Posted by ThE_HyDrA at 14:54, 16 May 2006:
Heroes V is Officially Released! New H4 CTG Alignments!
Yes, Heroes of Might and Magic V is now officially available to buy! While not yet released in all countries, it has been bought in countries such as Australia and Germany, so contact your local game store now! The Official Release dates were listed as the 19th for Europe and the 23rd for the U.S.A. and elsewhere, but it seems that some distributers have decided to make their copies available now. Join in the burgeoning discussion at the Temple of Ashan, and tell us if you've got your copy yet and where.
Jonathan Bjork of DGA Games has also revealed the identity of 2 new alignments for the expansion of the Heroes IV CTG, the Storm Winds: "The 2 new alignments will be Hope and Despair. There will be all new units, heroes, spells, and skills for these 2 new alignments."
Posted by vesuvius at 08:56, 15 May 2006:
Tournament of Honor Now Open for Heroes V
A new season: THE place for Heroes Multiplayer Online
So it begins, a new game, to bring an influx of new players with potentially unprecedented activity. New players visiting ToH for the first time or veterans refreshing themselves should visit the New Player Rules & Info Page. ToH has been updated with a new look, more streamlined/efficient setup, automation enhancements & improved aesthetics.
For those returning, notice some changes/advancements:
Player Lookup & Statistics now show a registration # -- This is to allow players to see how new or old the player is to ToH. The lower the registration number, the longer the player has been with ToH.
The great Hall of Fame returns -- Top 100 most prestigious players are listed there. It is automated in real time. Visit this page to see some of the top players in Heroes III-V history, whether they are active or not.
User Profile Access -- You can now change your name, email address, password, and most importantly, add an avatar to your rankings & statistics. You can also visit this page if you forgot your password.
The side counter -- Keeps track of how many games reported & players registered in the database.
Cash Prizes -- At end of season, the Caesar Grand Finalist will win $1000 in Cash. The top ranked player at the end of season will win the ToH GrandMaster's Award of $500 in Cash. There may be more prizes as well, for other subtournaments including the Clans.
ToH Clans -- New clans system allows for full freedom in play -- top veterans of past clans get some perks.
In total, over $3000 in Cash Prizes will be awarded during Season I to the top players, as well as in Clans, and the most Honorable.
Posted by Valeriy at 11:14, 14 May 2006:
Calm Before the Storm (news), Weekly Poll Results + New Poll
This week is the calm before the storm, as Heroes of Might and Magic 5 is about to hit the shelves. But we've got news. Today Age of Heroes has reached the important milestone of 5,000 unique visitors per 24 hours (that is AOH alone, HC not included) and the traffic keeps on growing. Tomorrow our ally, Tournament of Honor, the largest and most known HOMM tournament will open for Heroes of Might and Magic V. Watch this page for info from Vesuvius. Just wait till you see the top prize ;) And for those of you who are new and haven't played the Heroes of Might and Magic V demo, ThE_HyDrA has put together a very handy Heroes 5 demo info page.
The second weekly HC Poll is over - Which HOMM5 faction will you play first?
1. Necropolis (18) - some say necro is weak, but necro is clearly liked by many.
2. Dungeon (14) - necros first, ladies second ;)
3. Haven (10) and Sylvan (10) - the good guys still have admirers.
4. Academy (8) - must be the bucket gargoyle's fault.
5. Inferno (6) - too much of it in the demo?
6. Random! (5) - 1 in 14 people couldn't or didn't want to decide.
Now it's time for the next HC Weekly Poll: What is the Best Feature of Heroes 5? - VOTE!
Update! A rebel counter-poll appeared! What is the most dissapointing feature of Heroes V? - vote.
Posted by Valeriy at 12:37, 10 May 2006:
Rewards to the Team, AOH Ad Network Expansion
In the last six months, since the big re-opening, Age of Heroes went from receiving hundreds of unique visitors per day to receiving thousands per day, almost a ten-fold increase. This would not be possible without two people. Firstly - ThE_HyDrA who built our Heroes 5 section from scratch and kept it comprehensive and up to date. Secondly - Sfidanza who took the Heroes 5 section to a whole new level by creating and perfecting a complete set of Heroes 5 data tables of unmatched quality. Aside from that, many other contributions from both. As a gift of gratitude, both will be finding a $50 Amazon.com gift voucher in their inbox today! Humble refusals not accepted, you deserve it guys :)
For the last several months, visitors of AOH and HC enjoyed the complete absence of pop-ups and annoying/unrelated ads. This was the task of Age of Heroes Advertising Network - quality advertisements about games. It worked. All server costs are paid and there are funds to thank the contributors and sponsor future contests. This month AOH Ad Network took the next step. It was renamed into GAO - Game Advertising Online - and now enables other gaming site webmasters to make an income without compromising site quality. The first gaming site publishers are already jumping on board.
Posted by Valeriy at 09:21, 7 May 2006:
Weekly HC Poll Results, Next Poll Open!
The weekly poll is over. Over 40 people voted for their favourite unique racial ability. The results:
1. Gating (12) and Necromancy (12)
2. Training (7) and Elemental Chains (6) - very close, second place for both.
3. Artificer (3)
4. Avenger (1)
It seems that people love specials that are easy to use and give them free creatures. Training and Elemental Chains are good, but involve money or more thinking - for more advanced players. Artificer - interesting concept, but players are unsure about how useful it will be in the game. Avenger - too complicated for most people, but potentially very powerful when used with skill.
And now the next weekly poll: Which HOMM5 faction will you play first? Vote now!
Do you like the Heroes 5 cursors now in use on Age of Heroes? Here's the cursors mini-poll.
Posted by ThE_HyDrA at 14:23, 6 May 2006:
Heroes V: News Update
As we draw nearer to the release date, new videos and information which help the game's publicity are being unveiled. Three days ago, we saw the large portraits of 4 Inferno Heroes. Just a note that the Heroes section has all hero biographies and small-scale portraits already.
In addition, a video was also made available. The first location, on GameSpot, a 32.7 MB download, while the second can be downloaded on MightandMagic.com, being slightly lighter at 19 MB. Edit: Video captures are now online!
In other news, Heroes V has had its first review - a 90% from the Swedish iteration of PC Gamer. This is evidence that the full version is now in circulation to a select few.
The US Might and Magic Site has announced the winners of the Heroes Fables contest. There is also a comic on the site by Penny Arcade that focuses on the Academy's Wizards, and illustrates that the author has an intimate knowledge of the game with the Magic Fist spell coming into its own.
Posted by Valeriy at 00:38, 4 May 2006:
Nival Create a Race in Heroes 5 Contest and AOH ICTC
The elusive results of Nival Create a Race in Heroes 5 Contest were located on Russian Nival forums. Nival's winners are all Russian entries of unusually low quality, see for yourself.
Nival's contest was run in conjunction with Gamemania, a Russian gaming magazine, and only Russian entries were being accepted. Thinking that everyone would enjoy having a go, we created the Age of Heroes International Create a Town Contest (ICTC) which followed a similar judging criteria and was open to all. Initially we offered to translate the three winning ICTC entries to Russian so that they can also enter the Nival contest. Perhaps due to to encouragement from Ubisoft, Nival announced that it will accept contest entries in English.
ICTC was a huge success with around 60 entries. DGA Games stepped up to sponsor the Age of Heroes contest and three ICTC winners received good prizes. The top prize included enshrinement as a hero in the upcoming Heroes 5 Card Game. The hero, Fenris, has just been announced!
The German Ubisoft is sponsoring a Drachenwald Contest where a beautiful Heroes 5 full-size helmet is to be won. Willingness to sponsor fan contests is yet to be seen from UK and US Ubisoft departments. My proposal to set things right by running the ICTC finals in conjunction with Ubisoft was not accepted.
In conclusion, I believe that these three contestants are the real winners, selected by both participants and judges, undisputed.