novelraw Chapter 149: Project Team Formed
Chapter 149: Project Team Formed
The moving situation.
It couldn’t be delayed.
But it also couldn’t be rushed… after all, the two sisters had lived in their old place for so long, just packing up their stuff would take a while.
And Tang Yao had to go to work, Tang Xun had to go to school.
The two of them could only squeeze in time to pack after work or school.
After the New Year’s Day holiday, Tang Yao went back to work.
And as soon as she stepped into Avalon, she saw a bunch of people crowded in the corner.
“?”
Tang Yao slowly raised a questioning eyebrow.
Weird. ...What are they doing?
Just then, a voice drifted over from that direction.
“You gonna clear the board or what? You’re just standing there getting beat—what kind of dumb**s play is that?”
“Shut up! Can’t you see they’ve still got six cards in hand? If I play a removal now, what am I supposed to do later?”
“Keep going face! Shi Wanglin, do you even know how to play?”
“You b***hes even looking at my HP? Keep going face? They’ve got five attack on board—I go face, I might as well die!”
“……”
Hearing the shouting, Tang Yao paused, guessed what was happening, and walked over.
Sure enough.
A whole group of people were crowding around Si Jinliang and Shi Wanglin playing cards…
The two of them were drenched in sweat, trying to deal with both the game and the peanut gallery.
Meanwhile, the onlookers were watching with great interest, occasionally tossing in their two cents.
Tang Yao stood outside the crowd, rose slightly on her toes for a peek, and saw the two had clearly played countless rounds like this.
…They were scarily proficient.
How to build the board, how to clear it, how to counter the opponent’s plays—they had it all down pat.
Still, the spectators were having a blast and couldn’t help but butt in with suggestions, throwing the two players into chaos.
Tang Yao couldn’t help but chuckle. She didn’t interrupt them, instead standing to the side with amusement, watching the lively match.
Then she noticed something.
The other staff seemed… pretty familiar with the game too, and were showing some serious interest.
Usually, TCGs aren’t that easy to learn. Their rules are complex and they involve tons of card effects, chain reactions, and strategic combos.
Like Magic: The Gathering—five different colors, each with its own style and mechanics. A beginner would be totally lost, not to mention the wall of text on every card.
But in comparison,
The game these two were playing was much easier to understand.
Take Soulfire: it deals four damage, discard a card.
Flame Imp: deal three damage to yourself, and then you’ve got a super-strong minion.
The descriptions together don’t even hit ten words.
Simple and straightforward.
Watch for a little while and you’ll get the gist.
Watching them have so much fun,
Tang Yao felt even more confident about this second game, and suddenly thought of something—how did they view Dou Pai back then?
Right at that moment,
Si Jinliang suddenly looked up and met Tang Yao’s gaze.
He froze for a second, then gave a sheepish smile.
That look made everyone else turn and notice Tang Yao too.
It wasn’t that they were scared of her as the boss—honestly, she wasn’t that intimidating…
Mainly, they’d heard from Si Jinliang.
This new game mode was Tang Yao’s idea.
“How’s it feel?”
Tang Yao ignored their stares, looked at Si Jinliang, and asked.
“It’s great.”
Si Jinliang snapped out of it, paused the match, and answered excitedly, “The deck samples are still few! Some balance issues need work! But this gameplay is definitely solid!!”
“What about you guys?”
Tang Yao nodded slightly, then looked around at the others: “What do you think of this kind of card game?”
“……”
The others were quiet.
After a while, someone finally said, “Well, it’s definitely better than Si Jinliang’s old Dou Pai. We can actually understand it. The rules are relatively easier. That Dou Pai thing was way too complicated—besides the designers, most of us couldn’t even play…”
“Yeah.”
A lot of people chimed in.
Tang Yao: “……”
Well then.
Even the devs couldn’t play it.
She couldn’t help glancing at Si Jinliang.
He looked a little embarrassed.
When even the devs can’t play… not that they didn’t want to play, that’s pretty awkward.
Seeing his awkwardness, Tang Yao didn’t press him. She pulled back her gaze, thought for a moment, then opened her mouth to ask—but suddenly paused.
She had wanted to ask if there were parts they didn’t understand, but given the current situation… yeah, that’d be pointless.
There were only two decks.
“Yuxin.”
Having made up her mind, Tang Yao looked over at Chu Yuxin standing in the corner: “Starting today, the Dou Pai project team is officially established. You and Lu Shuping are reassigned to the Dou Pai project. Kang Ming, assign four people from your team too. We’re going to build the class system and the base card pool first. Also, define one or more core playstyles for the nine classes.”
“……”
Everyone looked at each other.
Si Jinliang’s eyes lit up: “You’re leading the project team?”
“Correct.”
Tang Yao shook her head: “But I’ll be the Executive Producer and also take on the Lead Designer role. Shi Wanglin will be Lead Programmer, Chu Yuxin will be Art Director, and you’ll be the Producer.”
An Executive Producer refers to someone who oversees the whole project and holds final decision-making power—usually one EP handles multiple projects. In simpler terms, think of them as the studio head under a major game company.
A regular Producer, on the other hand, is the team lead within a specific project. They manage everything—from the product to recruitment and budgeting.
Si Jinliang knew that too. His eyes slowly widened, pointing at his own nose: “Me?”
“Yeah, but don’t panic.”
Tang Yao explained: “You’re the best fit. This week, I’ll hand you the features for all nine classes, their class cards, and neutral cards. As the Producer, you’ll not only manage and coordinate the development, but also review my design docs and card lists.
You’ll be responsible for keeping the game balanced and making sure it’s fun and smooth to play.”
It couldn’t be helped.
Even though Tang Yao could rely on her “time-travel cheat” to recall all Hearthstone’s card effects, she hadn’t actually played since the early beta days. She wasn’t super familiar with many decks. Not to mention, back in the ancient meta, Hearthstone had low card rarity, frequent changes, and gameplay that still borrowed from Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic: The Gathering.
That era was all about strong, cheap single cards.
So she wasn’t planning to just remake the ancient set.
This world didn’t have the Warcraft universe, and the ancient meta wasn’t very fun—the game would flop.
She wanted to develop it up to the Blackrock Mountain expansion.
Because it wasn’t until then that Hearthstone truly matured.
Curse of Naxxramas was all about Deathrattles.
Goblins vs Gnomes was the fast-aggro era.
Blackrock Mountain marked the real beginning of maturity—tons of iconic decks emerged during that period.
Patron Warrior, Flamewaker Mage, Mill Rogue, Zoo, Handlock, Combo Druid—all became solid archetypes.
Miracle Rogue and Freeze Mage also made a comeback.
Yes—comeback.
Because those decks spanned three expansions. There were constant changes, and many archetypes rose and fell.
Honestly, with that many cards, Tang Yao was worried… she might misremember.
Even if her memory was fine, mixing cards from multiple expansions meant someone had to sort through everything to avoid problems.
Deleting or revising—
Either way, it was necessary.
And the best person for the job was Si Jinliang.
Tang Yao knew her past-life memories could only get her ahead of the curve—skip the early grind—but they weren’t a miracle cure.
“……”
Hearing all that, Si Jinliang recalled the dozens of cards in the Zoo and Control Warrior decks, then hesitantly asked: “So… how many class cards and base cards total?”
“Around three hundred.”
Tang Yao answered instinctively: “Including follow-up additions, I’m aiming for about 500 cards in total.”
Because the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion alone added over a hundred cards.
Base + expansion cards would add up to that number.
“……”
Everyone went silent, staring at Tang Yao in a daze.
“Boss.”
Si Jinliang’s legs started trembling. He didn’t even call her by name anymore, just said: “The initial version? Five hundred cards!? How long will that take to design?!”
The other staff were no better.
Especially the folks from Mingyu Tech.
Even after all that time, Dou Pai had only 300 or so cards…
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
Tang Yao shook her head lightly: “I’ll handle it. You just need to oversee it.”
Si Jinliang’s voice jumped an octave: “…You’re making all 500 yourself?!”
Tang Yao blinked: “What, you want in too? I mean… I’m not stopping you.”
Si Jinliang was stunned.
That’s not what I meant!
No!
Five hundred cards in the first version? From one person?
Impossible!!
But just as he opened his mouth, he suddenly thought of FGO, and the words got stuck.
Still, he couldn’t accept it.
No way!
That can’t be right!
Even though Tang Yao had already made two full decks… five hundred cards was insane.
No way one person could pull that off!!