Heroes Ascension

That's a fair question. As I understand it, this applies to the 5th installment (although it's truly relevant only for 3.5, that is, for In the Wake of Gods). Regarding a unified concept, it's not actually that strict... I also generally support a unified concept and a single world for the heroes (which is why I'm against such an influx of races), but Nival deviated quite significantly from this unified world with the 5th installment, limiting the connection to it to a few references throughout the campaign (Isabelle telling the troops to flee as if Crag Hack is chasing them, Sandro Markel's apprentice, and Zephyr talking about the "legendary genie" Solmyr) and the description of the heroine Lucretia. In general, there are very few connections.