IM_CARLOS said: Last and major problem: bugs.In both beta I haven't any crash in hundred matches. On third run I had 2 out of 7 yet. Was I lucky the first two iterations.
GrizzoMtGPQ said: Eye of Ugin is crazy good.
Mburn7 said: This entire process has just been super insulting to me.We have been asking for Beta testing to be run on new stuff for years, since every single thing is released with bugs. I can't help but feel like they decided to roll out this event as a "Beta Test" in order to get us to shut up, not to actually test the event. I mean think about it:None of the premade decks changed at all between any of the 3 event runs.None of the objectives changed besides minor numbers tweaking between any of the 3 event runsNone of the planeswalker abilities changed at all between any of the 3 event runsNone of the bugs were fixed between any of the 3 event runsNothing new was added to or taken away from the event between any of the 3 event runsWhat did change between the events?The cost of the boosters was increased by 50%The event rewards were decreased by 90% (admittedly this one makes sense a little, but was probably excessive)The phase 2 and 3 recharge timers were increased by ~6600%So if nothing was changed or fixed besides the rewards and recharge times (both of which went directly against the opinions in the survey), why did they bother running a Beta test? What exactly were we testing?
Let's talk about Duel Decks. Why the dramatic change in secondary objectives and recharge times for both sides?We had a critical issue relating to the recharge time during the first Beta. The recharge time was supposed to be about 5 hours with 2 initial charges, but a bug occurred and the cooldown was only set to 10 minutes. This seemed great for a lot of players, due to the reward accessibility. In some cases, 10 minutes isn't even enough for someone to play a whole match, so this created an "infinite" amount of charged for everyone.Since the Zendikar vs Eldrazi was in a Beta test environment, and Duel Decks was a whole new event format, we had different elements to validate and test (most importantly, its structure and system) The PvP objectives changed, because we wanted to give players a chance to build different strategies to beat the other side without being restricted to a single card type or creature sub-type, (players were supposed to play with Eldrazi anyways for synergistic reasons) and we wanted to challenge players to build Pauper decks in a competitive event. The PvE objectives from the first Beta, on the other hand, were considered to be too easy to achieve by both the players and the internal team. So in order to increase its replayability, we changed those to something more challenging.The rune rewards, on the other hand, were directly affected by the recharge timer, and "suffered" a significant impact when the recharge time was corrected. The crystals and jewels given at the Beta environment were supposed to be the same as the live version of the event, but we decided to reward our beta testers with a lot more, as a way to thank them for their assistance. In our haste to fix the recharge timer though, we neglected to communicate the nature of the issue which led to the misunderstanding regarding the "nerf" to the rewards. For that, we take full responsibility.Our intention with the Duel Decks event is to turn it into the go-to method of exploring the game's previous collections that would otherwise never be in MTGPQ. So, to make it a regular format, we must closely and carefully evaluate its rewards and pacing - that's the reason we decided to make it our first Beta test.A lot of players expressed their concerns in the forum that they had the feeling that the Oktagon team was not listening or taking their feedback and opinions seriously. This was a misunderstanding. We want to assure everyone that we're keeping an eye on player feedback, but sometimes, due to production reasons, it is difficult to immediately implement all the changes the community wants. Now that a Beta process has been established, how do you see it benefiting the game in the future?The Beta process is a great tool that helps evaluate new features, rewards, Planeswalkers, objectives, cards, and original content. We plan to make use of this tool whenever needed, as a way to interact with those who can provide us valuable feedback, and to test new features and/or game modes in a live but controlled environment.What was your experience like running a Beta, and what would you change if you were to run another one in the future?The main point we will change from this first Beta test is the communication side of things. Most Beta tests, including some famous collectible games, employ some sort of content wipe after its completion. This is done in order to avoid balance problems with the live environment.We are not sure if this reward wipe will be applied for the next Betas, or if we will implement No-Reward Beta policy. We'd like to avoid that, as it is a way to show gratitude for those who help us in testing new features and events, but some changes will probably occur. When they do, we will be very clear about it.
Mburn7 said: The funniest thing about this event is how the indestructible support that appears in the Duel Phase (but is not mentioned anywhere else in the event) makes it significantly harder to play with the type of deck your side wants to.I ended up making an Eldrazi deck with Nissa, and I gotta say it was significantly better than any landfall deck I could put together because of that support. I get that they want to add an extra challenge, but I feel like Nissa's best option should not be to play Eldrazi.
rafalele said: Mburn7 said: The funniest thing about this event is how the indestructible support that appears in the Duel Phase (but is not mentioned anywhere else in the event) makes it significantly harder to play with the type of deck your side wants to.I ended up making an Eldrazi deck with Nissa, and I gotta say it was significantly better than any landfall deck I could put together because of that support. I get that they want to add an extra challenge, but I feel like Nissa's best option should not be to play Eldrazi. That support in Nissa side is a bug I have already reported the last time we played this event. The Zendikar indestructible support should be other (do not remember it) that fits better with it's side.
arNero said: but my victories were in part that the Eldrazi players somehow strangely were kind enough to build noticeably bad decks; Clutch and Eldest would have completely ruined my day.