In our last Alpha post we shared a few introductory thoughts about the recent Silberheim ECG Alpha testing phase and looked at how it unfolded through the eyes of our testers. Today’s post will be a little less narrative, because this time, you’ll be faced with the raw and mathematical facts: statistics! Never been curious about how much playtime and Flux our test community accumulated? Then you might want to stop reading here. We’ll also take a look at some of the best and funniest stories from the Alpha and leave you with a few final thoughts.

You don’t know what to do with variables and variances, causal analyses, regression models and interaction effects, multilevel structures and random slopes? No worries – we won’t get into the really complicated stuff in this post. Instead, we’ll stick to some descriptive features. In other words: we’re counting things.

552 hours, 35 minutes and 55 seconds. That’s how long our Alpha community played in total. Hard to picture? Let’s put it this way: that’s over 23 days of nonstop gaming - no breaks, no sleep.

Hypothetically, here’s what you could have done with that precious time instead:

Walk 2,307 kilometers to Athens and enjoy a leisurely ice cream on the Acropolis.

Watch a giant bamboo plant grow over 1.5 kilometers tall.

Catch up on the amount of sleep our team has missed since the Alpha started. Wink.

Of course, we at Team Silberheim also put in our fair share of testing - after all, we need to know what we’re putting our players through. Still, we didn’t quite keep up with our amazing testers: of the total 552.5 hours, 82 hours and 15 minutes were logged by us - which is just under 15%.

We also fell about 1.5 hours short of the global average playtime of 9 hours and 3 minutes. Comment from the IT office: “That’s a good thing. Means we actually did some work!”

In Isdraia Flux is an extremely rare and silvery substance - magical, mysterious, and highly coveted by the rich and powerful. In Silberheim ECG, our testers have developed a similar craving for Flux. It can be used to purchase booster packs or decks, giving players access to new cards. Each victory earns a reward of two to three Flux. But the real question is: how much was collected overall? During the Silberheim ECG Alpha testing phase, a total of 5,727 Flux was gathered. That’s enough to open over 1,145 small booster packs - or to purchase the Skuhuk starter deck 286 times. That’s 286 goblin boxes - err - crates full of green-skinned mischief-makers.

We already on the questionnaire in our previous post: after registration and before jumping into the game, players go through a short sequence that determines their faction alignment. Now it’s time to take a closer look at how our test community ended up distributed across the different factions:

By the end of the Alpha, five relentless fighters had aligned themselves with the battle-hardened warrior elite – making it the smallest of all factions, with just 7.8% of the players. The fearless Skuhuks attracted twice as many, reaching 15.6%. They were followed by the thoughtful Heirs of Fendiril, with 18.8% of players choosing their path. In second place: the assertive Stormrunners, claiming 21.9% of the community. But the undisputed frontrunners were the wild beasts of Trandar’s Basin, chosen by a whopping 35.9% of all testers. Want even more stats? Head over to our Instagram for the full breakdown.

Our Alpha testers got to know a particular duo on Discord: Zongi and her Wolby, Piwie. They explained what it’s all about in an interview, and we’re here to share their story.

Piwie is a small, brown ball of fur - not a cat, not a ferret - but a Wolby! “Fiep,” goes Piwie. Zongi translates for us: “Piwie just returned from a long journey and is still a bit tired.” The long journey Zongi refers to is a trip to a very special Fenn: Foddo. But Foddo isn’t just any Fenn - no, he’s the Fenn for all occasions. He tries everything and masters nothing. On top of that, Foddo has developed a strong interest in testing limits - currently, especially the limits of Silberheim. That’s why he decided to challenge our Alpha community with various challenges.

“Piwie happened to be with Foddo when he delivered the message,” Zongi says. She won’t explain why - only adds, “My private business with Foddo is none of your concern.” We didn’t press further.

“Piwie then came back to me, all excited,” Zongi continues. “That’s when I found the scroll and immediately sprang into action.” Suddenly, Zongi looks nervous: “When Foddo gives me a task, I have to carry it out…”

Foddo’s Challenge: Maximizing Goods and Buffs! It’s clear that our challenge participants gave it their all (well, most of them at least). They immediately set to work and mastered every one of Foddo’s tasks. Piwie dashed off in a hurry to deliver the results. And Foddo was extremely pleased. He decided to hand out some rewards: Flux, special cards, and unique titles!

Zongi is also happy that the participants’ efforts didn’t go unrewarded. She explains: “Foddo’s great favor has allowed our Alpha community to earn even more recognition and appreciation - beyond the promo cards.”

By promo cards, Zongi means in-game cards - also called fragments - that were exclusively awarded to those who reached certain milestones in Silberheim. They were given for simply participating in the Alpha, for reaching certain leaderboard positions, and as a thank-you for extra support.

And after 50 completed matches, the storm boar Agotho even rampages across the battlefield! “Not so loud,” Zongi whispers, “Piwie is afraid of Agotho.”

The adventure of Zongi, Piwie, and Foddo comes to an end with the conclusion of the Alpha - at least for now. Yet we have the strange feeling that some secrets are still waiting to be uncovered: What was Foddo’s true goal? Why did he set these challenges? And what shady dealings are Zongi and Piwie involved in within this context? So many questions…

Piwie is now asleep, dreaming of carrots sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Zongi strokes her fur. When asked how she would sum up the Alpha testing phase, she says, “It was like an inner harvest festival to me.”

It’s impossible to write this post without mentioning them: the crate full of green skins - better known as the “Goblinbox.” It’s been a recurring topic on our Discord server and shaped the Alpha testing phase like no other card. Our attentive testers have already caught wind of the shocking revelations about the Goblinbox - but surely not everyone has heard the whole story yet. So, we’d like to take a moment to summarize the legend of the Goblinbox for everyone.

The crate full of green skins is a fragment - that is, a game card - in Silberheim ECG. It belongs to the Skuhuks and is… well, a bit too powerful. Our Alpha community quickly noticed just how strong the card was. And thus began the great Goblinbox era…

Two camps formed: one full of enthusiasm and the other filled with hate and disgust. Things escalated quickly. Hashtags were born. Some wished it dead, while others praised it. The lines were drawn.

But then: investigative research uncovered something shocking. It turned out that the biggest anti-Goblinbox propagandist was actually the one playing the supposedly hated card the most. The news spread like wildfire. The outcry was loud. There was hardly any other choice left but to come to the long-awaited reconciliation.

May the Goblinbox bless us all. #HDGB

Oh and here - completely out of context, without explanation or sensible introduction - is a small, carefully curated selection of Broodmother jokes from Discord:

1. Your Broodmother is in both the attack and defense lines at the same time. – MG

2. Your Broodmother is so massive, flying creatures can’t get over her. – MG

3. Everyone thinks your Broodmother is actually the card “Hollow Giant.” – KW

And just like that, the longest and most beautiful Alpha test phase has come to an end - more or less suddenly. From the very beginning, we planned for the Alpha to wrap up by the end of June. And so it happened. On June 29th, the Silberheim ECG Alpha test phase officially ended.

But what does that mean now? What’s next? We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating: accounts, the leaderboard, and promo cards will remain intact, and Silberheim ECG will still be playable and testable - just without the same level of active support as before. New accounts can still be created, too. So if you haven’t had the chance to test Silberheim ECG yet, you still can! Just send a message to Karl on Discord. This will continue until the Beta test phase begins. While the actively supported Alpha has now come to its first end, the extended Alpha will conclude a second time with the start of Beta. When will that be? Let’s just say: it’s probably going to be months, not years, before you see it.

Before we finish, one thing absolutely must not be missed: We want to take a moment to sincerely thank, everyone who helped and supported us during the Alpha.

A huge thank you to our Helping Hands: Often juggling dual roles as both testers and moderators, you actively helped keep Discord in order and answered countless questions. This took a massive load off the team’s shoulders and was crucial to the success of this Alpha. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and hope you enjoyed your exclusive promo cards!

Thank you to all our testers. An Alpha test without people to actually test it wouldn’t be an Alpha test at all. Without you, none of this would have been possible. We appreciate every won or lost match, every piece of birchwood, spring water, and marble collected, every Flux spent wisely or not so wisely, every bug report, and all your feedback - whether sent via the Wolby Express or Discord. You and your input are the foundation on which Silberheim can hopefully build for many years to come. The entire team thanks you wholeheartedly.

Some of you didn’t just meet our expectations - you blew them out of the water. The massive amount of Flux collected over the past weeks is largely thanks to one initially unbeatable exception: a certain (Panthe)Tom (#HDGB)! Congratulations! But recently, we’ve noticed a newcomer who’s basically storming the field from behind: Anna, the tireless! Joining the Alpha late, she’s now collecting more Flux than anyone else - even despite the official Alpha end! Truly admirable dedication that we don’t want to go unrecognized.

The end. (See you after our summer break!)