Attention to detail is essential in quality assurance.

If your boss changed the rules, preventing you from doing your job thoroughly, would you comply or explain why the new rule was a problem?

This man works as a QA tester, testing out games and reporting the bugs he catches.

But suddenly, his lead instructed the team to stop being creative and stick only to the script.

Check out the full story below to find out what happened when he complied.

You Want Me to Follow the Test Script Exactly? Sure Thing.

I work in game QA (Quality Assurance) which basically means I get paid to break games then write a detailed essay about how and why it broke.

One day, our lead sends out a message: “From now on, stick strictly to the test script. No deviations. No exploratory testing. Just follow the document as written.”

Although he didn’t agree, he followed the rule.

Now, this goes against the golden rule of QA.

Exploratory testing is where you catch the truly nasty bugs.

But hey, they wanted strict compliance? Fine. Let’s play that game.

He did exactly what the script said.

The next day, I’m testing a new patch for a third-person action game.

The script says: “Step 12: Jump on the platform and pick up the health pack.”

So I do exactly that.

I don’t move left or right. I don’t run into any nearby enemies. I certainly don’t check what happens if I fall off the platform.

I just jump, grab, pass.

The game had a critical bug.

Later, a developer gets a bug report from another tester about a soft-lock. (This is when the game becomes unplayable without restarting.) It happens if you pick up the health pack after aggroing a nearby enemy.

It turns out it’s a critical bug. One that happens to 1 in 5 players who aren’t robots following a script.

He was questioned why he didn’t see the bug, so he forwarded the new rule.

The dev asks why I didn’t catch it.

I just forward the manager’s message back: “No deviations. Just follow the document as written.”

Next thing I know, we’re in a meeting, and suddenly the tone shifts to: “Okay, from now on, feel free to do exploratory testing where appropriate.”

Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.

That sounds like a fun job, but the rule needed to be broken.

Let’s check out the comments of other people on Reddit to this story.

This user is surprised that no one took responsibility.

This person makes a valid point.

Sorry, not sorry, says this person.

Another QA specialist speaks up.

Finally, this comment makes perfect sense.

Sometimes, you have to let the bug do the talking.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.