Posts from The bottom line (based on projects that attempted to revive the old universe).

Is the Old Universe dead? For all of us, the answer to this question is obvious. Its fans continue to hope that the abominable Ashan will finally cease to exist, fans of the new one dream that this will not happen, as well as the return to the origins, while those who love both want them to exist and develop in parallel. Let's be objective: each of us has our own truth. But what does each of us do to bring it to life? Some write fan fiction, some create maps, some unleash lightning on the heads of developers. And some try to create large-scale story mods. How successful are they? Let's figure it out. I will immediately make a reservation - I will not consider mods related to Ashan. This Universe is currently being developed by the publisher, so there is no need to talk about the lack of its further development. Although, even here, one cannot fail to note the story mod "Islands of Secrets" or the campaigns "Colonization", "The Beginning of the End" and others. But that's not what we're talking about. What can the world of the Ancients offer us? Let's go over the most global things. 1) Legends of the Ancients. A controversial campaign set for the Fifth installment, the plot of which continues the adventures of the Axeothian heroes, so beloved (in my opinion, the single-player campaign of the Fourth is the strongest in the series) by many. However, some characters are flattened and one-dimensional - Gavin Magnus, for example, has become an absolute villain instead of the relatively ambiguous character from the original, which, in my opinion, is not entirely fair, given his logic. On the other hand, this is the most global mod and the most successful fan-made continuation in terms of plot, considered by many (for example, the demilich.by website) to be almost canon. 2) HotA and WoG. Two global mods that affect all aspects of the heroes' lives. But are they strong in terms of plot? Absolutely, confidently, completely, I tell you - no. The task of the mapmakers, both in HotA and WoG, is to present the factions and gameplay features, and not to develop the plot. Therefore, I will not seriously consider them as a full-scale continuation of the 3rd or 4th parts, let alone the old worlds. The very goal of the projects is somewhat different. 3) Might and Magic Tribute; World of Xeen II; Children of the Void. Three almost independent games, developed by fans independently of Ubisoft. Perhaps this is exactly what I would like to see, but, alas, all three projects stalled, although they reached the alpha testing stage, and either they no longer want to develop them, or they simply cannot. In other words, pain, decay, hopelessness. We are not waiting for anything else here, no matter how much we would like it. 4) Projects "Ascension", "Revival", "Let's Revive the Universe of Might and Magic". Three ambitious story-driven multiplayer mods on Heroesworld.ru. Alas, none of them received proper development. Either due to the lack of people willing to help, or due to the laziness of the participants and the inability of the organizers to properly motivate them. In any case, I participated in one of them and can say that in our case, this was mainly due to laziness and a loss of interest in mapmaking on my part. And also the Sixth installment's editor, which was placed too much hope on. Everything is bad, everything is terribly bad, ladies and gentlemen. In conclusion, I do not want to draw categorical conclusions. Interest in the Old Universe is enormous, but the resulting number of projects involves many people in several at once and viciously stretches the audience among them. In addition, the modders themselves often abandon projects, starting with good intentions and ending in failure. Why am I writing all this? I have a question for you, ladies and gentlemen: in your opinion, is it realistic to start and develop a project related to the Old Universe to a satisfactory state, with a sufficiently large audience? There are rumors that nothing worthwhile will appear except HotA and WoG. Please: express yourself as thoroughly as possible.

With the collapse of 3DO, all hopes for the development of the old universe by the official developers vanished. With the departure of Ashan, the last hope disappeared. However, I heard somewhere, or saw on the website of the Equilibris mod creators, that their plans include creating continuations of the storyline in the form of campaigns, or simply story campaigns for the fourth installment. That is, in addition to balancing adjustments, new features, etc., we will also get a new story. I would like to hope for this. But recently, I tried to find out something new about the development of Equilibris, but I couldn't find anything, or at least anything about the progress after version 3.55.

Has even one campaign for Equilibris been released?

Are there any campaigns from Equilibris included?

Generally, the plan is to include campaigns in the final version. They are not available in version 3.55.

Thank you for your opinion. At least one person responded, ladies and gentlemen. At least one. At least something makes me happy. And in general, yes, the interest in the Old Universe is simply phenomenal, it doesn't fade away, so to speak. I have to do everything myself.

Reviving the Old Universe – I don’t think that’s entirely correct, because it never really died. It’s just a shame that it isn’t developing. However, this is the fate of all civilizations – first, a period of rapid growth, and then decline and stagnation in obscurity. If the new universe were to disappear, I wouldn’t even notice.

The problem is that the Old World has been phased out. Although, to be honest, Enroth (the heroic setting) was already pure fantasy. There were attempts, of course, but the Heroes fanbase didn't allow Forge to be introduced. The Old World faded away in "Armageddon's Blade."

But yes, I agree. Even if we can't revive it, maybe we can at least resuscitate it. Try, at least. There are fans, after all. Probably.