I don't want to fight.
If you think it's easy, you're probably right.
Oh, just discussing it.
I am a software engineer after all, and I do a mixture of web apps and Windows apps, but no games.
You might just have forgotten that:
* you have to create 2 new columns for summon cost AND 2 new columns for skill cost.
Not a big deal in terms of database work.
* those 4 columns have to be created in the database AND in every structure that can potentially receive informations from the database: creatures, permanents, weapons, shields (that's already 20 columns).
Typically applications retrieve the information they need once. Applications shouldn't be retrieving information all of the time from a database unless they're as complicated as an MMO. As you've noticed from Saving, Confirming, and Confirmed status (and when you're offline), the Elements games retrieves data all at once from the database. Once code has that data, it can keep it and use it however it needs.
* every piece of code that checks if a card can be played or not has to be modified to handle the new columns. This includes the code that puts a white background behind your card if you have enough quantum to play it, the code that is executed when you click the card, the code used by the AI to decide if it plays the card not, the code that removes quantum from your opponent's pool when he plays the card in PvP, and there's probably much more that I forgot.
* every piece of code that checks if a skill can be activated has to be modified. Of course, those checks are different from one side to the other (because you don't look inside the same quantum pool) and from one card type to the other (because it would completely overload the engine to check for every skill with every card).
* the AI rules to decide if a card has to be played or not have to be modified. Currently, a skill like "queen" is cast if CPU has at least 5 life quantums. What's the condition to cast a multi-mark card? Do we need to have 2.5 times the quantum requirement in both elements? Is it enough to have 3 fire & 2 aether to cast a "1 fire/1 aether" skill? This point alone probably needs several hours of testing.
* the AI1 deck generation algorithm has to be modified, because this algorithm picks 1 random card and 1 corresponding pillar at the same time. What pillar should it choose with multi-mark cards?
* the code that gives quantum back when you cancel a move has to be modified.
* many spells that deal with skills and skills costs have to be rewritten to handle the new columns (like Lobotomize, Parallel Universe or Mutation).
Most of the game should be object-oriented, ie: classes. So checking things should be modular. But I have no idea how he wrote his flash application. Hopefully he created a modular, class-oriented code so that he doesn't have to repeat certain functions over and over again in code.
After those little things are done you'll be happy to have a tiny testing moment.
And pray that the lag introduced by those changes doesn't kill your game.
It's all part of coding and application development. Apparently there will be an update to Elements later this year, and I'm sure new cards and some app tweaks and fixes will be done. Personally I don't understand why you're worrying about suggestions to the game that you didn't write.
So all that should take what? About 5 minutes?
LOL. Well, good point, but probably more like a couple of hours. Still, a drop in the bucket.
