[Suggestion] How to provide a good bug report

#0 - Sept. 15, 2010, 4:38 p.m.
Blizzard Post
PTR Bug Reports

The Primary purpose of the PTR forum is reporting bugs in the new content. Please use these guidelines when reporting bugs.

The more information you can provide to Blizzard about the bug you are experiencing, the more likely it is to get addressed by them and subsequently, the developers. This includes but is no limited to: a full description of what happened, steps for reproduction if possible, screenshots, crash logs, etc.
I can not stress how useful screenshots can be for helping Blizzard reproduce a bug.

Also, feel free to post on other players bug reports if you have similar reports to file or simply more information on that particular issue that was not provided by the original poster.

If a reported issue is already known, one of the moderators may lock the thread at their discretion.


PTR In-game Feedback Tool
In the some Public Test Realm builds we include a new tool for reporting player feedback in the form of bug reports, suggestions and player surveys.

You can find this new tool via the blue “B” button to the right of your mini-map, clicking on it will bring up the Feedback UI. You can also access the tool by typing “/bug” or “/suggest” in the chat bar.

Please use this tool whenever you encounter a bug in the game, this tool gathers character and location information that QA uses to identify and document issues. Even if you intend to post about an issue here in this forum (which is still being monitored) please also submit an in game report at the time the issue occurs.

Some tips when using the tool:
- Submit any issue you encounter immediately, not only will the details be fresh in your mind but the information the tool gathers will be most relevant.
- There is a limited amount of space to describe your issue, refrain from including information not directly related to the issue.
- Make sure to accurately answer the initial questions this helps us classify issues and see trends.
- Be sure to submit bug reports and suggestions appropriately so they will reach the correct people.

PTR Bug Reporting FAQ
• Q. I crashed, what do I do?
A. Whenever you crash you should be presented with a window to send the crash information to Blizzard. Please always do so. Also please always be sure to fill out the description of what led up to the crash. We track crash logs very closely and descriptions of the circumstances are very valuable to us.
Although it is not necessary to post your crash log here in the forums you can if you would like.

• Q. What type of information should I provide in my bug report?
A. First and most important is a thorough description of the problem and what occurred leading up the issue. The more information you provide us the faster we can reproduce your issue and start working on a fix.
Always provide what Operating system you are running when encountering the issue, Mac or Windows and the version.
Screenshots are very valuable to us and help speed the process of identifying bugs.
Any additional information that you feel might be useful to us, such as testing results on other hardware or by other players on different accounts.

• Q. How can I provide you with more information about my computer?
A. On windows PCs please provide the DXDiag information.
To test and obtain the DXDIAG information, please follow the instructions below:

Important Note: Please reboot your system prior to creating the dxdiag and files.

1. Click on Start.
2. Click on Run.
3. Type in DXDIAG and press Enter or click OK, this will open the DirectX diagnostic tool. Run the DirectDraw, Direct3D and DirectSound tests found under the Display and Sound tabs before creating the dxdiag.txt file.
4. Click on the Save All Information Button (save this file to your windows desktop and name it dxdiag).

On Macs please provide the type of Mac you are using (PPC or Intel) and the version of the Mac OS.
• Q. I have a screenshot or video of my bug, how can I get it to you?
A. There are a number of free image and video hosting services available on the internet that you can use to display your screenshots and videos.

• Q. I have a bug with one of my add-ons.
A. As UI add-ons are not provided by Blizzard we do not support their uses on the PTRs. You should contact the Add-on creator for assistance.

• Q. Why isn’t this bug fixed yet?
A. Identifying a bug is merely the first step in a long process before a fix can be added to the PTR, do not expect bugs to be fixed immediately.



Please keep in mind the more information you can provide to Blizzard and the Devs about any crashes and bugs, this includes screenshots off graphical and other issues, will greatly aid Blizzard in tracking down and fixing issues that are found.

Also while the PTR is not named a Beta by Blizzard it effectively is, you are testing unreleased content and there may be bugs, numbers can be changed at a later date and time once functionality bugs are corrected




#9 - Sept. 27, 2010, 10:49 a.m.
Blizzard Post
This is a very helpful thread indeed... stickied :-)