Ben Brode explains why Hearthstone rank takes so long to fix?

There were a few posts asking why Blizzard took so long to introduce “simple” rank changes into the game. Ben Brode has the answer!

• The team has to go through many stages of thinking and testing
• The hardest part wasn’t putting them in the game, but testing them
• Need to run simulation to see how the rank will be after a while. “How is the player experience at each rank?”

The first stage is to come up with the right solution. When you find the right solution, it feels “clear”. Derek’s GDC presentation is a great example of difficult problems when the team seems to have a clear solution.

We literally went through many rounds of thought and experimentation – everything from changing the system completely, to making small changes to achieve our goals.

After we got the prototype, we started to draw. We run simulations and check what the results will be after 1, 2, 3, 6 months and a year. Are the players widely distributed, does the matchmaking quality improve? Will rank spike over time? How is the player experience at each rank? We have a Data Research team to test and create player behavior so that Blizzard has the most accurate view possible, which will help make the right decision.

Once we have a design that we’re confident in, it’s time to apply. Often in the onboarding process, we determine the timing and bottlenecks. Example: We couldn’t do the midnight update in all regions and on all platforms on March 1st, so we needed to make sure the two rank systems were in place in the game, and slowly move move from the old to the new at the right time. The current design requires a major change in how players receive their monthly rank rewards, we added more warnings and reminders in the interface to minimize the chance of players missing March’s card back. We had to change that. Changed the win screen and quest log to accommodate the new change.

But adoption isn’t the biggest factor in the system. This case is experimental. When we create a new card, we need to make sure it works. A tester uses that card in a lot of strange situations and collects errors associated with it. The auto engineer will force the card to be used millions of times and check to make sure the server doesn’t explode. But a system like this creates a more challenging test requirement. It involves a large player base, resetting rank rewards, resetting ranks from February to March, and coordination between developers, testers, and automation engineers to make sure everyone has the right tools. they need.

I’m glad people are enjoying these changes – please let us know your feedback once you’ve tried it!

Source: hearthpwn