So i was told to contact game developers and not tech support in regards to my question. I haven’t found a “General Forum”, so i guess this must be the closest thing to one. I won’t re-write the entire post, it’s way too detailed, i will just give the link to the original thread that i posted > A question regarding log files.
In short, is there a way to see the matches that i played without third party software? I’m not against using third party software as well to see game replays, but AFAIK, such software only shows games after it was installed, where as i want to see information regarding games that i played about a month ago.
Is it this possible at all? Can a clear answer be given? Thank you.
It has ben stated multiple times on the Bug Report forum that Blizzard simply does not store game information at such a detailed level. Once the game is over, the only thing Blizzard keeps on its servers is the match result.
It is of course at least theoretically possible for Blizzard to build a system to log the games at such level, and then allow players access to that logged data. But that would obviously only catch the games played after it is made.
Realistically, I do not expect this to happen. Too much cost for too little gain for the company.
Once the game is over, the only thing Blizzard keeps on its servers is the match result.
Blockquote
Well that’s the thing, I wouldn’t even need a detailed log of each match, just a match result would completely suffice, all I want to know is how much games I’ve played, won and lost during a specific date, I have this kind of an unhealthy curiosity.
Who can I contact to get these match results? And the thing is, I don’t see why Blizzard would be hesitant or unwilling to give this information because any player could technically record this information on a notepad or some video recording anyways, in my case, I just didn’t have the third party software.
Someone has to go out of their way to dig through the logs and find your games, record the information (possibly translating it into something that would make sense to you), and then email you the data. Depending on how these logs are stored and the size of the data dies, that could easily take a couple of hours out of someone’s day. And if you do get your logs, then there’s potentially millions of players who would want that information as well (and rightfully expect it, since Blizzard did it once already).
Those are some possible reasons why they’re uninterested in doing it.
If you are in a country where EU law applies, then you can file an official request under GDPR to get a copy of all data stored on your account. I don’t know the details of the procedure; I assume that GDPR sets some maximum time for a company to respond to such a request, and companies probably are allowed to request a reasonable processing fee.
Customer Support is where you should start your request. They will probably not be able to handle the request but they should be able to forward it to the data officer within Blizzard.
If you are not in a EU member state, then GDPR gives you no rights at all. I think most other countries do not have legislation that would override the US law that otherwise applies to Blizzard, and I don’t think the USA has any laws that you can leverage (but I am not a lawyer!!!).
You might still be able to get the data if you make a reasonable request, though.
Before I wrote this thread, I actually did send Blizzard this data acquisition request (they have a separate form to fill out on their website), not sure if its GDPR related or not, but I would guess not because I live and play Hearthstone from Canada.
In any case, they offer different categories of data ranging from general game data (which I requested and shortly after received) to esports data (which there is no point to request because I assume this would be related to official tournaments and such - something I never participated in). The general game data file that I received doesn’t have any detailed information (which isn’t surprising I guess), the closest thing to match results in that file is the Hearthstone executable log-in and out times, and that doesn’t give me much.
You mentioned that companies are probably allowed to ask a reasonable fee to search for this information, I honestly wouldn’t mind paying for retrieval of such information, as long as it wouldn’t cost literally thousands of dollars. In my opinion, the problem isn’t related to a fee, it’s pretty much the thought that there is no actual way to contact Blizzard in regards to this question. As far as I understand, technical support isn’t capable nor authorized to help in such matters. It’s kind of sad, really. One thing is when those match results would be lost forever, on both my end and at Blizzard, and an entirely different thing is when Blizzard most likely possesses this information, but players like me can’t access it.
BigHugger, Not, Sure why you should feel the need to go out of your way to defend the devs, a for a simple win loss listing,( heroes of the storm does that along with stats and a veiw-able replay of the entire match if u wish to load it). How many hundreds of thousands of dollars has hearthstone made yet you quip “too much cost too little reward for the company” as your point?
Weak and lazy development and players like you only help reinforce the greed and laze
I merely explained the current situation as I have understood it from the bug forum. And then added my thought that it is possible to make, but that I don’t expect Blizzard to do it.
Blizzard is a business. Their purpose is to make money. Make money by investing into something that pays more than it costs.
When I think about HotS, I see action scenes and I understand the appeal of people wanting to review those. Check whether what they saw in a split second was correct or whether they made the wrong decisions. Show off their cool moves to their friends. Learn from their mistakes.
Hearthstone is a very different type of game. I do see some scenarios where a replay would be cool. Typically, the type of things we see on sites such as Trolden or Rage Orc. Weird RNG effects. Silly misplays. Smart combo’s.
But I also see a lot of scenarios that apply to HotS but not to HS. This is not a fast action-packed game. You get the time to think about your move. Players who want to review their choices typically pay enough attention that they remember the board state after the game. Players with a more casual play style are not likely to use replays as a learning tool.
For HotS, I can see scenarios where the replay functionality increases sales. By enough that the investment is recouped.
For HS, I personally think the balance sways the other direction.
But if you disagree, then instead of attacking me it would be better to build your case here. Name all the cool things that a replay function would enable. Explain how this would keep players longer interested in the game, how this would draw many more new players who would otherwise not have played HS.
There are Blizzard people reading here. If your arguments are compelling, they’ll certainly take them to heart. After all, their company just wants to make money.
In his defence, I personally feel that he just likes to be factual and sometimes neglect the feelings of the recipients (in this case, the ones asking the question). His lengthy writing also doesn’t help to make us feel that he is on our side. This makes us feel like he is defending the company against us, but no, he is just not expressing himself in a way that we would like him to. Not that he’s biased though.
If I disagree with you, I’d just say “yeah I get your point and maybe they could do this too, but they’re not because XYZ.”
While his style is probably “well they won’t do this because XYZ. And XYZ means …”
I think that feature is WAY overdue, the number of time game is 100% fine and I lose on 1 card ( or a combo ) i have never seen before and have no way to know what it was because the game is over is silly - basic analysis of your own game is a good feature.
As far as Blizzard not storing history is a lame excuse - That feature can easily be 100% client side and likely less than 3 Days of dev. The history is already sent play by play to the client during the game ( and displayed during the game ) , writing an event log client side is half a day of work to allow the client to look back at these after the game.
TLDR: there is really no good reasons for this feature to not exist already
