Voting for Vampires!

[mr.hackcrag]

The exposed body on that lich design up there is very good and makes the unit far more menacing. With his entire body covered up, you might not think it's even an undead - just a sorcerer. Those kinds of details make a big impact on impression.

[Galaad]

[Panda Tar]

These eyes glowing, oh, god, why!?

[mr.hackcrag]

He's in love.

[Galaad]

So all this converge together, we said OK: Spiders + Necromancers + Buddhists = the concept for this faction.

[Kalah]

Source of that quote, please?

[Galaad]

Right, sorry.
He says it during the latest video interview handled by Stevie.

[Kalah]

Thanks - we had better make sure we quote the guys correctly since there are so many rumours out there.

[Galaad]

You're welcome.
The interview is mindblowing. At first I wanted to ask him if it was true he was sexually aroused by spiders but too many members of the community voiced their opinion against it.

[Panda Tar]

You know, here in Brazil we use the word 'aranha' (spider) as a nickname for vagina. One of the nicknames, that is. Even pidgeon , frog and other bizarre stuff are used.

Of course, very informally.

[Tress]

You're welcome.
The interview is mindblowing. At first I wanted to ask him if it was true he was sexually aroused by spiders but too many members of the community voiced their opinion against it.

I hope you understand that was neither witty or funny and it was expected behavior to turn such question down. In fact it's more of a toxic Rhetorical question / statement rather than actual question.

[Galaad]

This question is perfectly legit, it is questioning the creative vision, which is apparently, incontestable, no matter how crap it is.

[Salamandre]

IMHO that question is "out of question". Those guys do a work on a product, they are in constant need of ideas, they are in constant work, the result might sustain their physical existence, food, bills, future contracts, etc. It is a serious thing for them.

I think is awkward to go on personal and even intimate area by making friend/friend (copain/copain, tu comprendras) with them, as long as you are just an outsider, the result of the game will not affect you in a material way (real world I mean). Being fan of a video game, even if passionate, is not a free pass for talking all it goes through your mind with developers. Those guys do their JOB, they do not owe us nothing, and actually I find rather exceptional that they try to keep friendly contact with a somehow agitated and hostile community.

My two cents.

[Kalah]

Is anyone actually seeing the spider thing as a serious question? I thought (and still think) it was a joke, to be laughed at and to be answered with: "sure thing, those eight eyes are just so pretty, you know."

[Galaad]

You are getting it all wrong Sal.
I highly doubt actual people working on the game have any wish to keep friendly contact with a somehow agitated and hostile community to mark your words. I would have expected from you to know that, given the tremendous amount of work you’ve done (and are still doing) for Heroes III. I think you know very well Ubisoft is doing business, but you may not realize -as you don’t really closely follow what has been going on- Ubisoft with the creative director are forcing the IP through it. And because they are so kind to take contact with the fan base, they expose the developers to the frustration they have created themselves(!). In the Might & Magic Heroes VII Team (the third one, for the third game), not all developers are making the game. You have communication and community devs for instance. These are the people who have the most inhuman job, having to deal with a divided, raging, of bad-reputation fan base, because of what many purists and lore-hounds consider to be, to say the very least, poorly done. And the tricky part is that all this reflects visually. Not only because of the “faction-coding” or the 3D, but also because of the LoTR H-F trend which matches nowadays marketing standards, although, seemingly not as much than ten years before. (And gameplay decreasing as well, despite a few ideas not so horribly done like the H5 skill system, where you could choose between two skills or two perks, while leveling up. Along this was an ultimate skill system which could have been done better, I didn’t do the math myself but some people explained it somewhere in HC.)
So actually no, PR event didn’t seem that bad in all honesty, I think they are simply not realizing nor understanding their mistakes, and actually need help.
I always thought this was obvious to more people, but the story makes the lore, and the lore serves the story, and the visuals and general feel of the game will reflect that. In Ashan, it is the opposite, and the visuals screams marketing, and how coincidently so was the gameplay in opus 6th. And there could be a VETO from the creative direction to do anything about it. I mean, don’t you find it a bit suspicious, that Ubisoft tries better contact with the community, when the community provides this kind of art, yet it seems to be ignored years after years, with mottos like "Asha uses all" or "Ashan is here to stay"?

@Kalah: Sure it was a joke, and I think as well it would have been received as such. Still, I think it's a legit joke.

[Salamandre]

I don't know if I am getting it wrong, maybe. IMHO what I find utterly wrong is to have 10 people constantly agitating in 700 (!) pages thread about a video game, Ashan here, Ashan there. Yes, sure, I also did some work for Heroes, but I make difference between work and words. I didn't follow closely enough, true, but I would like to stand corrected if you find some artwork or clear concept proposed by the community and which was materially implemented in the upcoming H7. Because all I see is you (fans) criticizing the team and they defending while explaining the reasons they did this or that. I never saw the two UBI messengers say "thanks, this concept you propose is genial, look, tomorrow it will be in the game".

This "spider" thing was fun at start, but now is getting heavy. So they designed spiders then their time allowed for that creature is done. If you don't agree but frenetically want something else, open the 3DS max, design a better creature and manage to get hired by the team. What else solution there is? Do you think they materially can just delete and start again all the design because fans not happy? Time is over.

By the past, I also had some long time projects, and I shared the development process with the community. However, as the one who actually DID the work, I never appreciated lurkers popping here and there then criticizing my work without showing a better issue or solution. And I think this is H7 team position by now. Of course I am a lurker too and not even up to date about, so I may be wrong: correct me if I am, no problem.

[Kalah]

Well, Salamandre, you may be getting your wish: the fans were very angry with the Lich and Vampire initially proposed, and Limbic decided to change them. If this results in popular creature designs, that's a good step in the right direction, no?

[Salamandre]

The fans were also very angry about Forge town, thus 3DO canceled the project, and we know now what happened next, we had Conflux... I believe developers should stand and defend better their ideas, this is where we see in what material the idea is built.

[Galaad]

I believe developers should stand and defend better their ideas, this is where we see in what material the idea is built.

It is not developers ideas.

I would like to stand corrected if you find some artwork or clear concept proposed by the community and which was materially implemented in the upcoming H7.

The source material for the Undead Sorcerer clearly was taken from the fan art made by Negativland, but has been put on to a vote.
My guess: Devs caring about the game found it and chose it. Devs caring about money decided to do a final voting session (actually the most harmful part of the process).

[Erwinner]

Because all I see is you (fans) criticizing the team and they defending while explaining the reasons they did this or that. I never saw the two UBI messengers say "thanks, this concept you propose is genial, look, tomorrow it will be in the game".

By the past, I also had some long time projects, and I shared the development process with the community. However, as the one who actually DID the work, I never appreciated lurkers popping here and there then criticizing my work without showing a better issue or solution. And I think this is H7 team position by now. Of course I am a lurker too and not even up to date about, so I may be wrong: correct me if I am, no problem.

the fans aren't on contract working with a wage though, people are hardly obliged to do Ubi's work for them,
and more importantly, you were in a position to tell people to get lost because your creations were decidedly yours, you weren't claiming to make Heroes 7 lol

equally, I'm pretty sure you don't have to be a five star Michelin chef to criticise a crappy meal, or a wet sock where your meal should be, lol