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| Thread: CH exclusive Q&A |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Storm-Giant
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
On the Other Side!
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posted May 03, 2012 11:44 PM |
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CH exclusive Q&A
First la Torre de Marfil, second Heroes Community, only one left - Celestial Heavens!
You can see the whole Q&A Here, I copy some questions here 
CH: 1. What is your reaction to the knowledge that most of the fans have already abandoned the game and will you do anything to rectify this situation?
Answer: "The opinion of the members of the various communities is very important to us, but they represent only a part of the whole of Heroes players. We gathered a lot of feedback on the game after the release on the forums, websites, the Facebook page and also through the post-launch survey that was answered by more than 20.000 players. One thing that really comes across is the fact that not everyone plays Heroes the same way or for the same reasons. A vast majority of players completed the single player campaign, played some skirmish maps and moved on to other games, just as they did on the previous instalments of the series.
That being said, we agree that the post-launch support for Heroes VI has been disappointing so far. We had to look for a new developer to take over the patching duties, and that made things more complicated (and slower) than expected. But this period of uncertainty is now over and we are back in the saddle, working to improve things.
In any case, we consider Heroes VI to be our baby. Sure, it was born with flaws, but we'll use any opportunity to make sure he eventually turns into a fine, healthy young game."
CH: 2. As the current M&M Community Developer, can you tell us the reason for the lack of Community activity from the producers and yourself? What is the cause of this silence and will it be improved upon?
Answer: "Over the last 6 months Community activity was not as high as we'd like to see it. While we've organized some events after the launch of the game, shared with the Community some interesting news, communicated about patches, our planning, a few Q&As have been made by the team and so on, I would agree with you that Community experience could be still more exciting. For instance we'd like to see more maps created by the Community and it is something we are currently working on (Map Editor will be improved along with the patches' releases). It is only one part of our plans, more will be revealed pretty soon.
It is important to notice as well that communication channels change all the time, but our engagement to take into account fans' feedback remains the same. The forum VIP was created exactly for this purpose and it is of a great value for us as opinions explained there are really representative of what the whole Community would think about different matters.
There is a team dedicated to the Community as well (Community managers, forum managers, moderators, customer support and Community developers) which is striving to create a solid link between players and developers. As I'm working with the production team, it is easy for me to get the information you are looking for (when there is an answer ready to be revealed of course). So, feel free to challenge me about anything related to Might & Magic.
The M&M production team is always eager to know what's your opinion about different stuff and to give you a better insight into what's going on in here, we are working on devs' diaries, Q&As (like this one), gameplay videos. Basically all of this is done in order to keep in touch with you."
CH: 3. You have made several design decisions intended to streamline the game and attract a wider audience, but despite Community managers trying hard to maintain activity, we see no evidence of such an audience. In light of that, can you tell us in general terms how well the game has sold? Has it exceeded your expectations, done "OK" so far or proven a flop?
Answer: "Despite a changing PC market, Heroes VI performed well, and even exceeded our expectations in some areas. Without delving into specific figures, it was the strongest launch of any Heroes/ or Might & Magic game, but has not yet reached our original expectations."
CH: 4. According to the Amplitude Studios website and apparently-former H5 and H6 writer Jeff Spock's Twitter comments, several fairly notable members of Ubisoft's production team left the company midway through Heroes VI's development to start up their own independent studio. What was the reason for their departure? Do you think it has harmed Heroes VI?
Answer: "Production on Heroes VI spanned 4 years and in such a long period there will always be some turnover and internal changes. That doesn't mean these seats remained empty – Ubisoft being a big company, one person leaving does not have the same impact as it would have in a small development studio. It's always sad to see talented and energetic people leave, but sometimes in life you meet opportunities (in that case, creating your own company) you just have to pursue.
In any case we wish them the best and their project looks very exciting. As for Jeff, he's an independent writer, so while he's indeed not the lead writer on Might & Magic anymore, he's still working with us on some unannounced projects."
The Rest of the Q&A (eleven questions in total) is HERE
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Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
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posted May 04, 2012 12:04 AM |
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Edited by Avirosb at 00:05, 04 May 2012.
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Quote:
At the time you'll be reading this Q&A, we'll have launched the Beta for Duel of Champions, a card game in the Might & Magic universe developed by the teams at Ubisoft Quebec. While the Beta is for the moment only available in France, the game is already generating a lot of feedback and enthusiasm in many communities worldwide. And it's only one of the many projects we are working on, some big, some small, all bringing something new and exciting to Might & Magic. 2012 and 2013 are going to be busy years for us."
OH F**K YOU. How about you learn to juggle with one ball first, huh?
Sorry, I'm just... Ugh!
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Storm-Giant
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
On the Other Side!
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posted May 04, 2012 12:17 AM |
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Quote:
One thing that really comes across is the fact that not everyone plays Heroes the same way or for the same reasons. A vast majority of players completed the single player campaign, played some skirmish maps and moved on to other games, just as they did on the previous instalments of the series.
Just this. They aimed for that market and really didn't care of old good fans like us who want a good multiplayer (Duel = easy to do => no real multiplayer work), a good editor so the game's life is longer and so on. Truth, but so sad 
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Maurice
Hero of Order
Part of the furniture
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posted May 04, 2012 09:41 AM |
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And moved on to other games? True enough, but I still play HoMM3 from time to time. Why? Because it simply rocks. It may have relatively simple and straightforward mechanics, but it just feels like it's right on the mark - where HoMM6 is so far off, I need binoculars to still see it.
Am I likely to play HoMM3 within the next 10 years? Hell yeah. Am I likely to play HoMM6 within the next 10 years? Maybe, but I doubt it.
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Zenofex
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
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posted May 04, 2012 09:57 AM |
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These people seem to live a Pacific island and receive their news via postal pigeons. I'm getting sick of reading how "the game is not as disappointing as it seems" or that "there's a shadow community which is much bigger than yours and according to we did reasonably well." Admit that you f***** up already, an occasional display of honesty will bring much more people back to the game than your smug, management-sycophantic Q&A.
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Quique30
Adventuring Hero
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posted May 04, 2012 03:44 PM |
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CH: 9. Given the mediocre success of Heroes V and the thoroughly unimpressive release and post-release stages of Heroes VI, the Community strongly questions Ubisoft’s commitment to the Heroes series – it looks like you want to move on to something else already. To what extent are you focused on Heroes VI and shepherding the game to a more satisfactory state?
Answer: "Heroes V has actually been the most successful Heroes game of all times in terms of sales, and proved to be a very popular game. It sold more than Heroes III for instance. Might & Magic is an important brand for Ubisoft, and we have no plan to abandon it. That includes Heroes VI and the Heroes series as a whole. H6 was meant to be the flagship of the Might & Magic brand for 2012 and beyond, and while it was not the game we dreamt it to be (not yet, anyway), it still paved the way for more Might & Magic in the very near future."
Too bad the first bolded part. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA! the second bolded part.
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markkur
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Once upon a time
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posted May 04, 2012 05:19 PM |
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@Zenofex
Quote:
"there's a shadow community which is much bigger than yours and according to we did reasonably well."
Good snag. That shadow community appears to represent their determined direction for the future of the franchise. At first, being a solo-player, I thought they were only interested in MP but after release it appears those folks were not the target either.
@Maurice
Quote:
Am I likely to play HoMM3 within the next 10 years?
<imo>I think it's all about $. Since they have no way of knowing what "our" (modders, mappers, MP-guys, long-time players) value is to them. They must doubt the "old" collective's impact.
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Aosaw
Promising
Famous Hero
Author of Nonreal Fiction
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posted May 04, 2012 06:25 PM |
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It makes more fiscal sense to release a game that everyone will play once and then never touch again, than it does to release a game that's so awesome that no one ever needs to buy another game again.
Granted, I don't think that's what they were trying to do here...
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Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
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posted May 04, 2012 07:00 PM |
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Edited by Avirosb at 19:06, 04 May 2012.
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I love that little Fanart of the Week thing they're doing now.
Can't wait to finally see some of the amazing H6 fan art (other than Negativeland's that is).
Also this
Quote:
In any case, we consider Heroes VI to be our baby. Sure, it was born with flaws, but we'll use any opportunity to make sure he eventually turns into a fine, healthy young game. 
Heroes 6 is already ancient by video game standards.
And you don't outsource your babies to other companies 
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Aosaw
Promising
Famous Hero
Author of Nonreal Fiction
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posted May 04, 2012 11:06 PM |
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Sure you do. It's called adoption.
But in this case, it's more like hiring a nanny. 
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted May 04, 2012 11:24 PM |
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A bit harsh here, are we people? Not that I put a world of importance into these things, I mean I hardly would expect them to come out and say they were abandoning the whole thing even if that was what they did, but there are some nice intentions for what they want to do that at least opens the door for the game becoming passable - at least they acknowledge that tier balancing is off, skill system is off, magic system is off, and class system is off ... I guess that's a start.
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What will happen now?
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Zenofex
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
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posted May 04, 2012 11:52 PM |
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I'd agree but they are again serving the same meal - "Believe us, oh, believe us, we have only benign intentions, really, honestly, truly!" At this point Ubisoft are 101% untrustworthy so everything they say is a lie until proven otherwise. They owe the community A LOT and their attitude is the first thing that needs changing and frankly they don't seem to see the need to do even that.
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted May 04, 2012 11:59 PM |
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True, perhaps. But we b*tch at them if they don't say anything and demand that they come out and say something, and then we b*tch at them when they actually come out and say ... something.
I might well be saying this because I've long since lost all interest with H6 after the massive disappointment it turned out to be, but business is business, and I don't really think they realistically could say a lot more than they do. Bottom line is that it's a crappy situation for us, and we can't expect them to make that go away just by talking. They might not salvage things, only time will tell, but at least we gotta accept that IF they are to salvage it, it WILL take time.
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What will happen now?
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Zenofex
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
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posted May 05, 2012 11:02 AM |
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They might as well start with admitting their mistakes. These half-arsed responses "it could have been better but still it's not that bad" deliver a wrong message - that they don't think that the game needs fundamental repairs or that their behaviour so far is just plain insulting.
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted May 05, 2012 11:24 AM |
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Aren't a couple of people forgetting here that we are talking about a game with an official reception of 80+% in the gaming magazines and websites?
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Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
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posted May 05, 2012 11:33 AM |
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1. Games published by influential companies very rarely receive negative reviews, otherwise they would stop sending games for the reviewers to review.
2. First impressions can easily deceive, just look at Oblivion.
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JollyJoker
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
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posted May 05, 2012 11:51 AM |
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Well, do you really expect a company who did a well-received thing to declare the actual rating should be much lower because the game lacked so much?
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Zenofex
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Kreegan-atheist
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posted May 05, 2012 11:54 AM |
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The official reviews are very often paid for, they don't show what's the game's real worth even remotely. And really - you compare the score given by a dozen people working for reviewing sites to the score given by hundreds of players writing on the forums, including the official one?! VERY few of the latter will give the game 8/10.
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KingImp
Famous Hero
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posted May 05, 2012 05:19 PM |
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Edited by KingImp at 17:19, 05 May 2012.
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Quote:
True, perhaps. But we b*tch at them if they don't say anything and demand that they come out and say something, and then we b*tch at them when they actually come out and say ... something.
The problem is, the only time they say something is when the communities are in an uproar and then when they do say something, it's always the same thing every time. "We know we messed up", "We're working on it", "We have plans", "Stay tuned".
It's basically, Play, Rewind, Stop, Play Again on a loop with these morons.
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted May 05, 2012 10:29 PM |
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Yeah, that's exactly the point I wanted to make, if that is the situation, what do you want them to say? If you only want them to say something when there is news to break, stop complaining when they don't say anything because there are no news. And when you demand that they say something anyway, don't complain that they come out and say there is no news and they are working on it.
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