[Testing/Prizes] Playtest Report Bounties!

Update: No longer handing out pizza for testing.



Some have complained that the current incentive structure for generating playtests isn't sufficient: not enough people win, it only rewards cheesy play, etc.. The good news is that that wasn't our endgame. We just wanted to put pressure on cheese first and foremost. Those incentives remain on the table, but we're going to transition into a new phase of playtesting balance changes.

There is now a bounty on playtest reports!

I'm going to be offering pizza to playtesters who submit battle records to me. Here's how it works. You know the battle log?

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You can select the text in the battle log and copy it to your clipboard. Do that toward the end of a game (don't wait until the game ends—you won't be able to copy it once someone has won), then paste it into a text file. Now you have a battle record of your game. Think of these battle records as redeemable vouchers. That said, I don't want just any records. Below are my criteria.

1. Number of Battle Records
To cash in your battle records, I want them in sets of three.

2. Write-ups
Every three battle records should be accompanied by at least a paragraph describing your thoughts on the games you played. If you do not send a write-up with your battle records, you will not win any pizza. Don't worry about writing well, or anything: you're not being graded. I just want your thoughts. Useful write-ups spend time examining the player's deckbuilding and gameplay choices, as well as the cards of their opponents.

3. AI
I am not interested in records of games played against the AI. Please only record and submit games played against other humans.

4. Deck Types
I am particularly interested in battle records for games in which you tried your best to win with one of the following archetypes:
• Vampires (single or multiple)
• Firestorm
• Volcano/Bless
• 3 Wizard Control ("3DC")
• 3 Wizard Damage (lightning, fire, or punishing)
• Triple Elf Warriors
• Triple Human Anything
• 2 Warriors + 1 Wizard
• 1 Warrior, 1 Priest, 1 Wizard ("1/1/1")
• 2 Wizards + 1 Priest (but not firestorm)
• Priest/Wizard-based denial (Cause Fumble/Smoke Bomb Jam)
• Harness-stacking

This list is subject to change. For instance, say I get 30 battle records that all show vampires are broken. I might be more interested in getting data on other archetypes. If an archetype isn't on this list, I might not award pizza for your submission. If you think an archetype should be on this list, please post below and I'll probably add it.

5. How to Submit Battle Records
You can PM me your records and write-ups on these forums. Be sure to include your in-game name so that I can award your pizza.

6. Incomplete Games
Don't bother submitting records of inactivity timeouts, premature resignations, etc., unless the game has already been decided somehow. Some critical mass of cards need to have taken been played for your report to mean anything or be of value.

7. What's in it for you?
The bounty is 50 pizza per set of three battle records. If your write-up is particularly helpful, I will award you an extra 10 pizza at my discretion. Note that you can submit multiple times as long as you keep playing more games, and that both players in a given game can submit the same game's battle record to me as long as each player is sending me their own reports and insights.

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If you have questions, ask them below. If you can't find human opponents for your playtest games, try to round some up on the forums or the live server.

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Preemptive FAQ

Q: Where is the test server?
A: http://test.cardhunter.com

Q: How do I use the test server, cheats, etc.?
A: http://forums.cardhunter.com/threads/how-to-use-the-test-server.5518/

Q: Are you out of your mind with these prizes?
A: No—we're trying to push playtesting pretty hard. We may adjust the bounty depending on how things go.

 

2 war, 1 wiz - idk if it's that good anymore since WWs are not what they used to be
1-1-1 - this could defintely be on the list
2 wiz, 1 priest but not FS wizards - why not?

 

3 Priest or 2 Priest + 1 Wizard denial teams. Cause Fumble is still very strong and this combo is still very viable.

 

Thanks. I'm actually running neoncat's on test right now because I think it's a build to beat.

 

Unless Flax edited his post after your comment, 1-1-1 is already in the list and he said not FS because FS was already in the list as well

 

I added them after Feleran posted.

 

He added all 3 of my suggestions after I had posted them.
Also burning wizards are missing. Ember Burst/Fireball/Instant Burn kind
Playing through tutorial on "Feleran" on test server atm to join the party

 

I'd say 3 Lightning Wizards is probably more problematic. I've done fairly well with them.

 

Added a category for damage wizard teams. Thanks guys!

 

edit: lolz, and there are three more comments between the time I catch up and click on post... XD

You people type too quickly. I was going to point out -

- 3 damage wizards (3DD? - not allowed to use encumber or TK/GoW/WoW, FF is fine)
- 2 wiz, 1 priest is going to be a savage curse / unholy wellspring buff build

 

Added a clause that I'll only count games where the players actually played each other (no instant resigns etc.)

 

Were people actually abusing that?

 

No, no one's abused anything yet. Just wanted to get my ducks in a line.

 

Thanks! This is something that will make me feel like I'm contributing.

 

I should note, pizza deliveries won't be immediate. Due to the volume of playtest reports coming (thanks guys!) and the fact that I am in fact not at my computer 24/7 to work on Card Hunter, I'll be delivering pizza in batches whenever it makes sense for me to. So you might have to wait a day or two.

 

Here's a log of me trying to get a match on the test server with 8-10 players online.

edit: this was over the course of ~15 minutes, and I did get a (brief, one-sided) match with Squidy, yay!

 

I've been running into this as well. It might be a good idea to sticky a link to this thread in the general and/or announcement forum, in order to get more players for test server matches (and more reports!).

 

Sorry to hear that. Test was pretty lively earlier, with ~14 active players at once. If you guys feel like sharing the link on live server lobby chat, that'd be most helpful, I think.

 

This is good, playing cheese isn't really fun, but playing thematic builds is cool, even cooler when there is incentive even for getting beat by cheese.

 

Just distributed 1170 pizza — whew! Thanks for playtesting, guys. I'd like some of you—not all of you—to try moving away from playing 2+ warrior builds for a day and see what happens.