Ubisoft - HoMM 6?

I actually liked HoMM V a lot. Not as much as 3 which was the best of the series, but definitely 1 million times better than IV.
My hopes for 6 is just have HoMM 3 with a new story, new graphics, different units, new spells, etc… but gameplay (and AI) just like HoMM 3. I definitely don't want the 'hero is the army' approach they had with HoMM 4. And definitely don't want them to reduce the resources, it is an integral part of the game. In fact, I would focus even more on that aspect, have kingdoms rely more on specific type of elements like it was in HoMM2 (Barbarians wood, Knights iron, etc.).

I definitely don't want the 'hero is the army' approach they had with HoMM 4

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It should have been called Dynasty Warrior of might and magic. Seeing how you didn't actually need any units.

They should make a game that combines 1st person rpg of might and magic with strategic game of homm. Somthing like birthright or spellforce. Now that would be interesting.

As long as they don't run the franchise into obscurity, esp. the Heroes part of it, which is the main reason it is still lives on, they can do whatever they want. Sadly ruining the whole thing to the point neither fans (of old time MM RPGs or long time Heroes ones) care is a job Ubi seem to be doing quite well.

Sorry, I don't consider a company that not only ignores their customers but activelt punishes them for being customers as legitimate. Theres a very good reason why I don't buy Ubi titles. if I have to pirate the things just to actually play them then I wont bother buying in the first place.

azraelck said:

but actively punishes them for being customers as legitimate.

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You know, there are said to be people out thre who actually like to be punished, for whatever reason …

azraelck said:

Sorry, I don't consider a company that not only ignores their customers but activelt punishes them for being customers as legitimate. Theres a very good reason why I don't buy Ubi titles. if I have to pirate the things just to actually play them then I wont bother buying in the first place.

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Ubisoft isn't making any friends with it's new DRM scheme. I don't mind reasonable non-intrusive DRM but Ubisoft's always connected is going too far. At this point, with the disregard they've shown for their customers, I don't trust them that they're not recording additional data from my computer. I want to buy Settlers 7, for whatever reason I really love the Settlers series, but I refuse to give Ubisoft a dime of my money until they remove the draconian DRM from it.

Well, I don't think we all speak for purely casual gamers.
I believe that at least a part of the casual gamers are fine with that DRM.
Not all, of course, especially not those with a sloppy internet connection.

More tidbits:
- Square grid combat (as you saw)
- 4 resources (wood, metal, crystals, gold as shown in the screenshot)
- round-based combat (as opposed to initiative based like in HoMM 5)
- You can convert conquered towns to your faction
- It's a 'prequel' based on 400 years before HoMM 5
- No more town separate screens, no more special buildings in towns, only dwellings and production buildings (guess that means no more buildings to add resources, no buildings to increase necromancy, etc.)
- Towns grow in size in the adventure map as they get more advanced
- heroes divided in one 'might' and one 'magic' (per faction) again
- More RPG approach to heroes (creation and evolution). No more random skills, you assign them. Level cap for heroes is 30, but 'slower'.
- Introduction of 'boss' fights (guess similar to King's Bounty)
- mines and creature dwellings now 'belong' to a castle (i.e. you can't steal someone's ore mine near his castle unless you take the castle)
- 5 factions, each faction with a campaign with 4 scenarios. Campaigns can be played in any order. When you finish all campaigns, a last scenario opens that fuses the stories together
- Introduction of a 'reputation' system. As you gain reputation new quests may open up
- Each faction has about 40% redone units (replaced with new ones)
- Some combat missions will have different goals instead of just 'kill all units' (like, defend X unit, etc)
- Each faction has a different 'style' of play. Example given: Necromancers 'siphon' energy from their enemies, so the longer the battle lasts, the stronger they become.
- Dynamic battlefields: some areas (squares?) can change over time in a battle.
- Released scheduled for March 2011

Take each point with a grain of salt as most are based on translations of translations.

Why are the only things that they are changing (back) in a good way the purely cosmetic ones?

In any case it sounds more like MM Heroes of King's Bounty, which is ridiculous, rather than a proper Heroes title.

Puke Puke Puke, hope they don't sell anything!

I'm still giving it the benefit of the doubt. Enough things are changing so that, although any one or several of those points may seem bad, in the whole it might still be good. But as always, for me the make or break for this type of games is the AI and balance. If it still provides a fun and challenging experience, I'll be playing it.