Replays Alpha Test Now Available on PBE

Continue reading for the full announcement, including  a preview of the new system.

Here is Status Kwoh with the good news!

"No, you didn’t read the title wrong – an official replays feature indeed exists, and we’re about to open it up to some player testing on the PBE. 

We’ve been working hard on this much-requested feature for a while now, but there’s still work to be done before it hits live. Rolling out replays to millions of players is no small feat, and there are some pretty big infrastructure and service challenges that we still need to tackle before they’re ready for a live release. 

We’re planning on testing this feature for a few months, but here’s a look at the replay features heading to PBE:

• Replays from your match history: After you complete a game, a replay will be stored on the servers for a limited time. During this window you can view the replay of a recent game through your match history.

• Browse your replays: You can review any replay you’ve previously watched through the replay browser in your summoner profile.

• Watching a replay: When you load into a replay, you’ll have the same interface and control scheme you’re used to from spectator mode. The key difference is that the far right of the timeline is now the end of the recorded match rather than the latest point in a live game.

• Share replays with friends: You can give a replay file to a friend by right clicking on the entry in your replay browser and clicking "Show In Folder." This will pop up the folder containing your replay. Send the file to a friend, and he can view it by dragging the file onto his open PvP.net client.

So why the long testing period? Well, on top of the service challenges, there are some fun complications involved with backwards compatibility. As such, we’d love replays to get the same thorough, extensive testing as Spectator Mode. As you recall, we held numerous beta periods over the course of that launch, and these periods of testing really helped us fine tune that feature.

If you’re a current PBE member, we need your help improving and polishing replays! We hope you’ll take the time to leave us your comments, suggest new functionality and report any problems you run into. Here are a few annotated screenshots to help you get the lay of the land:

You can watch the replay of a recently-played game directly from the match history. Just search for the summoner whose replay you’d like to view, select the game and click the “Watch Replay” button. Once you watch a replay it gets saved into your browser.

In the PBE client, you’ll see that you have a new button in the upper right corner under your RP and IP totals. This button takes you to the replay browser, where you can view any of the replays you’ve previously watched.

You can rename one of the replays in your browser for later reference by double clicking the name.

If you’d like to send a replay to a friend, you can find the file itself by right clicking on the replay and selecting "Show In Folder." Remember that to view your replay, your friend will have to drag the file onto his open PvP.net client."

As for some follow up information

rjcombo on storing replays and back patching ( to support old replays after new patches )

"Replays are accessed through a player's match history, but once you've watched a replay the file is stored locally and appears in your replay browser. You can also share these replays with friends.

There are many millions of games being played on the live servers every day, and it would place a very heavy burden on the servers if everyone was trying to store all of their replays. The interface we've built is intended to encourage players to watch the replays they are particularly interested in re-watching.

As for back-patching, that feature is not yet enabled for PBE, but will be enabled before the live launch so you'll always be able to watch older replays."

He also spoke to how long the replays are stored on the server:

"Replays are stored on the server for 7 days after the game is completed, at which point they are deleted. Replays you've watched are stored on your local machine and only deleted when you choose to do so."

For those curious how big the average replay file is, rjcombo says:

"A typical replay file is about 5MB."