Disclaimer: Blizzard has not publicly stated anything about this test realm.
A Wild Hearthstone Test Realm Has Appeared
Part of our day involves watching what Blizzard is up to with their games and we've discovered a push to the Battle.net client this evening which contains encrypted data for a Hearthstone Test Client. This could indicate a couple of things.
- Hearthstone could be getting a Public Test Realm.
- They are currently just testing out the new expansion.
Public Test Realms
If you weren't aware, Blizzard makes use of Public Test Realms (PTR) in all of their other game titles. This lets players test out upcoming game content before it comes to the live servers so they can help the team track down bugs and make sure the end product that is pushed out is awesome.
Ben Brode recently has gone on the record and stated that a PTR isn't just a positive, but also has downsides.
Quote from Ben BrodeThere are real downsides to a PTR. Because we ship on so many platforms, it would take at least a month of cards being fully spoiled before they release.
Not Just Expansions
Keep in mind that a Public Test Realm may not necessarily include upcoming expansions. One could also be used for:
- Testing bug patches before they go live.
- Making systems tweaks.
- Card Balance.
Seeing how the recent patch introduced a lot of bugs to the game, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Hearthstone team taking future game patches more seriously and giving them a round of quality assurance with the community's help!
I for one don't care if cards are spoiled in advance. It's not like seeing the cards early will ruin the fun for us or anything (like movie spoilers do). All that matters is proper balance.
As long as you don't add new content to test servers, ruining the fun for people who are waiting for the official release... otherwise, go crazy blizz.
Forget new cards/classes.. how about aa, 2V2!!
This would be so fun!
I´ll rather have new classes, thank you
I really hope it's not a ptr. Having everything spoiled a month or more in advance isn't fun.
Don't care. Just buff the Priest already.
They said that this could indicate one of two things:
So he is talking about the second option; Why would you change anything in live if you are the only ones who are playing it?
Of course they have internal version, you think such changes made blindly and deployed to live? Nobody never ever do that to game with such big audience. Maybe not tested so well, yes. I guess they want to roll out some changes to keep game fresh, even with some bugs.
I disagree. Sure, the surprise would be spoiled, but the game would be better off for it. By adding a PTR, not only can game breaking bugs get fixed and cards don't end up bullshitingly overpowered like a certain Shaman card we know, but we'll also be aware of new content a lot more too. One reason a lot of people don't play Hearthstone anymore is because new content is too far inbetween. A PTR would fix that.
For those who don't wanr to be spoiled, it'll be their responsibility to make sure they don't get spoiled. No one is holding you at gunpoint forcing you to read the news and watch the Youtube videos of the new stuff, so if you don't want to be spoiled, then don't watch the stuff.
A disaster named Undertaker would never have happened it into live if there was a PTR. Just let that sink in.
I personally don't think that this is likely but I'd love to see them add new classes and a PTR would indeed be a perfect place to do so.
That was never said, just that they don't have any plans right now. Fact check before spreading false information please.
Seems weird since herthstone releases are all about surprises and waiting for new cards if all the cards will be there from before for testing it will lose the point a bit.. on the other hand well it will give players the full sets doesn't it.. many people will lose interest on HS if they will be able to test every possible deck with all the cards they didn't have hhmm
on the other hand maybe they will more free to do tweaks on problematic cards like.. 4 mana 7/7 or priest buffs.
inb4 tempostorm test realm meta report!
I highly doubt this will be used for balance changes, most likely only for software stability
This is ridiculously elitist to say as being legendary doesn't have to do as much skill as you might think. You may still be an excellent player and just chose to play funnier decks for the sake of variety or, more likely, just not play enough to reach legend because it's grindy af.
I don't think you got my point. The ladder is not only a representation of skill but much more a representation on how much time was invested playing top tier decks.
Blizzard would also use stats they collect to balance cards and not some random input the most vocal group of testers gives.
In terms of bugtesting feedback on new features (which I think would be way more likely to happen than balancing) your idea would just be extremely counterproductive.
Let's say I'm a pro arena player. I don't spend much time in ladder and being a Legend isn't important to me. You're saying I'm nobody and I'm trash and my opinion about the game isn't important. But if I played Aggro Shaman or Zoolock (basically "Easy mode" of Hearthstone) and got to Legend rank, I would be important.
This is ridiculous.