Heroes of Might and Magic Online

[Aez]

One of the most well known turn-based strategy games is about to head to the MMO space. Today it was announced that Chinese developer TQ Digital is working on Heroes of Might and Magic Online, an MMO that is said to combine the gameplay of Heroes of Might and Magic III with the graphics of the last PC game in the series, Heroes of Might and Magic V.

The game, which is licensed by Might and Magic's current owner Ubisoft, will have eight different factions to choose from along with 16 classes, over 50 different creatures and hundred of different campaigns. Closed beta testing for the game will begin in early May and you can sign up for the beta right now.

http://news.bigdownload.com/2010/04/15/heroes-of-might-and-magic-online-mmo-announced/

The acronym seems to be HOMMO
Made in China is also scary.

[Bunk]

Ok, I have to ask. How the fuck is a turn based strategy game a MMO?

[HaemishM]

There are other people in it? 

[Sky]

HoMaMO

[Aez]

Ok, I have to ask. How the fuck is a turn based strategy game a MMO?

Would you prefer a FPS?

[Bunk]

Why the hell would I want other people in my HoM&M?

Seriously though, I see no attraction to playing Heroes against random internet tards. The series was fun to play against friends once in a while via hotseat, but I can't see wanting to play it against random people on line. Especially considering they will use that as an excuse to validate a monthly fee.

[schild]

Negative. Chinese. 91 makes RMT games. You'll have to buy your castle, hommo.

[Shatter]

Holy shit, closed beta in a month? 

[Stabs]

Woot I adored HoMM.

I played a ton of hotseat and also a fair amount of Homm 3 online. In the end the community condensed down to people who were really good and it was starting to become apparent that to remain competitive I would have to learn the openings for each map in detail.

Good players pretty much knew the opening moves with a hero square for square for the first seven days for every map. Like high standard chess where players learn all the usual openings for about a dozen moves.

You really couldn't compete if you didn't know that picking up the resource pile on day 2 would prevent you from capturing the second castle in time for week 2 replacements.

I would love to see this as a MMO. I've been playing Eve and thinking Eve seems to be the only MMO with strategy in the narrow sense (ie not tactics). People use the word strategy for WoW bosses but moving out of a fire is a tactic, not a strategy.

I think Homm would work well as a MMO Turn-based game and that strategy gamers who are also mmo fans would love such a game. I'm thinking allotted time for each turn (with perhaps a little boredom/downtime for fast players), real time resource collection/troop replacement (like SWG harvesters) and 4X gameplay. Basically aggressive players would burn through their troop in 2 hours and have to wait a week for replacements but careful players could use their resources much more carefully. PvP would be a chess-like minigame just like old school Homm. I think Eve has proved the sporadic model as have the various Facebook games.

However it will probably just be a WoW or FF clone.

[Slyfeind]

Dude, they could even do a single-player version of HoMM. I think that'd rock!

[Aez]

I always thought that most turn based game like Civ and HoMM would eventually switch to a real time unit action bar system like Chrono Trigger or FF6.  It never happened, maybe X-Com Apocalypse qualify but it was terribly implemented.

[Ingmar]

I've been playing HOMM3 all week, and this is just not appealing at all.

[Ollie]

Seconded. Try as I might, I don't see the need for this. Must we pillage every decent game that ever was and turn it into a pseudo-MMO travesty?

Or perhaps I'm just snippy due to the sudden and unfortunate influx of questionable face lifts, first with XCOM and now this. Bring on Betrayal at Krondor the FPS, I'm depressed as it is.

[Stabs]

Mmmm.

I found a wikipedia article for the Chinese version explaining the game mechanics:

Heroes of Might and Magic Online features four magic systems and allows the player to choose heroes from eight factions comprising a total of 56 unit types.[2]  It is staged on three different levels:

    * A global, randomly generated level, where players move and interact in a typical MMORPG fashion (in realtime)
    * A strategic level, similar to a Heroes III map, where the heroes move within a certain amount of time
    * A turn-based 3D combat level using a tactical grid, similar to the combat mode in Heroes III

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic_Online

That sounds awesome to me.

[Lantyssa]

Yet you HoMMO-lovers never gave a game website link.

[NiX]

Seconded. Try as I might, I don't see the need for this. Must we pillage every decent game that ever was and turn it into a pseudo-MMO travesty?

Or perhaps I'm just snippy due to the sudden and unfortunate influx of questionable face lifts, first with XCOM and now this. Bring on Betrayal at Krondor the FPS, I'm depressed as it is.

Much like Hollywood, the game industry is full of a lot of uncreative and unimaginative people who happen to be in positions of power.

[Mosesandstick]

Beta Keys Giveaway Thread

Somebody please post and get us all keys?

[Tearofsoul]

CHINESE developer? We are soooooooooooooo F.U.C.K  

[tazelbain]

Is this a third HoMMO or a relaunch of one the first two?

[Stabs]

Thanks for the link, Lantyssa.

It looks exactly like Homm3 from the mid 90s. 15 years of graphics development have passed this game by.

Quite poor localisation (sic)*.

Just from this screenshot
http://homm.91.com/templates/pic.shtml?url=http://images.91.com/homm/img/update/2010/ss04.jpg

fold
er
is two words and is a place where screen shots are saved.

With a high morale, Archer will attack again.

Doesn't quite sound natural.

You can kill 0
-1 Wolf Rider

seems to use a system of mathematical notation with which I am unfamiliar.

And the column of figures on the right hand side of the screen seems to have celebrated St Patrick's Day with a few Guinesses on its way to the game.


I'll certainly play it, it's a huge nostalgia trip for me but I think they need to tidy it up a lot to be successful in English-speaking markets.

*I am aware of the irony of not localising the word localisation for a generally American forum.

Edit: and of course the acronym HOMMO is perhaps something that needs localising as a matter of some urgency.

[Slyfeind]

I hope we can play HOMMO on the Wii.

[Lantyssa]

No, they definitely need to keep the acronym.  I've had to deal with a decade of gay slurs to reach this moment of facepalm.

[Stabs]

Well I don't mind really. If the game is good so what if I have to tell my friends I'm a HOMMO gamer. I'll just have to really pronounce that second M so there's no possibility of confusion.

[Goreschach]

I hope we can play HOMMO on the Wii.

I'd make a joke about it looking like you're jerking off while playing it, but wii developers have pretty much been making that joke for me since release.

[Ghambit]

Maybe this explains why HOMM:Kingdoms changed their name to MMH:Kingdoms.

[Grimwell]

Ok, I have to ask. How the fuck is a turn based strategy game a MMO?

Massively
Multiplayer
Online

The scope covered by MMO is much broader than you are allowing for, and this would be a MMO as described. Perhaps not one attractive to you, but a MMO none the less. Heroes of Gaia is a good example for how this might play out. It's no MMORPG, but that's why we have these fun acronyms.

I also think you guys are selling the Chinese developers far too short for no good reasons. They may not make games you like, but their games have a much wider audience than people think - even in the West. They are competitive, profitable, and quietly doing better than most Western based big name studios. All the while thinking that we are a secondary market.

It's great business, even if it's not a game for you.

I'd love me a great online TBS that lets me enjoy the strategy more than my ancient reflexes.

[MrHat]

http://www.mmorpg-center.com/heroes-of-might-and-magic-online-closed-beta-keys-giveaway

[Snee]

I think the  HoMM3 map the LORD of WAR may have been the finest turn based strat experience I ever had. I can't imagine how they would turn it into an MMO in a non-stupid way, but I will watch this closely. HoMM 3 was VERY good. Probably just an underwear gnomes style paradigm fail here.

I wonder if once could find a copy of HoMM3 (it was several comps ago) and make it work under windows xp. So worth it for that LoW scenario map.

[Mosesandstick]

Did that install really just take 3 gigs of my harddrive? There's got to be some major disconnect between what's there and what I see in the screenshots.

[Ingmar]

I think the  HoMM3 map the LORD of WAR may have been the finest turn based strat experience I ever had. I can't imagine how they would turn it into an MMO in a non-stupid way, but I will watch this closely. HoMM 3 was VERY good. Probably just an underwear gnomes style paradigm fail here.

I wonder if once could find a copy of HoMM3 (it was several comps ago) and make it work under windows xp. So worth it for that LoW scenario map.

GoG.com has it, it works fine.

[Ghambit]

CB wont actually start until May 6th.
Also, there are still keys available (as of an hour ago), even though it says the giveaway is over.

[Severian]

CB wont actually start until May 6th.
Also, there are still keys available (as of an hour ago), even though it says the giveaway is over.

I believe they mean their own (mmorpg-center) giveaway is over, but there is an active giveaway on the official site: http://contest.homm.91.com/getcode/

And, oops, I just signed up for this thinking it was HoMM (err... MMH) Kingdoms.
Yesss, Chinese RMT, just what I always wanted.

[Ghambit]

So, apparently Ubisoft licensed HoMM to TQ (china) and TQ went and basically made an MMO adaptation of HoMM3, all the while Ubisoft was publishing a browser version (hence the rename to MMH:K). 
And Ubisoft is promoting both titles.  Interesting. 

[Signe]

There are still a few thousand beta keys on MMORPG.com for this really bad game.  (the Chinese one)