Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

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Kalah
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Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby Kalah » 10 Nov 2006, 22:35

<img src="/https://www.celestialheavens.com/images ... ice_sm.jpg" align=right vspace=10 hspace=10>We have just concluded an <a href="/https://www.celestialheavens.com/638">interview</a> with Fabrice Cambounet, producer of Heroes V and Hammers of Fate. Here he speaks about working on the expansion, dealing with the communities of stark raving mad fans and the future of the HoMM franchise.



The interesting bits:



- The HoF structure was decided a long time ago; meaning the dwarves have been planned to return for some time.

- Sadly, the RMG will <i>not</i> be compatible with the standard version of the game.

- Patching will continue, in accordance with the original plan.

- The UbiSoft management is happy with the way the game has been selling so far. I would suggest that this is good news for the series and increases the chances of a continuation, something Fabrice himself seems to agree with:



<i>"Making expansions is a way for a publisher to continue providing content for a complex game (strategy games, usually), and increase its quality long after the initial game was released. So, it does help increase the revenue, but you need to have a success with the original game first :) As it is the case with H5, the addon should hopefully be a success too. It will in turn increase the chances that Ubisoft invests in the future of the series"</i>



Oh, and I think I just gave Fabrice an idea... to make a "Might and Magic Complete" edition... :)



Go <a href="/https://www.celestialheavens.com/638">here</a> to read the whole interview.

If you would like to take a look at the original page visit this link:
https://www.celestialheavens.com/1163198123
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Re: Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 10 Nov 2006, 23:01

So,basically nothing new.
Making expansions is a way for a publisher to continue providing content for a complex game (strategy games, usually), and increase its quality long after the initial game was released. So, it does help increase the revenue, but you need to have a success with the original game first :) As it is the case with H5, the addon should hopefully be a success too. It will in turn increase the chances that Ubisoft invests in the future of the series
A success?Really?Well if you watch only from a point where it gives you a one-shot-money booster then it is a success.
Yes, we still haven't concluded our initial patch plan
Somehow I think that their plan was monthly patches.But dont you mind me.

Well,I lost my respect for the whole nival company now,even the small amount I had for fabrice.

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Unread postby Kalah » 11 Nov 2006, 00:45

Yes, the plan was monthly updates, but he does explain why there were delays. You'd know that if you'd read the whole interview with more than one eye open... :rolleyes:

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Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 11 Nov 2006, 01:38

I did read it carefully,and thats no excuse.Did they delay the games release in the first place when it was obvious it was faulty?No.But they delayed the patches for that reason.Why?Simple,because they release patches for free and were greedy to release the game as soon as posible to milk the fans.Thats where my anger about this comes from.

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Unread postby Omega_Destroyer » 11 Nov 2006, 01:54

Gotta agree with DL on this one. No money in making patches, so what's the rush?
And the chickens. Those damn chickens.

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Unread postby Kalah » 11 Nov 2006, 01:59

They delayed because they encountered problems they felt were important to solve, I don't see what you're complaining about? Why do you insist on clinging to this timeline as if it was chiseled in stone by the hands of the Almighty himself? In my experience, firm deadlines lead to nothing but trouble; flexible ones lead to quality.

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Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 11 Nov 2006, 02:30

Exactly!And what are we facing with FoH?And what we faced with the original HV?A fixed deadline.I wouldve never mined if HV was delayed,even until now,for it to be fixed.But it wasnt because of the money.Then they complain how they cannot release patches on time because they have to test them and check for bugs? :| Why didnt they do it with the original release of the game in the first place? :disagree:

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Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby kingcranium14 » 11 Nov 2006, 03:27

So does this mean that we have to run the expansion separately from the original game? If so, that's kind of dumb.



Never Mind.
Edited on Fri, Nov 10 2006, 20:33 by kingcranium14

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Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby Akul » 11 Nov 2006, 10:10

@kingcranium14:



Then amlost every game is dumb because you run theme seperately.
I am back and ready to... ready to... post things.

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Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby Romanov77 » 11 Nov 2006, 13:03

Guys...firms doesnt navigate into money...its obvious that they need liquidity much more than releasing patches...



For me, Fabrice is still a very good guy.

Its Nival that simply sucks.
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Unread postby ThunderTitan » 11 Nov 2006, 14:16

that don't change the fact that Ubi chose Nival.
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Unread postby King Imp » 11 Nov 2006, 14:16

Kalah wrote:They delayed because they encountered problems they felt were important to solve, I don't see what you're complaining about?


If that's the case, then why didn't they delay the actual game longer to fix the numerous and in some cases major problems it shipped with?

I'm sorry, but the more you try to argue this, the more you are proving DL's point. Why rush patches, they don't make any money off of them.

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Unread postby The Mad Dragon » 11 Nov 2006, 14:39

Have you taken into account at the fact that Ubi has the final word on when the game is released? Don't blame the company that worked on the game, blame the company that forced the game to come out early and incomplete.

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Unread postby The Mad Dragon » 11 Nov 2006, 14:44

I read the article, and for some reason, some of those answers seemed to beat around the bush. Did anyone else feel this?

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Unread postby Kristo » 11 Nov 2006, 14:55

Maybe they're rushing patches to keep the game in the front of fans' minds prior to the release of the expansion. It sounds like they want to do the absolute minimum amount of work necessary to keep you interested so you'll buy HoF. It makes pretty good business sense. Patches cost the company money while only generating the prospect of future revenue.

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Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby Sir Charles » 11 Nov 2006, 20:48

Sometimes I'm baffled by the fans reaction to new releases. They bi#ch and whine about wanting the game, THEN they bi#ch and whine when the game is released and it's not flawless. You can't have it both ways folks. This is, whether you like it or not, a business. And a business needs income coming in to stay IN business. They can't work on a game indefinitely to fix every little flaw like an extra "t" in enough. At some point they have to draw the line and release the game. And then there's the testing aspect. You can test and test and test and you'll NEVER find all the flaws/bugs in a PC game. Ever. There are simply TOO many different PC configurations out there to test with. So they attempt to get the game as stable as they can in the time alloted (and if you recall correctly they DID delay the release of the game to fix some major problems prior to the original release date...many companies wouldn't do this) then release it and patch it as often as needed to fix the problems that arise when it hits the mass market of PC varieties. Complaining about patch delays is also a pointless endeavor. They never stopped working on the patches...they simply found more errors that got introduced when the expansion info was figured into the equation (that and some additional MP stability problems). Those sort of fixes can't be fixed on a set time-table. They attempted to follow with the monthly patch goal...but problems were encountered. It had NOTHING to do with money. They want the game to be as perfect as WE do. So IMO...we should cut these guys some slack. It's not like they HAVE to patch the game...or for that matter, they don't have to make any M&M games at all.
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Unread postby The Mad Dragon » 11 Nov 2006, 20:51

That is very true.

However, I have to question the stability of the 1.4 patch with the different effects that it's having on everyone.

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Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby Sir Charles » 11 Nov 2006, 21:02

Well, the only problem I encountered with the patch wasn't even related to the patch. It was Vitirr's modded map that made my game screw up. So what are these problems that the patch is causing?



And btw...any data (game OR patch) will have SOME different result on SOME computers I think. With all the screwy configurations out there, there's always some system that will react badly to a patch. But instead of trying to work out the problem, the "fans" just cry that the patch is bugged. Of course I've seen no instance of this myself...just the reactions of others. Somehow people ignore logic and let emotion take control. I guess I'm just wired differently. :O)
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Re: Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby DaemianLucifer » 11 Nov 2006, 21:13

Sir Charles wrote:Sometimes I'm baffled by the fans reaction to new releases. They bi#ch and whine about wanting the game, THEN they bi#ch and whine when the game is released and it's not flawless. You can't have it both ways folks.
As I recall the majority(me included)wanted the game to come out bug free,finished and polished no matter when.So we do have all the right to bitch and whine why the game has been rushed when we specifically say that we want a finished game,no matter how long it takes for them to finish it.
Sir Charles wrote: This is, whether you like it or not, a business. And a business needs income coming in to stay IN business. They can't work on a game indefinitely to fix every little flaw like an extra "t" in enough.
Oh come on!That extra T requires less than a minute to fix.Plus,its not being done by the same team that does graphical bugs,or sound bugs,or rules optimisation.So dont go on telling us how they were swamped in work and had no time to do it.Especially because it was introduced by a patch.
Sir Charles wrote: At some point they have to draw the line and release the game.
Yep,and that line was drawn to soon,because thats what ubi does.It releases its games yearly,get the money and screw the quality of the release.This has been done with every single games of theres.Now if HV was being worked on by someone with more skill,like DM was worked on by arkane,we might have seen better results.
Sir Charles wrote: And then there's the testing aspect. You can test and test and test and you'll NEVER find all the flaws/bugs in a PC game. Ever. There are simply TOO many different PC configurations out there to test with. So they attempt to get the game as stable as they can in the time alloted (and if you recall correctly they DID delay the release of the game to fix some major problems prior to the original release date...many companies wouldn't do this) then release it and patch it as often as needed to fix the problems that arise when it hits the mass market of PC varieties.
True,you cannot weed out all of the problems,but you have to weed out the major ones.And companies today rely to much on the patches.You must do whatever it takes to make the game run as smooth and possible and not take comfort in the fact that you can easily patch it up later.
Sir Charles wrote: Complaining about patch delays is also a pointless endeavor. They never stopped working on the patches...they simply found more errors that got introduced when the expansion info was figured into the equation (that and some additional MP stability problems).
No,this is where you are wrong the most.There is nothing wrong in releasing hundreds of patcges monthly as long you state that those are betas.Take galciv for example:At any time you can download the beta version(s) of the patch they are curently working on.They wont let you wait for months and months for them to fix errors you never encountered,cause you are free to download the fix just for the error that bugs you specifically.And thats how it should be done.
Sir Charles wrote: Those sort of fixes can't be fixed on a set time-table. They attempted to follow with the monthly patch goal...but problems were encountered. It had NOTHING to do with money.
Thats bull,and you know it.If ubi suddenly decided that every patch costs 1$ they would be releasing them monthly in a second.If what you said was correct,the games initial release wouldve been delayed for a long time.
Sir Charles wrote: They want the game to be as perfect as WE do.
:lolu: :lolu: Yes,thats why the fan manual and the fan paper doll,and every other mod the fans made to fix the game are way better than anything they do :rolleyes:
Sir Charles wrote: So IMO...we should cut these guys some slack. It's not like they HAVE to patch the game...or for that matter, they don't have to make any M&M games at all.
Of course,its not like they have to.And its not like we have to give them our money either.Let them work as lazy as they did,I dont care.They wont get my money for it.
Sir Charles wrote:Somehow people ignore logic and let emotion take control. I guess I'm just wired differently. :O)
Yes,and sometimes people replace logic for blind praise.

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Re: Fabrice Q&A - the Expansion and the Future

Unread postby Sir Charles » 11 Nov 2006, 22:00

DaemianLucifer wrote:DL: As I recall the majority(me included)wanted the game to come out bug free,finished and polished no matter when.So we do have all the right to ***** and whine why the game has been rushed when we specifically say that we want a finished game,no matter how long it takes for them to finish it.
Hey, I'm in that group too. I'd LOVE it if a game came out totally bug free. But in this day and age, it's simply NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Accept it and adjust. The only way they'll ever find a good portion of the bugs is AFTER it's released to the mass market and people do things to the game that it wasn't intended to have done to it. Does it suck, sure. But it's reality. I would've been more than happy for them to take an extra YEAR on development. But at some point, those employees have to actually get PAID. And that can't happen if they don't have games getting finished.
DL wrote:DL: Oh come on!That extra T requires less than a minute to fix.Plus,its not being done by the same team that does graphical bugs,or sound bugs,or rules optimisation.So dont go on telling us how they were swamped in work and had no time to do it.Especially because it was introduced by a patch.
That was an example. Sheesh. Text errors aren't something that can be fixed in a few seconds. You need to take a look at the VAST quantity of text in this game. And then multiply that by the different language versions there are. That's a TON of text. I'm not excusing them, just saying that you should cut them a little slack. Everybody makes typos. But many of the other "bugs" as some fans call them aren't even bugs. They're problems that get introduced with wierd configurations of PC's. And some things are intended to be the way they are....but fans think of them as bugs. Again, I'm not excusing them. But do you delay releasing a game or a patch or an expansion pack because of a shadow not matching up correctly with a hero? No. You release it...then fix it as soon as you can. I'm not saying they had no time to fix certain things....rather that they had to prioritize what was of most importance. Whether that meshes with what YOU think is important....that will rarely happen with a fan-base as large as this one is.
DL wrote:DL: Yep,and that line was drawn to soon,because thats what ubi does.It releases its games yearly,get the money and screw the quality of the release.This has been done with every single games of theres.Now if HV was being worked on by someone with more skill,like DM was worked on by arkane,we might have seen better results.
You're basing this on a lack of information from what I can see. The game was delayed 3 times. Only once was it made public. Fabrice requested more time MULTIPLE times, but each time he does...that means the cost of the game increases a TON. Simply due to man-hours for working on the game. There's a budget on a game like this and like I said, at some point they HAVE to draw the line. IMO it doesn't have to do with "skill" but rather "experience". This is the first time that Nival (or Ubi for that matter) has taken on a heroes title. Overall, I think they did a supurb job. Apparently your opinion differs.
DL wrote:DL: True,you cannot weed out all of the problems,but you have to weed out the major ones.And companies today rely to much on the patches.You must do whatever it takes to make the game run as smooth and possible and not take comfort in the fact that you can easily patch it up later.
In a perfect world, yeah, that'd be great. But in today's PC gaming market...flexible time schedules like that won't be seen very often...if ever.
DL wrote:DL: No,this is where you are wrong the most.There is nothing wrong in releasing hundreds of patcges monthly as long you state that those are betas.Take galciv for example:At any time you can download the beta version(s) of the patch they are curently working on.They wont let you wait for months and months for them to fix errors you never encountered,cause you are free to download the fix just for the error that bugs you specifically.And thats how it should be done.
That seems like a decent solution. Have you ever suggested that to Ubisoft? I doubt it. But regardless, the fact that they release their patches in bundles doesn't change the fact that they've continued to work on them. Complaining doesn't solve anything in this case. Each of the patches have had at least one major thing in them. They try to get that one thing working smoothly and then stick in as many of the minor fixes as they can. Releasing those minor fixes individually would probably appease the rabid fans, but there will undoubtedly still be people who will rant about something not fixed or working the way they want it to.
DL wrote:DL: Thats bull,and you know it.If ubi suddenly decided that every patch costs 1$ they would be releasing them monthly in a second.If what you said was correct,the games initial release wouldve been delayed for a long time.
You misunderstood. I'm saying that the delay of the patches wasn't because they were working on a different project. They weren't working on the expansion pack instead of working on the patch. They were going on at the same time by different employees. The delay was due to problems encountered during any patching process. And if they were to charge money for patches, then yes, I'm sure they'd put a higher emphasis on them. But if problems are encountered, they'll be delayed either way.
DL wrote:DL: :lolu: :lolu: Yes,thats why the fan manual and the fan paper doll,and every other mod the fans made to fix the game are way better than anything they do :rolleyes:
That's YOUR opinion. Not mine. I think most of the mods flat out suck. Period. The paper-doll one? It's just the h3 one copied-and-pasted into the h5 layout. How the h&ll is THAT better? The manual....yeah, the initial one for h5 stunk. There's no doubting that. But had the fans not made one, Ubi would have. Would it have been better than the fan one? Who knows. But remember, the fan manual was made with the help of Ubisoft/Nival.
DL wrote:DL: Of course,its not like they have to.And its not like we have to give them our money either.Let them work as lazy as they did,I dont care.They wont get my money for it.
Again, lack of information on YOUR part. Do you have any clue how many man-hours were put in on this game? No. Do you have any idea how many hours of overtime were put into this game? No. If you don't like the game, don't buy it. If you don't like the expansion, don't buy it. But don't say that the game is crap as if that's a known FACT when it's in fact just your opinion. There are MANY out there who love the game and will love the expansion. If the game doesn't make money, then they'll stop making them. But as long as their getting a profit on their investment on development...we'll keep getting games. Whether YOU like them or not.
DL wrote:DL: Yes,and sometimes people replace logic for blind praise.
Blind praise? You're completely clueless aren't you? Just because someone's opinion is different from yours...they're blind? Apparently somebody thinks the world revolves around them. *rolls eyes*
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