I've heard of this thing called 'programming' that would allow the test server to just dump all the gear into the inventory of newly created characters with full heat, instead of making us individually purchase each item from the supply depot and run through the fast advancement level over and over in order to heat stuff.
At this pace, I'll be burnt out long before I get to test all the gear.
If the heat system was tweaked to work like the old one, just for the testing server, it'd be much easier to deal with.
It would definetely make things a lot easier for testers. I personally feel like we should just go back to that wasy in general, but hey thats an opinion, we're here to test.
I have to beat stratum 5 before being able to enter a SL?
I have to purchase all the radiant fire crystals to heat the gear that I got for free?
I have to search through the supply depot to find the gear to test?
I have to actually use the weapon to find out how much damage it has?
Yes it is inconvenient, but it allows for a full range of testing without taking precious developer time to create a safe system in which we can interact with to test the full range.
The only reason we would ever need to test levels 2 through 9 is to make sure none of the values are borked, and something tells me they've already done the number punching. In the grand scheme of things, aren't Lv1 and Lv10 the only ones that matter for the sake of player testing?
Fourth forge option that maxes an item's level, please.
Or a blue ember pickup in the fast advancement mission that does something to the same effect.
But the way it is, you can essentially choose what level of gear you want. If you want to test level 1 callahans, go for it. If you want to see how level 7 blasters hold up in a Vanaduke fight, do it.
The only difference I would make is let us be able to forge and change gear everywhere - not just arsenal stations. People would take advantage of it, yes, but this is a testing preview. Hopefully we're here to test things out, not abuse our abilities.