HOMMV Stolen Alpha!

[protecyon]

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/1126270083

[NecroSpazz]

Oh no!

[Vision]

The simple fact that it was actually stolen leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. People need to learn some patience again, especially now that the world is turning into one of on demand and "get it now". Patience is a virtue, and it seems that virtue is dying.



Evidently it is the same version that was leaked about a year ago. This is apparently the alpha that we have all seen the screenshots of, and is most definitely something that is not even remotely close to what the beta testers will see in the next week or two. Also of note is the fact that these pukes are SELLING cd copies of the friggin game. Blecht. I hate that crap.

[Vision]

As for how they got it, it seems that the people assisting in the making of some disks stole a copy. Disks like those to be sent out to alpha testers or used at conventions like E3

[Peacemaker]

Seeing that Russian is my second mother tongue (and I'd like to think that my English isn't much worse... naive me ), I've translated the press release as close to the original as possible.



"Nival Interactive" warns of illegal selling of an old version of Heroes of Might and Magic V



Currently in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities you can buy a version of Heroes of Might and Magic V which salesmen refer to as "alpha version" or sometimes even as "demo version", although it actually is one of the very first working builds of the game made more than a year ago. While the game was developed, many different people had had access to it and some of them made the stealing possible. After a year, named build was put on the internet, but now it's being written on the CD's and sold.



It's remarkable that fans of the series are anxious to test the new game of the series in action. However, we're obliged to warn all potential buyers of these CD's, that stolen build is too old to give even approximate representation of the finished product - it has old graphic engine, schematic gameplay and because of the many bugs is practically unplayable. Because of these reasons, "Nival Interactive" asks fans of the series not to waste their money and time on that version, which can't possibly give nor any info of the 5th game in the series, nor simple enjoyment. You can find out about all the development news, HoMM V world and official pre-release builds by visiting our site: http://www.nival.com/homm5_ru/.



Below that is some useless info of Nival and Ubisoft.



Hope this helped .

[Biggles Final Flight]

Cheers Peacemaker, that's clears a few things up for me.

I just can't understand how a fan of any game series would want to play a stolen build. Apart from the fact that the thieves (that's the sellers and the buyers) are taking money away from Nival, such actions have the potential to jeopardise the future of the series. And why would any fan want that? This is just as heinous a crime, if not worse, than piracy.

[lpatenaude]

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to copy and paste the new web-site's address directly into my bookmark storage of quite important internet addresses of my new browser called Firefox- Peacemaker.



By the way, did you offer to sell or just plain give your copy of this article(fully translated) to the very popular and still quite often misunderstood Russian/English web- site of HeroesPortal.net?



If you did, thanks a million in advance.



Hope these fraudulent disks do not make their way all throughout the international trade giant of Ebay!!



Read you around!!

[Angelspit]

People buy these kind of copies because they want a preview of the game. They might buy a legit copy of the game when it comes out. Or not.

[LindaG]

The same people who stole that disk are probably the same ones who get all their music by stealing it.

They suck. Plain and simple. That is terrible.

[Peacemaker]

By the way, did you offer to sell or just plain give your copy of this article(fully translated) to the very popular and still quite often misunderstood Russian/English web- site of HeroesPortal.net?

Sorry, I don't get what you're saying here. After noticing this news item on CH, I translated the article (in my Wordpad) and posted it here. That's all - I don't have anything to do with heroesportal.net .



And, btw, it's nearly impossible to buy legitimate copies of PC games in Russian shops - and ordering from internet shops would cost almost half of average salary, so the people there almost always buy pirated copies (which are sold even in supermarkets), without giving much though on the question of morality. Sad, but true.

[grimogre]

What people are buying is CACA.I wouldn't even pay a buck for that mess.However I would pay $15 for a Heroes V action figure:)

[sisko]

@Biggles FF: Please don't over exaggerate. The ppl that buy this, thinking it's the real thing, wouldn't have bought it legit. The ppl buying it, knowing it's an old version just want to see a preview and WILL most likely buy the completed game legit. So no money is being taken from Nival. The sellers should be punished though, they shouldn't make money on stolen property

[CloudRiderX]

What the hell is wrong with these people!? It's a frickin unplayable demo, with bugs and an outdated graphic engine. Who in their minds would want that? Even,(respecting Peacemaker's explanation on Russian games) if the real game costed a fortune, a demo lacks the taste, shape, and overall quality of the game. It's amazing what people would do to make a buck these days.

[Biggles Final Flight]

[quote]And, btw, it's nearly impossible to buy legitimate copies of PC games in Russian shops - and ordering from internet shops would cost almost half of average salary...



[quote]@Biggles FF: Please don't over exaggerate. The ppl that buy this, thinking it's the real thing, wouldn't have bought it legit...



Fair point Sisko - Perhaps I got a little too excited, especially having considered what Peacemaker has said. Being a Brit (and having never been to Russia), I've no real idea of what it's like to live with an economy like Russia's, or of the level of piracy that's obviously become institutionalised in Russia.



Plus I'm still haunted by the ghost of the HL2 leak scandal last year...

[alchemy]

Can't believe it.

[mr.dna]

hopefully they don't pull a valve hl-2 delay out of this

[Orfinn]

Some morons just want to ruin everything!

Freaking thieves!!!! I gonna kill em all!!!

*Calms down*

[Sikon]

Peacemaker, please don't over-exaggerate yourself. Ordering from Internet (yes, Internet, not internet, by all means) shops doesn't cost "half of average salary". And licensed versions of games (not speaking of other software, where the situation is hopeless) are not uncommon, especially when they offer advantages (like Half-Life 2, which offers access to Valve's Steam service; according to a poll, the number of licensed version owners is about 75% of the number of pirated version owners). Another example is Heroes, as licensed versions are common and cheap, thanks to Buka.

Note to CH users: take comments like the one about the average salary with a bit of salt. Russia is not nearly as poor a country as its people like to present it.

What is true is that nobody cares about pirated software shops, nobody closes them and nobody is afraid of copyright infridgement. Probably it's not normal, but so far, almost everyone seems to be satisfied with the situation.

[Wildbear]

Don't forget the price of the expansions ^^



Whatever, if salaries are low, there's no reason to waste money in broken early betas...

[Peacemaker]

Sorry, Sikon, I indeed exaggarated. My fault was that I haven't been in Russia for quite a while - and thought the situation hasn't changed in last few years. But still: with the new games priced at nearly 50 $ (+ shipment fees) and average salary at about 200-300 $ (different sources show different stats) one can easily see why the level of piracy is so high.



And, somehow, after seeing Buka's localised versions priced at around 5 $, I have some doubts over their legitimacy.



Anyway, when wondering about people who bought this "demo" one mustn't forget that it most probably didn't cost even mentioned 5 $ (might be wrong here).