took too long. It took me a while to understand that nobody here can give you an "update" other than test will be back up as soon as he can get to it. There are lines of code and wizardry that I don't understand that has to be first found and then changed to make it work. The folks here are just like you, EQ enthusiasts, most volunteer their time to make the cool luas and plugins that make the game easier for all of us to play.
 
Mugly said:
When Live patches, he gets to it a lot quicker than test, simply because that is where most of the player base is for both RG and that other site that shall remain unnamed.
Click to expand...
dont forget

eq changes stuff -> eq move changes to test -> test changes move to live

so live is often "easier" and thus "faster" because the work has already been completed.
 
Sic said:
dont forget

eq changes stuff -> eq move changes to test -> test changes move to live

so live is often "easier" and thus "faster" because the work has already been completed.
Click to expand...
I'm just trying to help a fellow tester understand and save him/her a ton of heartburn.
 
Mugly said:
I'm just trying to help a fellow tester understand and save him/her a ton of heartburn.
Click to expand...
that is exactly what im doing. :p

because you said live was more important - which might or might not be true - but it misses a very important reason of why test can take longer.
 
Also, sometimes they don't even update stuff on test until after the live build and re-up happens

Like right now

1000008512.png
 
as someone who has spent 75% of my eq life on test (since kunark with a couple adventures to live/tlp here and there) i can say that even without running MQ test needs patience ... while i'm sure everyone who has posted in this topic has been there i can not stress it enough if you make test your home ...

patience isn't just a virtue its a mandatory requirement =)

hang in there it will be up and when it is you'll see why i always say test server is the breast err best server ... the only downside to test is the downtime ... aside from that the perks of playing there are so great you'll learn to enjoy the downtime and do other things while brain and co. work there wizardry to keep us all enjoying this game we love so much

welcome to the best box community in norrath!
 
What would you estimate the availability of mq on the test server to be, % wise? Or, how many days of the month? I think it would be helpful to clear up some confusion, even if it is only possible to give a ballpark number
 
strijd075 said:
What would you estimate the availability of mq on the test server to be, % wise? Or, how many days of the month? I think it would be helpful to clear up some confusion, even if it is only possible to give a ballpark number
Click to expand...
Impossible to guestimate forward.

You could go back and look at mq updates for test server date and compare with patch days and come up with a historical chart.

In reality you're asking for the person doing the updates (and can speak to this question with authority) to instead speak to this rather than update, heh.

The additional problem with guestimating a number, is some people end up taking that as a promise, and if that promise isn't met they feel scammed. I'm not saying you, or anyone else specifically, so don't hear what I didn't say- just know it does happen.

In fact, people have accused brain and other folks for having intentional restrictions or delays so they can get some personal benefit and deny others. Which is just nonsense.

My thing i shared about about what to expect on patch days has, what I feel, is a fair and reasonable explanation about live and test.

In years past, way back when, it would sometimes be several weeks before mq was updated for anything - riddled with crashes and bugs. We're pretty lucky these days.

My personal opinion is that MQ as an entity and RG as an entity both value the test server more than dbg does.
 
I would like to thank you all for your input. I love MQ and yall are great .. just frustrated in my own life i guess
 
Ask DPG to stop making changes to their game if Test server downtime bothers you.

I've put over 12 hours into this update so far. This isn't time I just have freely lying around.
 
brainiac said:
Ask DPG to stop making changes to their game if Test server downtime bothers you.

I've put over 12 hours into this update so far. This isn't time I just have freely lying around.
Click to expand...
I appreciate everything you do. It took me a long time to realize just how much time and energy you put into keeping the wheels on this bus from flying off.
 
strijd075 said:
What would you estimate the availability of mq on the test server to be, % wise? Or, how many days of the month? I think it would be helpful to clear up some confusion, even if it is only possible to give a ballpark number
Click to expand...
as someone who has played on test for a very long time i dont wanna step on what brain or sic have posted previously as it does always vary depending on the changes needed, but personally prepare to play 2/4 weeks every month ... if its less great! if more than i tend to always be prepared anwyay =)

if you want more uptime than pony up the cash and pay like everyone else on live. i personally would rather play 12 accts for less per year than pay for subs and accts on live/ test is great if you schedule your time in advance

as always thanks to brain and Co. for all you do
 
There are many free to play options for Live. You might just have to pick and choose which automation options you run with that are free with RG on Live servers. But I personally have stopped paying EQ money out of my pocket and never looked back. I live a couple expansions behind, but no big deal. Less competition in those zones anyway.
 
Redbot updated Very Vanilla MQ (Test Server) with a new update entry:

20251114

## Update 11/14/2025
- loader: Fix SendSetForegroundWindow - should help resolve some issues with focus swapping
## Update 11/13/2025
Updated for live hotfix.
- Fix achievements not reading properly
- Fix Item.CashLoot not returning the proper value
- Fix FindItemWnd additional columns overlapping existing columns
## Live Patch Update 11/12/2025
- Includes all changes from previous test patches.
Additional fixes:
- Fix crash when inspecting cash loot bag.
## Test Patch Update 11/6/2025
-...
Click to expand...

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Redbot updated Very Vanilla MQ (Test Server) with a new update entry:

20251124

## Test Patch Update 11/24/2025
Update for latest test patch
## Update 11/17/2025
Updated for live hotfix.
## Update 11/14/2025
- loader: Fix SendSetForegroundWindow - should help resolve some issues with focus swapping
## Update 11/13/2025
Updated for live hotfix.
- Fix achievements not reading properly
- Fix Item.CashLoot not returning the proper value
- Fix FindItemWnd additional columns overlapping existing columns
## Live Patch Update 11/12/2025
- Includes all changes from previous test...
Click to expand...

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Any update on when the Test might be back up?
I understand this is a major undertaking, and I really appreciate all the work everyone is putting into it. I’m not trying to rush or add any pressure.

I finally have some time tomorrow to run my crew and was just curious if it will available.
 
Wrong forum
Just curious if there is any timeframe on when Test servers will be back up and running for RG?
 
When it done, its done. if in discord can check !status as well but overall test always takes longer than live by design. I would also recommend you tip your devs!
 
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