Things are getting from bad to worse.

[cjlee]

Just skimming the headlines/ front page of Celestial Heavens, I can’t help but shake my head at the stupidity of Ubisoft. These guys are scoring own goals in quick succession.

I’m increasingly pessimistic about the survival of this franchise.

There are too many things that are wrong with what they’re doing, and I don’t even know where to begin. But as a start, I’d like to say that I agree with those guys on the main page who observed that Ubisoft was too obsessed with piracy and not concerned enough with making a good quality product.

People who downloaded pirated/ cracked versions probably had less trouble than people who obediently logged onto conflux like good netizens. They didn’t get their savegames deleted; they weren’t denied access when conflux went down, etc.

Software piracy is rampant everywhere. You can’t stop it. Ubisoft is definitely not the only victim – but it seems more intent on blaming software piracy for not making enough money, rather than product quality.

A good quality product will attract pirates and people who download pirated versions. That is a fact. All games suffer from it. The biggest victims are probably EA Games, Blizzard, Microsoft and Capcom. Ubisoft, with its less-popular products, is probably far down the line.

I have IT-savvy friends who own Hackintoshes. (IE they pirated Apple software and created Macs from PCs.) These same friends have also paid Apple a lot of money because they also own genuine Apple products – iphones and macbooks and ipads and accessories. One guy even got rid of his PC accessories like keyboard, router and backup hard drives and replaced them with Apple products accessorized to his PC. I don’t know where piracy ends and profit begins – but I know for certain that if Steve Jobs did not create a good product, my friends would not create Hackintoshes. Neither would they buy iphones and macbooks and ipads.

A good quality product also attracts customers. And publicity. And goodwill that translates into more sales of related products including novels, graphic novels, figurines, collectors’ sets and more. These can’t be easily pirated.

I find it so ridiculous that Ubisoft keeps creating DLC packs and trying to sell them. 2 maps with no new races/ units does not make an expansion and is not worth $10. 3 campaigns with 5 maps each, with another 20 or more stand alone maps, with at least 1 new race and 1 new unit for each preexisting race – well, that’s probably worthy of being called an expansion that we can pay $25 for.

Barely 1 year has passed and we have 1 ‘expansion’ and various semi-developed games like card cames and f2p being offered. Ubisoft seems to be exploiting the name to the max without actually offering something good.

XXX

Now let me touch on another topic I’ve been wanting to discuss for a while.

My gaming group has officially discontinued support for Heroes of Might and Magic.

My group used to be decent-sized, with over 20 people. As we grew up and people got married or busy, it has fallen in size. I’d say we number about 9-14 now.

Since we don’t have enough time nowadays, we are concerned with playing only the best games. With our decision in early August, we are now down to only 2 games: bridge and Starcraft 2.

Since my group no longer wants to support HOMM, I no longer have a partner for HOMM. That’s fine. We have played many Heroes games together since Heroes 2, and the older versions are getting so old we no longer want to play them. By the time of Heroes 5, more than half my group no longer played Heroes regularly. With Heroes 6, only two (not me) actually bought the game and they refused to recommend it so there is no more interest in this product.

Nearly everyone in my group is over 35. We are not the ideal demographic for fast paced RTS games. We would prefer turn-based strategy; something that approximated a super form of chess (That’s what we see Heroes as). But now we’ve decided on Starcraft 2. Because Starcraft 2 is good.

I did not even play Starcraft 1!

Yes, I know some of you Heroes VI fans are going to laugh and say that my group consists of 0.00001% of the potential market so it is ok to alienate us. But I don’t think we are an outlier. There should be many people out there who make the decision whether to buy, and these decisions are increasingly against buying.

Mature gamers value quality, and Heroes 6 is of vastly inferior quality to Starcraft 2. Sure, one is an apple and the other an orange (being RTS vs Turn-Based Strategy). But if we want to eat fruits, we will always choose sweet and juicy oranges over rotten apples – that applies to me as well, even though I prefer apples over oranges in general.

Ubisoft’s actions have consequences. Their inattention to quality is a bad attitude that goes far beyond subjective grouses like whether there is a Wizard faction. Not everyone likes to eat apples, but even apple lovers won’t eat apples with worms inside. At the rate they are going, the franchise is being dismantled and crossover console gamers won’t rescue Heroes from the oblivion pile.

[Dalai]

I find it so ridiculous that Ubisoft keeps creating DLC packs and trying to sell them. 2 maps with no new races/ units does not make an expansion and is not worth $10.

If they actually knew about Heroes Chronicles they could learn smth from their story.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (c)

[jeff]

Nearly everyone in my group is over 35. We are not the ideal demographic for fast paced RTS games. We would prefer turn-based strategy; (That’s what we see Heroes as)

True you are not the ideal, but you are in no way insignificant. There are a lot of us older fans (I’m much older than your group’s average age) and many of us feel disenfranchised by the decisions and lack of concern on the part of UBI.

Yes, I know some of you Heroes VI fans are going to laugh and say that my group consists of 0.00001% of the potential market so it is ok to alienate us. But I don’t think we are an outlier.

Actually I believe it is far more likely that UBI has this view; most H-6 fans don’t even think about that. It is not a shot at those fans; I just don’t think it is important enough to most fans of the game to think about the demographic of the detractors.

Mature gamers value quality, and Heroes 6 is of vastly inferior quality

This is the rub; for both H-5 and 6 UBI overlooked the importance of a good user friendly editor. Many fans scream for a RMG, because they want more maps. Their needs, in part, would be met if a good editor was available so mapmakers could create the extra maps the fans require to maintain interest. The RMG will never create maps as good as those created by even a novice mapmaker, and there are several very good ones on the sidelines.

[Avonu]

If they actually knew about Heroes Chronicles they could learn smth from their story.

How that could be possible if Ubisoft couldn't learn from their own mistakes during HV development? Now with HVI they repeated every one of them.

[Spin]

There is one thing for certain that is Ubisoft never planned for Heroes VI to end up like it is in it's current state. I would suspect they had much larger dreams for it but problems arose right from the beginning (with the release being delayed) and inevitably those dreams started fading away.

Look, i agree with the heading of this thread, but it seems as if classic HoMM games just aren't worth their money anymore, in fact, might & magic's really a very old franchise which peaked over 10 years ago.

To be honest i'm happy they still see value in the license, the only game developer i can see these days bringing it back to its glory is Firaxis, but obviously they have many other great strategy games to worry about.

[jeff]

To be honest i'm happy they still see value in the license,

Actually if that is all they value, then I am not happy. There is plenty of evidence to that fact; they throw the MM name on several of their products just for the marketing value. If they are not going to continue the two main MM lines with quality products; I would prefer they retire the brand. However they own it and they can do and abuse it anyway they want, and they have been exercising that right.

[mr.hackcrag]

I think the bottom line is HoMM will never be good again as long as its in Ubi's tentacles. F*** Ubi.

[Pol]

There is one thing for certain that is Ubisoft never planned for Heroes VI to end up like it is in it's current state. I would suspect they had much larger dreams for it but problems arose right from the beginning

True but it's their fault. Lack of management knowledge, clear ideas and may be a low budged. Now they are only trying to milk the brand.

So what they planned and what they were capable of are two different things. And with very unfortunate outcome for us, customers.

[Kalah]

I think the bottom line is HoMM will never be good again as long as its in Ubi's tentacles.

You may have a point, as I'm about to write in my current review, Ubisoft will only release games with big online features. HoMM isn't really suitable for online features.

[cjlee]

I think the bottom line is HoMM will never be good again as long as its in Ubi's tentacles. F*** Ubi.

Ubisoft should not be producing games. It should be making toilet paper. A name like (you-be-soft) Ubisoft sounds perfect for that. (Yes, in real life I do mainly use a brand of toilet paper called x-x-soft.)

As I have stated repeatedly, I am deeply bothered by the fiasco surrounding Heroes VI. It's much, much worse than subjective changes like not having dragons or wizards or fewer resource types or castle convertibility.

It's about QUALITY.

Let me elaborate. But before I do, let me state that I will not respond to people who have no 'skin in the game' or who don't put their money where their mouth is.

If you have only played Heroes VI and think it is some fantastic game, I ain't gonna respond to you. You don't know what quality is.

If you play a pirated game and want to comment - f off. You have no right to be taken seriously.

My POV is the POV of a gamer who has spent at least $400 in his lifetime on over 50 crap games, and possibly around $1k on just one game: Heroes of Might and Magic alone. (My figures don't include the money spent on quality games like Total Annihilation, the C&C franchise of games or Blizzard products like Diablo and Warcraft.)

I have bought at least 30 units of HOMM in my lifetime, probably more than anyone else on this forum. (I traditionally give computer games as gifts to male friends and relatives.)

I bought at least 3x per version of Heroes II, III and IV. Until Heroes V, I usually preordered or bought at full price with minimal discounting. But even though I didn't like Heroes V that much, I found it good enough to buy at a discount and give as gifts.

Sure, they all had their flaws. I'm sure we all remember Heroes IV's many bugs. But I put my money where my mouth is. I thought HOMM was a quality game despite its flaws, so I duly bought it and gave it away on special occasions. Everyone I gave this game to played it.

Now compare how I spent maybe $400 on 50 crap games. I'm talking about the kind of game that ends up on the discount pile...

Between the age of 15 and 21, I bought a lot of games because they were cheap and looked good. Three snazzy looking games for $20? I was repeatedly suckered by their fancy boxes and the big discount signs.

The market is full of cheap (but legal) knock-offs of famous games. These are typically poorly programmed and come across as unpolished beta products. Inevitably, I would install them, discover they were totally crap, and delete everything within 24 hours.

I never thought Heroes of Might and Magic would wind up looking like a discount-pile crap game.

This is the first HOMM that I haven't spent a cent on. I returned the borrowed game to the friend who lent it to me; he didn't want to play it also and we passed it to another friend. Even if every single bug is ironed out, I am not interested.

It's a poorly made game, poorly thought out, unpolished, boring and less user friendly than previous games. Little replayability. Homogenous heroes and abilities. There's no quality, simple as that.

I am getting older. My gaming group is actually meeting to drink wine and play cards, instead of computer gaming as we were doing since our early teens! If Heroes VII should prove another disappointment, I'll probably abandon this for life. If Ubisoft wakes up and lives up to fan expectations, who knows? Maybe I'll spend another $1k on Heroes VII, VIII and IX?

[jeff]

If Ubisoft wakes up and lives up to fan expectations,

Unfortunately UBI is living up to some of our expectations; that is sad.

I am getting older. My gaming group is actually meeting to drink wine and play cards, instead of computer gaming as we were doing since our early teens!

Drinking wine as in your teens! Sorry just had to say it.

[ShadowLiberal]

Nearly everyone in my group is over 35. We are not the ideal demographic for fast paced RTS games.

Actually, I believe studies have shown that the average gamer is 34 years old nowadays, so you are an ideal and typical demographic target.

You may have a point, as I'm about to write in my current review, Ubisoft will only release games with big online features. HoMM isn't really suitable for online features.

Yes, this is the problem, HoMM quite frankly sucks as a multiplayer game, because humans take too long to make their turns. Ubisoft is trying to force an always online model in a game where that model doesn't fit.

This is the first HOMM that I haven't spent a cent on. I returned the borrowed game to the friend who lent it to me; he didn't want to play it also and we passed it to another friend. Even if every single bug is ironed out, I am not interested.

That's better then me, I got Heroes 6 as a gift, but then never even opened it after so much bad stuff about all the bugs and UPlay. If I know a game is going to frustrate the hell of me then I'd rather just replay Heroes 5, or Baldur's Gate 2, or one of the other quality games I've had for over 10 years. Those games may be years old, but they're good enough to keep replaying until they finally stop running on newer versions of windows.

[mr.hackcrag]

Yes, this is the problem, HoMM quite frankly sucks as a multiplayer game, because humans take too long to make their turns.

Once you get to a certain skill level, you can crank out turns so fast that a naive observer would have no clue wtf is going on. But yeah, it is annoying watching those youtube videos where people hover there mouse over a unit or resource for five minutes before making a move. Gotta have sim turns.

[cjlee]

Turn based strategy is very difficult to apply for multiplayer.

What my gaming group has done:

1) Two of us are gaming nutcases with at least 3 computers in their houses. When others bring their laptops over, they can establish a LAN of over 8 computers. (Don't ask me the technicalities.)
2) Hotseats during a party. Because we also socialize and make smalltalk and watch TV and mess around with barbeque stuff and other games (including mahjong and Chinese chess), we don't spend all our time waiting for each other to make a move.
3) Some of us game with each other during work because turn-based strategy gives us time to make a move, then minimize the screen and do other things. My tech-support friends are particularly fond of this because they don't need to be committed fully the way you have to be when you play an RTS.
OBVIOUSLY, THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE if they were playing Heroes VI which they are not. Switching windows is immediate if you are playing any version of HOMM up to H5, but H6 takes forever to load its 'resources' even if you have a fast computer. Another reason not to buy H6!

Obviously, we KNOW each other, so it's a lot easier. We can mutually agree not to use certain strategies that take too much time, such as 1-sprite vs 100 zombies.

Yes, this is the problem, HoMM quite frankly sucks as a multiplayer game, because humans take too long to make their turns.

Once you get to a certain skill level, you can crank out turns so fast that a naive observer would have no clue wtf is going on. But yeah, it is annoying watching those youtube videos where people hover there mouse over a unit or resource for five minutes before making a move. Gotta have sim turns.