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Heroes Community > Heroes 6 - The New Beginning > Thread: HC Exclusive Q&A ~ 17.04.2012 ~
Thread: HC Exclusive Q&A ~ 17.04.2012 ~ This thread is 4 pages long: 1 2 3 4 · NEXT»
Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted April 20, 2012 03:56 PM
Edited by Cepheus at 16:51, 20 Apr 2012.

HC Exclusive Q&A ~ 17.04.2012 ~

There you go, delivered as promised The Q&A should hopefully address the important bits along with some else I decided that were less crucial but still not to be overlooked, if there is more you want to know I could arrange another round in the near future.

Dig in





* Why all this silence following the game's release?
As you know by now, Black Hole is not working on Heroes VI anymore. Since the M&M team and Ubisoft was commited to continue to improve and enrich the game beyond the release date, we looked for a new studio to work on a patching plan. This led to a period during which we couldn˘t communicate since too many things were uncertain, even for us. Fortunately, things are getting better and clearer now.

* What future does this game have? Are you committed to work more on the Might & Magic brand or was H6 a flop that will discourage further involvement?
Heroes VI was generally a success, although we agree it is far from perfect. This is why we intend to continue supporting it and improving it in the coming months. We can say that we are going to keep the franchise alive and there are many news to come in the near future. We cannot be more precise as there are unannounced projects coming, and we can't spoil it yet.

* The announcement of monthly patches sounds hopeful but. The changes in 1.3 seem little, too little too late. How can this game be salvaged with small patches? Will there be major ones anytime soon?
There is no such thing as a "small" patch or a "major" patch. The number of issues solved by a patch is unrelated to their complexity. What seems a small patch to you can need a big amount of work, more than we initially expected – as we experienced firsthand with the 1.3 patch.
Just remember we're not talking about a small application with hundreds of lines of source code... but about a game with millions. Changing some lines in the source code can always break the game. Sometimes, there are unexplained side effects for which we need time to understand why they appeared and how to fix them.
The important thing is, 1.3 won't be the final patch and we are committed to continue improving the game as much as possible.

* Can you share any of the planned changes?
After the delays we faced with 1.3 we'd rather talk about these when we are completely sure we have everything in control.

* Why is the game still missing sim turns? It is one of the main factors that H6 online scene is dead.
Sim Turns is a very complex feature. It would be a great addition, and we know the online community is eagerly waiting for it. We have not ruled it out, but it won't be added in one of the coming patches.

* The dynasty weapons seem more like a single player-focused feature. They are only available if you play online but if you do try to use them in multiplayer it becomes an impossible mission. Not everyone has access to all weapons due to different game versions (like collector's edition items), they can start the map at max level which gives the advantage to those that grind them through the soulforge, you can change them at any time as long as they have been unlocked in the campaigns, giving a serious advantage to the players with most weapons, not to mention making creeping considerably easier. Spending resources on lengthy lore descriptions and unique abilities seems a bit of a waste if they cannot be properly used in multiplayer, can we hope for changes in their online use?
It is important to realize that a vast majority of the Heroes players actually play only SP and are not interested in multiplayer, which explains why some content was tailored primarily for them.

* We were promised a user-friendly and moddable map editor, which isn't quite what we got. Have your priorities change?
The map editor is the actual tool used by the developers to make the game. It is very powerful, but unfortunately the work to make it more accessible and user-friendly had to be put on hold to focus on finishing the actual game. However we still plan to improve it in the future.

* Most fans will agree that the game's interface is not very user-friendly. Examples of this are not getting a proper spellbook, windowed as opposed to full screens(hero/skill/town) not to mention how tiny everything looks. Are there any plans for improvement?
One of the challenges we faced when making H6 was creating an interface that could work on both 4:3 and 16:9 screens, since more and more players now play on widescreen monitors. The solution we and Black Hole came up with (fixes-sized windows at the center of the screen) was successful in some ways and not-so-much in others. On the specific topic of accessibility and user-friendliness, your mileage may vary. Some of us were replaying some older titles of the series recently, and found themselves missing some of interface features added by H6.
Now we all agree the interface of Heroes VI lacks the “magical flavor” it used to have in the previous games. We'll try to improve this whenever possible, starting by the fullscreen towns. In any case, this lesson has been clearly learnt for the future.

* Where are the long-promised town screens? Could you share a deadline?
Creating high-res 2D art is a long process. You have to find the good artists, design all the buildings, think about changes of the GUI, the aforementioned 4:3/16:9 conundrum... It took some time before we could start the actual production. The good news is, production is well under way, although we can't give you an actual release date yet (we don˘t want to jump the gun once more).
What we can say is, they will be closer to the Heroes III town screens, they will be interactive, show all buildings and upgrades, and will be released in a future patch.

* One of the major flaws of H6 was the skill system. Not only was it poorly implemented and balanced but most of its choices are close to meaningless. For example: Luck's Favoured I giving +2 luck for 2% extra chance to get 50% more damage. Assailant I giving +1 attack for roughly 2% more damage. Toughness giving +2% to your army hp. Siege master giving +1 structural dmg when you cannot even target specific walls. Such skills have minor to no impact on the game and as such they are not very appealing choices. Can we hope for a redesign of the system or at the very least making the skills similar in terms of usefulness/significance?
The skill system is clearly one of our big areas where we want to make improvements, but it's too early to talk about specifics yet. We can tell you that work is ongoing to improve the overall balance of the skills, and this is something that will be addressed in some of the future patches.

* All might and magic classes play in about the same manner other than the different class-available magic schools and being barred from the magic and might tier 3 skills respectively. They all have access to the same might skills and exactly the same spells assuming they have the same magic schools which makes the gameplay far from diverse.. Do you plan to change this?
We are reviewing several options to promote the differences between Might and Magic heroes, and also between the Factions themselves. However it is a more complex area and we cannot promise these particular changes will be part of the announced patches.

* While healing is overused and can offer a virtually no-casualties game(by the time you meet your opponent), destructive spells remain fairly weak. What are your plans on remedying the situation?
Making healing spells weaker and destructive spells stronger is one of our goals. We are still reviewing various options for doing it properly. One of these would also include reducing the resilience of the Core units to make them more vulnerable, notably to destructive spells. These changes will be addressed in the coming patches.

* Many will agree that weakening certain spells by applying stricter cooldown limitations or even reducing their use to 1-2 charges makes them less enjoyable. Certain spells like mass healing/regeneration/stand your ground are already weak enough - especially as the game progresses - so what is the point of further limiting them? Would it not be better to rebalance such spells in other ways?
This is linked to the overall ongoing work on the skills and balance.
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The_Polyglot
The_Polyglot


Promising
Supreme Hero
Nuttier than squirrel poo
posted April 20, 2012 04:28 PM



TLDR:

1. We were just as clueless as you guys

2. We made back our buck, so we'll put HVI on life-support, with minuscule patches

3. No answer

4. Despite having marketed the game as heavily multiplayer, even sacrificing SP features for MP benefits, now we've decided that if we say it is primarily SP, our job becomes significantly easier, and we can focus on mutilating moar franchises in the freed time.

5. We screwed up the UI. But we'll make it better! Pinkie swear!

6. Town Screens are coming... soon

7. We screwed the skill system up big time. We'll try to fix it.

8. No answer

9. No answer

10. No answer


I can't believe they have the nerve to release such a useless Q/A. The answers to 4, 6, and 7 are particularly annoying imho.

I know it isn't your fault though, Elvin, so thanks for getting us this much. Your efforts are much appreciated.

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admira
admira


Promising
Famous Hero
posted April 20, 2012 04:28 PM

who answered this Q&A anyway? The new developer guys? or some ubi guys?

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Storm-Giant
Storm-Giant


Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
On the Other Side!
posted April 20, 2012 04:44 PM

Thank you, Elvin, for bringin us this Q&A. If it not were of you & rest of VIP fans (Lepastur, kalah, etc...) this would be really dead

Still haven't read all (I'm translating into spanish ) but:
Quote:
It is important to realize that a vast majority of the Heroes players actually play only SP and are not interested in multiplayer, which explains why some content was tailored primarily for them.

And it's important to waste so many resources in the Dinasty stuff instead of making a good map editor. Yes, Ubi logic, f*ck fans
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Cepheus
Cepheus


Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
posted April 20, 2012 04:50 PM
Edited by Cepheus at 16:52, 20 Apr 2012.

Just logging that I retweaked the formatting a little (absolutely no textual changes!) because some of Ubisoft's chosen smilies and punctuation marks generate only stupid-looking error code at HC (like "˘" or "#423&1" or whatever).
____________
"Those who forget their history are inevitably doomed to repeat it." —Proverb, Might and Magic VIII

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Quique30
Quique30


Adventuring Hero
posted April 20, 2012 04:55 PM
Edited by Quique30 at 17:00, 20 Apr 2012.

Thank you very much for this QA, Elvin! I'm also curious as to who's answering it.

P.S.: If there's going to be another round of QA, I'd like to know what they plan to do with their DRM, if anything.

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Pitlord
Pitlord


Known Hero
posted April 20, 2012 05:09 PM

* Why is the game still missing sim turns? It is one of the main factors that H6 online scene is dead.
Sim Turns is a very complex feature. It would be a great addition, and we know the online community is eagerly waiting for it. We have not ruled it out, but it won't be added in one of the coming patches.

seems like we can forget sim turns

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War-overlord
War-overlord


Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
Presidente of Isla del Tropico
posted April 20, 2012 05:23 PM

Thanks for the effort, Elvin. We appreciate it.

Now I hate to side with the negativists, but as far as the answers go, there's very little substance to them. Most of them come down to: "We underestimated the difficulty of this issue. It's all very complicated.(Implied: you woulnd't understand the details/I am not allowed to speak). But rest assured, we're working on it."
Not that Elvin is to blame for this.
Lastly, I am actually glad they've come off saying:"It'll be ready then and then" and not being able to keep it. And have gone on to: "We'll tell you when it becomes available, when we have a deadline we can realistically keep."
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Vote El Presidente! Or Else!

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Storm-Giant
Storm-Giant


Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
On the Other Side!
posted April 20, 2012 05:57 PM

If anyone wants a spanish read ---> go here!

By the answers of "too complex for us", it's obvious that Limbic can't handle any more than the patches for some time - and we'll be lucky if no more delays happen again (apart from 1.4).

But I fear that they won't make easyly the complex stuff - at least for the time of the first expansion (next christmas I guess). I'm sorry for those who bought the game

PD: Heroes VI a success? Are you kidding me? Oh wait, you didn't pay BH and with that sells you won benefits, so so non-deserved
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Brukernavn
Brukernavn

Hero of Order
posted April 20, 2012 07:08 PM

The answer about the game interface really irritates me! They know more and more people use widescreens, so the solution was making everything tinier. And in what way was this successful? Smaller budget, but less sales?
And I don't know of any interface issues introduced in H6 that have not been present in any of the previous games. (But I would like to know if there are any).

Quote:
* While healing is overused and can offer a virtually no-casualties game(by the time you meet your opponent), destructive spells remain fairly weak. What are your plans on remedying the situation?
Making healing spells weaker and destructive spells stronger is one of our goals. We are still reviewing various options for doing it properly. One of these would also include reducing the resilience of the Core units to make them more vulnerable, notably to destructive spells. These changes will be addressed in the coming patches.

Wow...
This is from a Q&A in July 2011;
Quote:
6/ "The core creatures are way too strong or elite/champion creatures are way too weak..."
We are mainly in the process of buffing Champion creatures. We will also continue to consider any tweak necessary.

7/ “My hero was magic based, but I pretty quickly just dropped using magic because the main attack was better.”
When choosing a Magic hero, the first damage dealing spells the hero chooses should be at least be as powerful as a Heroic Strike. We are currently reviewing and fixing any issue related to this.

9/ “In Heroes VI healing and resurrection are very common. “
This was a design choice but we may have pushed too far in this direction and are considering possible changes in this area.



So this teaches us that answer like "We will also continue to consider any tweak necessary", "We are currently reviewing and fixing any issue related to this" and that they "are considering possible changes in this area" means don't expect anything in about a year or so.

At least they gave some general notion of what to expect in the patches, and what will come "soon"...

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Adrius
Adrius


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Stand and fight!
posted April 20, 2012 07:21 PM

Regardless of the answers, at least we're getting some communication and reassurement that Might & Magic is not dead.

This is good.
____________

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krs
krs


Famous Hero
posted April 20, 2012 07:23 PM
Edited by krs at 19:24, 20 Apr 2012.

Nice Questions - void of substance answers. This was the proverbial straw for me. How can you excuse the lack of content and 1 month of delays on patch 1.3 with a phrase like: "you know there are a lot of lines of code". How retarded is that? I guess other games are automatically generated. I tell you UBI what game has way more lines of code than H6... Diablo III!

I'm done with this sh*t. Will be back here for X-Mas to see if it's still alive.

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Adrius
Adrius


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Stand and fight!
posted April 20, 2012 07:27 PM

Comparing with Blizzard? Ehm, their approach to game development is hardly industry standard.
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Shares
Shares


Supreme Hero
I am. Thusly I am.
posted April 20, 2012 07:33 PM

Quote:
Regardless of the answers, at least we're getting some communication and reassurement that Might & Magic is not dead.

This is good.


Note the screaming lack of them openly saying that they actually got a new studio or a dev team. I won't toot any horn until there's officially people working on the actual game. That people are still running about shuffling papers and twisting words when we ask them questions in Ubi-offices hardly satifies me.
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Adrius
Adrius


Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Stand and fight!
posted April 20, 2012 08:07 PM

I'll accept any faint light of hope that may save this community from the emotional abyss of depression and hatred it has fallen into.

Seriously it's like, emo as hell in here.
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Aosaw
Aosaw


Promising
Famous Hero
Author of Nonreal Fiction
posted April 20, 2012 08:30 PM
Edited by Aosaw at 20:30, 20 Apr 2012.

Says the guy with a picture of an angry screaming monster dude as his avatar.

I'm not really surprised by these responses.  This whole game release has felt like one big kerfuffle.  I didn't buy the game, and I haven't once regretted that decision.

I'll reassess when they start working on Heroes VII; for now, I'm considering this game a loss.

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yasmiel
yasmiel


Supreme Hero
Former Chessmaster
posted April 20, 2012 09:04 PM
Edited by yasmiel at 21:04, 20 Apr 2012.

This QA actually sounds ok for a game that still has 1 year until release date. Except this one doesn't.

Anyway I feel it is time to move on to different pastures and come back in a year(minimum) to see if anything improved.

I think we can expect some solid Might and Magic games from time to time with Ubi, just not sure about core Heroes series.
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Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted April 20, 2012 09:30 PM

Quote:
Regardless of the answers, at least we're getting some communication and reassurement that Might & Magic is not dead.

This is good.

That was kind of the general point of the Q&A. I did not expect much would be revealed just like I cannot reveal much but it can give an assurance of sorts that the game is headed somewhere. Irina provided the answers though it is hard to tell how much comes from the devs and how much from ubi.
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb

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Zenofex
Zenofex


Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
posted April 20, 2012 09:31 PM

A summary:

Can't say...
Too early...
We are working on it but have no release date...
Not certain...
We'll see...

Elvin, don't bother any more, it makes no difference.

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Elvin
Elvin


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
posted April 20, 2012 09:36 PM

I'm not in a defending position you know. Just saying that Q&As never were used to actually reveal substantial info rather than hint at what is going on and what the future might look like. Also remember that even now, a lot of people considered the game dead.
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb

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