Editing Greg Fulton/Fanstratics Newsletters/3 (section)

== Fanstratics Questions ==
'''Fanstratics Factions?'''

I have designed 9 Factions, not including Neutral Troops, which could be considered a unofficial 10th Faction.  There are also conceptual markers for 2 or 3 additional Factions, which could be part of subsequent Fanstratics (FST) expansions, assuming the game reaches market and is moderately successful.

Note, I say Factions... not Towns.  In HoMM3, we should have changed the terminology from ‘Towns’ to ‘Factions’, but we were trying to remain somewhat consistent with the HoMM2 convention (Barbarian Town, Knight Town, Warlock Town, etc.).  This is the reason the largely human culture was called ‘Castle’ and not something else, like... the Alliance.  In Fanstratics, each culture will have a proper Faction name.

How many Factions ship with the initial game, is ultimately dependent on budget.  If crowdfunding and Early Access sales meet expectations, it would be reasonable to craft and ship all 9.  If crowdfunding and Early Access sales do not meet expectations, we may be forced to craft and ship less than 9.  There is always the hope, post release sales would generate the revenue to continue building the remaining Factions, but there are no guarantees.

Starting next month, I’ll detail a little about each Faction, but you can already begin to deduce the various cultures from the released concept art.  To date, each piece of Troop concept art is taken from 1 Faction, and this will continue until we have revealed 9 Troops.  Thereafter, we will start another cycle of 9.

I’ll reveal conceptual details for the first Faction, starting with the December Newsletter.


'''Will there be a forum for suggestions and feedback?'''

At this stage, I’m unsure.  Typically, if someone likes the game... they tend to quietly enjoy it.  If someone plays the game, but is upset with a particular aspect... they join the company forum and vomit verbal poison.

I’m looking at the viability of an in-game system to report bugs and give feedback.  In this way, we’d get the player evaluations we desire, without the public misbehavior.  Regardless, any feedback system won’t happen until Early Access.


'''Will [[Sir Mullich]] be in the game?'''

‘Sir Mullich’ is copyrighted by Ubisoft, and will not be in the game... but it wouldn’t be proper, for a spiritual successor to HoMM, to not have the screwy expression of ‘David Mullich’ somewhere in the game.  I have told David, of my desire to put him in the game, and he hasn’t voiced any opposition.  Of course, we will need to get a recent photo of him, which shouldn’t be a problem, as he likes to ham it up for the camera.


'''Would you work with Ubisoft, if they approached you to make another HoMM game?'''

I seriously doubt Ubisoft would approach me.  If they did, I would want specific guarantees (production, financial, and creative), and I strongly doubt they would acquiesce.  Overall, when you consider the collection of Might & Magic games Ubisoft has created, I suspect they have made money, but not the big numbers they desired.  Unfortunately, for Ubisoft, Might & Magic has become a middling franchise, suited more for easily marketed spin offs.  Which leads into the next question.


'''Have you seen Might & Magic Era of Chaos?'''

Yes.  I have been playing Era of Chaos (EoC), since it became available outside of China.  It’s about what you would expect from a F2P mobile game; semi-automated game play, very long progression system, specific pay-to-win elements, etc.  This being said... it isn’t bad.  In many respects, the HoMM3 lore, characters, and mechanics, are well suited for a mobile translation.  I must admit though, it’s a little odd seeing the HoMM3 ‘universe’ given another life in another genre.  Once HoMM5 hit the shelves, I thought [[Erathia]] and [[Catherine]] were at a logical end.