Dungeon loop trial: the loop, roles and tanks' class quests

First half of the trial with 2,500 autonomous players: once the first dungeon is open to them, they do nothing but Dungeon Finder runs, with a role given at creation and ×10 experience up to level 15, then ×1. Warriors and druids now do their tank stance quest, and Stormwind Old Town no longer traps anyone. On the test server, the first group forms 2 minutes after logging in.

What this trial is getting ready for

A new population of 2,500 autonomous players, created at level 1, will level up through quests until the first Dungeon Finder dungeon. From then on, they will do nothing but dungeons, on a loop. This deployment puts the first half in place. The other half, dungeons that can be finished from start to end, is still being tested.

The loop

As soon as a Dungeon Finder dungeon is open at its level (Ragefire Chasm at level 15), an autonomous player goes to its race's capital and binds its hearthstone there.
From then on, it only does dungeons: sign-up, run, back to town, upkeep (repairs, sales, food, drinks, class trainer, talents), then a new sign-up right away.
While waiting, it stays in town: at the bank, the auction house, the inn or the mailbox. No quests, no hunting, no battlegrounds, no trips.
Each refusal from the Dungeon Finder (deserter, cooldown, repairs out of reach) leads to a reasoned wait, never to blind retries.

Roles

Each character gets a role at creation: in each faction, 20% tanks, 20% healers and 60% damage. Its talents, its Dungeon Finder sign-up and its gear follow that role.

Experience

The trial's autonomous players gain experience at ×10 up to level 15, so that the questing phase only lasts a few hours, then at ×1 in dungeons. Human players keep the server's ×10 speed.

Sessions

When the server limits the number of autonomous players online, a freed slot now goes to whoever has been waiting the longest. Before, it went to the first one in the list: in a 24-hour simulation, more than half of the population would never have played.

Tanks' class quests

Defensive Stance: each warrior race's quest chain is now followed to the end. Turn-ins to the right characters are done, the draenei cage opens with its key, and a fight that cannot be won waits for the next level. On the test server, every race learns it, 5 to 25 minutes after level 10.
Bear Form: the druid teleports to Moonglade, speaks to the Great Bear Spirit and fights Lunaclaw.
A tank that does not have its stance yet goes for it before signing up as a tank.

Stormwind Old Town

Old Town's paths are linked to the rest of the city, trainers and vendors have their approach points, and an inn where a character got stuck is set aside. On the test server, six Alliance characters went there and came back without getting stuck.

Checked on the test server

The loop: 43 characters of level 15 to 22 in their capitals, for 75 minutes. The first group forms 2 minutes after logging in, with a median wait of 30 seconds. 15 runs started, 7 of them finished. After a run, signing up again takes 23 seconds at the median (37 of 38 returns). No quests, no trips outside the loop, no stuck characters.
Both halves together: 30 minutes with 40 characters: 13 runs started, 2 of them finished at Ragefire Chasm in 13 minutes at the median. The wait before a group is 10 seconds for tanks and about 4 and a half minutes for healers and damage dealers. No crash, no stuck character. The 3 abandoned runs, at Shadowfang Keep, belong to the second half of the trial.

Deployment

The new version of the module is installed on the server. The autonomous players stay stopped. The trial will start once finishable dungeons are ready and a large-scale rehearsal has been run on the test server.