Ubisoft Q&A

[Pitsu]

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/805

[Pitsu]

Good questions, but answers are vague as usual.

[Kristo]

Reading between the lines a bit, here's my two-sentence summary:

1. You, the fan community, don't affect the success of the Heroes games nearly as much as you think.

2. We (Ubisoft) are making lots of money off the MM franchise so we must be doing something right.

[Angelspit]

Honestly I'm not sure even NWC would have agreed to answer such direct questions, so kudos to Irina (and the rest of the team) for taking the test. The answers are a little vague for sure, but coming from a global company I expected more of the usual marketing nonsense. So a good Q&A in any case.

[Avonu]

>>>So, feel free to challenge me about anything related to Might & Magic.

Be careful what you wish for.

[morthi]

For me its very interesting that it's true that game developer (Black Hole) really don't have any feedback from VIP because Ubi just don't give them this info (aka krs post - here http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.p ... enumber=12).



Irina said that VIP are really important for them but what is the truth? Maybe producers have "better" view for game and VIP forum is a forgotten desert of great smashed ideas...



On the other hand I wish that Ubi will make use of Conflux to gather statistic from game to tweak balance (as Blizzard is using Battle.net to fix their games).



Irina has very difficult job to do - bring messages from Ubi to community when many people are furious because for them H6 is still in beta phase.

[vicheron]

How does it feel to have your soul slowly crushed by Ubisoft as you're forced to spin the disastrous management of this game into some kind of success? Does it hurt?

[camelotcrusade]

I see Heroes falling into the same trap as the Age of Wonders series. That game had a terrible time balancing the wishes of the single-player community with the multiplayer community.



Ultimately the most successful approach was to release a mod suite so that either community could introduce or roll-back changes requested by the other. But forcing one community to swallow changes demanded by the other just makes everyone unhappy.



As a single-player, I like the game just fine in terms of balance, and like many people I've learned to play - and succeed - in the game based on the current system. I don't like seeing mechanics changes; I've already learned them and strategize around them and I want a consistent experience if I boot up the game in three months for some "good old HoMM VI."



I say, add features, don't change the core mechanics, and release a mod suite so those who want a different experience can make one.

[cjlee]

OK, Jeff Spock. I never thought that Mr. Spock would be the writer who produced this Grade G crap.



I am truly surprised that they can say Heroes V sold very well and Heroes VI had the best release of any Heroes game. Is it true? That's astonishing. Has the gaming market as a whole grown so much? In which case, they have even less excuse for not having a budget to do things!
Edited on Mon, May 07 2012, 11:58 by cjlee

[CloudRiderX]

I think there is a lot of disillusionment on both sides.



Most critics and reviewers agree that Heroes 6 is the first game in the M+M universe in a long time that has that HoMM feel to it. What makes it a shame is that Black Hole has made a very good game, and Ubi wrapped it in a poor package with their lack of feedback and shoddy online framework.



I think many fans are being petty when they complain about things like the not-so-user-friendly map editor. Heroes 6 is leap-and-bounds better than Heroes 5, and I promise those malcontents that you will never get another HoMM game from Ubi that can surpass what H6 has done for this crumbling universe.

[pacovf]

When you talk about the "HoMM feel", what are you talking about? The mechanics? The story? The factions? I am fairly new to the franchise, enjoyed the skill system in HV, and never played a MM, that's why I'm asking.

[Loco Blutaxt]

"Heroes 6 is leap-and-bounds better than Heroes 5"

How can anyone say that? H5 ToE is a wonderful game, has nice mechanics, nice graphics, nice factions - it's nearly as perfect as H3. H6 is missing all of the Heroes feeling.



I think having Julien Pirou in the Heroes Team has nearly no influence in the game design. I can't think he is OK with having only 1 ressource, no town screen, 5 factions, no dragons, no titans, the crappy skill system, the crappy online-framework... But I'm pretty shure they don't hear him. So I would love that he leaves the team, brings LotA to an end (he is indeed the best level designer the Heroes series has ever seen) and/or creates more maps while hoping H7 will be a step back in the right direction!

[Angelspit]

So I would love that he leaves the team, brings LotA to an end (he is indeed the best level designer the Heroes series has ever seen) and/or creates more maps while hoping H7 will be a step back in the right direction!

I'm sure that his budget and his career aspirations disagree with you...!

[Loco Blutaxt]

You may be right but this was a wish. My girlfriend says: "You can always wish everything you want."

Working on H6 is not necessarily good for a career.

I give him 20 bucks for a H5 ToE campaign with the quality of LotA. That's a promise! If we find only 1000 fans who do also then maybe he has the time to find a better job!

[maltz]

Thanks for the interview! It is nice to know people still care.



I actually feel the MMH6 is quite all right, a 7/10. Graphics are indeed better than HOMM5. Most of my complaints come from lack of well-thought challenges. They just lazily throw in a boss with more or less a fixed strength, not even thinking that players grow armies every week. It is actually very easy to tweak - give me a day and I can fix it!
Edited on Tue, May 08 2012, 12:18 by maltz

[CloudRiderX]

"How can anyone say that? H5 ToE is a wonderful game, has nice mechanics, nice graphics, nice factions - it's nearly as perfect as H3. H6 is missing all of the Heroes feeling. "



This issue with this statemeny is fairly self-evident - Heroes 5 needed two expansions just to get where Heroes 6 was upon initial release. So even if you considered the two equal, that makes Heroes 6 the better game.

[hellegennes]

@Loco Blutaxt:



H5 needed two expansion packs in order to have some of the feel H3 had. Not to mention that it's light years behind H2 and H4. H5, even with its 2 expansion packs, still is a very slow game which takes away everything the Heroes franchise is. H6, with all its flaws, is still a game with a much faster pace, gameplay-wise. The story of H5, was also too generic and uninspired; I never cared for it.

[Loco Blutaxt]

CloudRiderX, hellegennes:

We don't come together at this point and pace is not a sign of quality in my eyes... my word would be "flow". And H5 has that flow while I stopped playing H6 before finishing the campaigns. H6 is the very first Heroes I do this.

But we're lightyears away from topic. Maybe we should stop this discussion?

[CloudRiderX]

The Heroes 5 campaign was horrible from just about every perspective.



The cutscenes were shoddy at best; the actual campaigns maps were very rigid and literally held your hand with thousands of tiny objectives, as opposed to every other HoMM game, all of which give you global objectives and let you complete then in any manner you see fit. The only times I was playing it that didn't make me want to slam my head on my keyboard was when Agrael was monologuing.

[mel5765]

I bought and played Heroes 6 when It came out as with all other titles in the series. Heroes 6 is the first heroes game I STOP playing after 2 months when In the past I would play the past heroes series almost everyday. Part of which is Conflux blocking me from playing a game I Love, How about fixing the Conflux servers first?