Playtesting and refreshing

Playtesting answers two different questions:

1. Did the editor save the definition you intended?
2. Does a running character experience that definition correctly?

Test small changes with the smallest refresh that can answer the question. A full reset is useful for a clean single-player run, but it is unnecessary—and destructive—for most room or loader checks.

Open the world as Builder

A regular world created from the main lobby gives its author an immortal character named Builder. To enter with it:

1. Save any open editor form.
2. Select the world name in the editor’s top trail.
3. Select Lobby.
4. In Your Characters, select Play As Builder on Builder [ Builder ].

The Builder character can use ordinary player commands plus privileged builder commands. Enter help to see the in-game command groups, or help <command> for one command’s current syntax.

Room and exit edits are propagated to running copies of the world. After saving one, use look to request a fresh rendering of the current room, or move away and return. Text already present in the scrolling history is not rewritten.

Choose the right scope

Tool	Scope	What it does not do
look	The Builder’s current view	Does not create content or reset state
/load item <template_id>	One fresh item in the Builder’s inventory in the current running world	Does not add a loader or change the item template
/load mob <template_id>	One fresh mob in the Builder’s current room in the current running world	Does not add a loader or change the mob template
/repopulate	Saved loaders in the Builder’s current zone	Does not clear the zone, replace existing copies, or reset player progress
/reset	The current player’s entire single-player world instance	Does not change the reusable world definition and cannot run in multiplayer

/repop remains an accepted shorthand for /repopulate, but /repopulate is the canonical command name.

Test a template with /load

After saving an item or mob template, create a fresh live copy so you know which definition you are inspecting:

/load item 234
/load mob 456

An item loads into the Builder’s inventory. A mob loads into the Builder’s current room. The template ID appears in the editor’s item or mob details.

Editing a template does not rewrite existing live objects, so load a new copy when verifying a saved change.

Manual loads belong only to the running world in which you issue the command. They are useful for a focused test or a live game-master action, but they do not make the object appear for future players. Use a loader for repeatable population.

Test loaders with /repopulate

Use /repopulate while standing in the zone whose saved loader rules you want to run:

/repopulate

This bypasses the zone and loader respawn waits for that run. It still evaluates loader conditions and still respects population counts. If the configured number of matching objects already exists, the command may correctly create nothing.

This distinction is important: /repopulate means “run the current zone’s loaders now,” not “erase and reload the zone.” If a test needs a fresh copy, first account for the objects already satisfying the rule, or use a clean single-player reset when that larger scope is appropriate.

Start over with /reset

/reset is a builder command available to the Builder character only in a single-player world:

/reset

It disconnects and automatically reconnects the character into a newly created single-player instance based on the saved world definition. It returns the character to the configured starting room and clears level and experience, currency, non-core faction standing, trophies, aliases, quests, explored rooms, inventory and equipment, marks, and the previous instance’s live world state. Learned feats, flex skills, and custom skills currently remain.

Reset is destructive and single-player only

Use /reset when you intentionally want to replay the complete new-character experience. Do not use it as a substitute for look, a fresh /load, or /repopulate. The command is rejected in a multiplayer world because that runtime is shared.

For a single-player world, authorized builders can also open Players, select a character, and use Reset. That editor action performs the same reinitialization and warns that progress will be erased.

A practical test order

Work from narrowest to broadest:

1. Room prose, details, and exits: save, then look or traverse the exit.
2. Item or mob template: save, then create a fresh copy with /load.
3. Loader placement, counts, and conditions: save, stand in its zone, then use /repopulate.
4. Starting room, starting equipment, progression, or a complete single-player run: use /reset only when losing the current test progress is intended.
5. Multiplayer behavior: use a separate test character for fresh character state, and remember that the live world state remains shared.

World Admin start, stop, and kill controls operate on runtime instances and are not routine content-refresh buttons. They are administrative operations; killing a runtime while players are connected can cause data loss.