We’ve always enjoyed the thought of allowing users to test Release Candidate (RC) builds of our software. ChasePlane enabled you access to that distribution channel with a toggle in the preferences area. However, while it allowed you to have access to RC builds, it was a bit of a mystery as you never really knew what you were signing up for. There was no disclaimer, no expectation set, and no way to communicate issues back to us. It was also too easy to stay in beta forever and never go back to the “stable” build. Sometimes this led to an influx of support tickets on test builds that weren’t quite ready for mass consumption.
A few weeks ago I shared a few ideas with Keven for discussion, ways that our users could get the best of both worlds, test new builds, AND enjoy the stability of products we push out over the public channel. It was clear that Keven was adamant about expanding our group of testers to the general public for the higher probability of identifying issues, and I was firm on never assuming our paying customers are forever beta testers. So after some really good conversation we came up with a beautiful implementation, we hope you will love it and want to participate. It’s safe to say, the more people test and bless an RC build, the faster updates and features are deployed to the public. We are proud of our low support ticket count, and how stable our software is, now YOU can help us keep it that way!
INTRODUCING THE CTD ARMY
So who celebrates CTD’s? We do! A “Crash Test Dummy” (CTD) is a high-precision test instrument used to measure & identify public crash potential in software deployments, and we want an army of them!
Identifying and replicating issues is something welcomed by developers, especially when they are caught and addressed prior to a public software release. Today you’ll receive an update to Immersion Manager that will allow you to “opt-in” to the CTD Army in the Preferences section and receive RC builds, once the build goes public, you will automatically be placed back on the Stable channel.
By joining you will receive access to a special area on the new Discord server where we will release RC build notifications. Anyone can join and help us test updates/features.
//42 DISCORD SERVER
For over a year we’ve been perfecting our internal “Area 42” Discord server for use by our testers. Inside, we have seen a beautiful community blossom of users helping users. It didn’t take much to realize that Discord works really well for quick help from fellow users of your favorite //42 products.
So we’ve decided to create a public-facing //42 Discord Server for all our awesome customers! Once inside you’ll find a user-to-user support channel for each //42 product, feature request channels, a general chatter area for GIF invasions, and even a screenshot channel for all you ChasePlane artists.
But lets set some expectations before you all roll in asking for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 support, this Discord is for //42 users to interact and support each other around the current releases. Additionally, it is a space for RC builds to be released to the CTD’s. All 1-on-1 support requests should continue going to help.parallel42.com.
We’re incredibly excited about opening this space up to everyone, as well as the ability to test our newest creations. Join, interact, enjoy!
JOIN HERE: https://discord.gg/dvhpEdf
by Edson Soriano, Managing Director //42
