Posted by Valeriy at 09:38, 31 Jan 2006:
Heroes V Skills and Abilities List by a New Team Member
Sfidanza joined the Age of Heroes Team today bringing a great gift - a completely illustrated and interactive list of Heroes of Might and Magic V hero skills, abilities and specialities! The skills system is perhaps the most interesting feature of Heroes of Might and Magic V, boasting nearly 200 different skills and abilities, plus almost 60 specialities. This is a must see! On behalf of everyone who will enjoy these pages, a big warm thanks to Sfidanza. Together, we will soon be working on more great features.
You can discuss Heroes 5 skills, abilities and specialities here. Keep in mind that all of this information comes from the open beta and is thus subject to change, correction and balancing.
A little gift for helping us make sure Heroes 5 is a good and balanced game :)
Posted by Oakwarrior at 17:25, 30 Jan 2006:
Heroes of Might and Magic V... Delayed!
Great news! Ubisoft has officially stated today, that Heroes of Might and Magic V has been delayed.
UbiSoft has given more time for the developers to finish the game, rid it of bugs, and add features. The previous game of the series was rushed, but now, the community lended it's hand to prevent history from repeating itself, and, hopefully, UbiSoft will ship more polished and finalized game than it was originally planned to. The petition to Save Heroes, has accumulated over 2500 signatures, and has been mentioned on numerous gaming sites. We all wish to thank you for the outstanding support you have given us on the past few days. It couldn't have been done without you. We hope you understand the somewhat extreme methods which have been used to get Ubisoft's attention on this matter, because another rushed game in the series would have been a disaster. Also, ubisoft should be thanked too, for listening us and our requests, and understanding the reasons which stood behind the petition, and decided to create a game worthy of the series.
As a consequence to today's announcement, some pages of the SaveHeroes.org site, such as How Can I Help, will be removed. The News Suppression Pact is no longer in effect. The Heroes V coverage will be brought back on all community sites and you can expect to read more good news on their pages during the next few days. Again, we thank you for your patience and your support.
Link to the official announcement by Fabrice Cambounet, Lead Producer of Heroes of Might and Magic V.
Link to the Save Heroes petition, showing the amount of signatures by the community
Celebration Thread
Posted by Valeriy at 14:10, 29 Jan 2006:
News Supression Pact Signed by Major HOMM Fan Sites
As of 2pm GMT today (Sunday 29th) administrators of the major Heroes of Might and Magic fan sites around the world have signed a News Suppression Pact in protest to a premature release of Heroes of Might and Magic 5.
The pact was signed by Age of Heroes (International), Archangel Castle (France), Behemoth's Lair (Poland), Castle Gobs (International), Celestial Heavens (International), Drachenwald (Germany), The Genie's Lamp (International), Guardian's Grove (International), Heroic Corner (Russia), La Torre de Marfil (Spain) and The Oracle League (International). All other HoMM websites are also invited to join this pact.
As representatives of the online HoMM Community, we, the pact members, strongly believe that Heroes of Might and Magic 5 will not be of sufficient standard and quality if the release is rushed for March 2006. As admirers of HoMM series and supporters of the current Heroes 5 potential, we will not tolerate a blow delivered by the release of an incomplete and unbalanced game.
As an action of protest, following this announcement, no news or updates will be posted on our web sites. Additionally, Heroes of Might and Magic 5 information will be removed from our web sites. We request that Ubisoft officially confirms that the release date of Heroes of Might and Magic 5 will be delayed past March 2006, for a period of time sufficient to develop a balanced and fully functional game. We do not regard the announcement made on Gamespot as true until Ubisoft issues official confirmation.
As an indication of support for our protest, the SaveHeroes.org Petition has been signed by over 1500 people in less than three days and received 30000 unique visitors. During the last week our web sites received more than 150000 visits.
We encourage all Heroes of Might and Magic fans to join our cause by signing the SaveHeroes.Org Petition and to stop posting on the official Ubisoft forums and to use our forums instead.
Additionally, you can help our cause by inviting your friends to sign the petition, by e-mailing Ubisoft and by notifying the media and game retailers about this situation. For more ways to help, see SaveHeroes.Org.
Posted by ThE_HyDrA at 08:01, 29 Jan 2006:
Heroes V: Creature Pages
Since the commencement of the Open Beta, all information that remained private in it can now be circulated. Therefore, Lord_Crusader and I have compiled a comprehensive list of Creature Pages. They include all statistics, special abilities, comments, and descriptions. See them all here:
Creature Introduction. Just follow the links at the top of the page, enjoy.
Posted by Valeriy at 11:22, 27 Jan 2006:
Updates: Save Heroes 5 Progress, New AOH Team Member
At the time of writing this, SaveHeroes.org Petition is now appearing in news releases all over the web and closing in on 500 signatures. Heroes Community Petition Thread received about 150 replies, and contains some detailed personal opinions. Fans are saying:
"I'll be more than happy to wait several months or even a year to see a quality new Heroes game ... if the game developers and testers are given the time needed to polish and refine Heroes V so that it shines like the brilliant gem it truly can become, I'll buy all the expansions, recommend it to my friends and sing its praises to the skies." - Fnord.
"As a closed beta tester and an official open beta helper I have seen the game evolve for some months, and like many others I began to get scarred push by push." - Labyrinth.
"I don't want another beta on release-day." - Salata.
We love Heroes, that's why we are challenging Ubisoft to reconsider the release date. Our win in game quality is Ubisoft's win in sales for years to come. If it's a loss, we both lose. We are in this together. According to Gamespot.com, Heroes 5 is the #1 PC Game, beating AOE3, SIMS2 and WOW. This means it will either soar very high or fall very hard. Ubisoft, everything depends on your decision. Heroes fans, tell all your friends and have your say.
In other news Lord_Crusader, an active Heroes 5 beta tester and Heroes Community member, joins the Age of Heroes Team!
Posted by Oakwarrior at 17:27, 26 Jan 2006:
Save Heroes of Might and Magc V Central Site Up!
The central site for the fight for saving Heroes of Might and Magic V is up! You can find it right here. It also has it's own petition, and it's the one that we MUST sign at all costs!
To sign the petition on Save Heroes, you'll have to register here. It's "THE" petition to sign, if we are to get more development time for the game. If you really love the game and the series, be sure to sign, and invite all of your fellow HoMaM fans to sign the petition.
Heroes of Might and Magic Community Sites Launch SaveHeroes.org
Dedicated Fans and Players Want to Delay Game for Higher Quality Release
Worldwide, Jan. 26, 2006. A group of Heroes of Might and Magic community Websites today launched a collaborative effort to persuade Ubisoft executives to delay the launch of their highly anticipated title Heroes of Might and Magic 5. SaveHeroes.Org is a concerted community effort to further that cause.
This effort, and the reasons behind it, started largely because of the open beta test, which started on GameSpy on Monday, January 23rd. With Heroes of Might and Magic 4 having received poor sales in comparison to its predecessor, Heroes 5 is seen by most as a make or break game. If it fails, so will the entire Might and Magic franchise. If it succeeds, then the product line would gain the support it needs for a long term at Ubisoft.
With these facts in mind, community websites, including Celestial Heavens, The Oracle League, Age of Heroes, Heroes Community, The Genies Lamp, Guardians Grove, and many others started posting petitions and banners to "Save Heroes 5". Not long after, these same leaders gathered to try and organize a collaborative effort to attempt to show Ubisoft that releasing an unfinished game would not go over well at all.
After the rough start and continued issues of the Open Beta, and some investigation, these leaders realized that there was little time to act. Ubisoft's fiscal year ends on March 31, coinciding with the release date. Ubisoft was also the target of a takeover bid in December of 2004, something they are not likely to forget easily. Wanting to hit or exceed their yearly targets could be a reason for the March 31 release date.
However, such short-term plans are exactly what doomed Heroes 4, New World Computing and The 3DO Company. SaveHeroes.Org is now open to try and prevent such a thing from happening.
Posted by Valeriy at 23:11, 24 Jan 2006:
World-Wide Petition - Save Heroes of Might and Magic 5
Quite a few players have now seen what the Heroes 5 open beta is like and those who haven't can get some idea here. Obviously this is the state of current game development of Heroes 5. There is just over a month left. The game needs to be thoroughly tested, features finalised, campaigns well made, AI improved etc. Then some time to produce the actual game bundles. Realistically, in about one month only partial improvements can be made and we might end up with another half-made game, with questionable follow-up patches, essential game features being shifted to expansions, etc.
This is a world wide petition to extend the development time by another two months so that we can have a Heroes 5 that gives rebirth to the HOMM series, instead of killing it by repeating mistakes of Heroes 4. This petition will be sent to Ubisoft. Let us all have a say for another two months and a well developed game.
Sign the petition on Heroes Community
Other communities all over the world are encouraged to team up on this petition to ensure that our voice is heard. E-mail me and I will add their links here.
Petitions on other communities:
• CENTRAL PETITION: SaveHeroes.Org
• Ubisoft Forums
• The Genie's Lamp Announcement and Forum Thread
• Celestial Heavens Announcement and Petition
• Gamespot Forums
• La Torre de Marfil (Spain) Announcement and Petition
• The Oracle League Announcement and Comments
• Guardian's Grove Forums
• Drachenwald (Germany) Announcement and Petition
• The Behemoth's Lair (Poland) Announcement and Petition
• Computer Games (Romania) Front Page News and Discussion
• Gram.pl (Polish Distributor) Forum Discussion
• Acid Cave (Poland) Announcement and Petition