Heroes Designer Pulls Sci-Fi Concept

Heroes of Might and Magic has been one of 3DO's most popular series amongst hard-core gamers for years, and those fans had something to say this week when it came to the upcoming Armageddon's Blade expansion pack for Heroes of Might and Magic III. On Monday, a small group of gamers forcefully pushed to have one town pulled from the add-on because they wanted to keep sci-fi from their game. And it looks like they've won. GameSpot News spoke to 3DO and New World Computing designer Greg Fulton to find out how a group of rabid fans fought and won.

Many of those fans voiced their opinions on a site known as Astral Wizard became vehemently opposed to one of the new scenarios for the add-on called Forge Town. The town houses a science fiction-like environment including cyberdead and cyberzombies (zombies using chainsaws as weapons). Historically, Heroes has been known for its focus on fantasy, with fireballs and the like, but after GameSpot revealed the new town to gamers during last week's E3, that small group began to say that it didn't want a sci-fi level in its favorite title.

While gamers have been known to have strong opinions on just about everything (us included), game makers have always gone to those same fans for guidance on what they'd like to see in the next game in a series. These fans are usually the first ones to purchase new games and help to gauge how other gamers will approach the game. With the new expansion pack for Heroes, those fans decided to focus on making sure Forge Town would never see the light of day. Fans began e-mailing New World Computing (the developer of Heroes of Might and Magic), 3DO (the game's publisher), and the lead designer for the game itself - Greg Fulton.

Then concerned parents began to post letters and send e-mail saying they were worried about the violent nature of Forge Town and that it should be pulled from the expansion pack at all costs. While the identity of the parents has yet to be confirmed, several posts by hard-core fans allude to the fact that they may have forged those letters in order to get 3DO's attention. And they were noticed. Because of all the heat the gaming industry has taken in the wake of recent violence in the US and the fact that these fans were the series' biggest fans, Greg and 3DO decided to take Forge Town out of the game. Greg and his development team will now replace Forge Town with an elemental town, which will include the phoenix.

Will the change in development hold the game back? Fulton says that he's surrounded by a great team and believes that the team will have the game completed for its currently scheduled November/December release. Does he feel sour about the reaction of gamers? "Not really, Not really, I just want to make a game everybody will enjoy," says Fulton.

When asked about gamers' reactions to his upcoming expansion pack, Fulton says, "I'm completely shocked." While Fulton isn't usually in direct contact with fans, he and his team do "listen very closely to people's opinions" about upcoming games and what features could have made the other games in the series better.

Some fans sent comments that were blunt and to the point saying that they would not purchase the add-on pack if released, while other fans sent "extremely nasty e-mail" whose contents a company spokesperson didn't want to divulge.

For now, those Heroes fans seem to have quieted down as development of the game goes on. We asked if 3DO would ever release a free downloadable version of Forge Town for gamers willing to take a look at what they didn't want in the game. A representative for the company said that anything could be a possibility.