Posts from Heroic stories.

Friends. Unlike Pete and other younger players, I'm no longer ashamed to start writing my memoirs (although... I'll still fight a bit). Here's my new project: "Heroic Stories." Online Heroes 3 has its own history: Peter, Minsk, Moscow, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Michurinsk, Tambov, Pyatigorsk, Kyiv, Simferopol... the list can go on. Great battles raged there, the founding fathers of the game appeared out of nowhere and mysteriously disappeared, forums were buzzing with tension, the balance of power changed; endless discussions were held about the inevitable end of Heroes 3... much of it is funny to remember now, some of it is embarrassing, but there's much more that's pleasant to recall. I've already held talks with several people from our Heroes community who have had a significant impact on its development, regarding interviews - they all seemed positive. So, the first of them became the father of the genre: "Writing decent game reports," in its Russian version. At that time (early 2000s), this was a breakthrough. No one really knew how to play properly yet, so detailed descriptions of games by leading players in the country helped ordinary fans from small towns better understand the game. This person was also one of the founders of the famous St. Petersburg Tournaments, thanks to him, the country learned about Antal, Lord Dima, and many other players. In short, an interview with the organizer and judge of the St. Petersburg Tournaments of 2000-2002 and, after a break, 2004 - Lord Maniac. Unfortunately, it turned out to be not very long, although I certainly have more questions. Nagan-4:
Vitaly, good evening.

Lord Maniac:
And to you!

Nagan-4:
On the HeroesWorld website, a project called "History" has been started. This project aims to give a voice to people who have made the greatest contribution to the development of the Heroes world. If any question seems unethical or provocative to you, you can leave it without comment.

Nagan-4:
Favorite time of year?

Lord Maniac:
Summer.

Nagan-4: .
Favorite movie?

Lord Maniac
Equilibrium.

Nagan-4:
Favorite singer or band?

Lord Maniac:
Depeche Mode.

Nagan-4:
No one knows the answer to the next question better than you... It so happened that the Heroes community in the post-Soviet space first made itself known in St. Petersburg. Hundreds of players, multi-round, intense battles, worthy coverage of tournaments on websites, one star after another emerging from club tournaments – Antal, Master of Lightnings, Lord Dima, Uncle Fedor, Boss, Warshield, Cobra… How did it all begin?

Lord Maniac:
Almost immediately after the official release of Hmm3, the first tournament was organized (as a reminder, people were generally familiar with the beta version). It was organized by Singing Heart. Later, several more tournaments were held in a similar way. The peculiarity of these was that only 1 map was used! later there were 3, then 5, but further increasing their number, as well as rotation, was a big question. I wanted to optimize a number of moments in the rules, refine the maps, and reduce the dependence of the chance of winning on knowing the map, so I decided to do it myself.

Nagan-4:
As far as I remember, the old St. Petersburg tournaments will remain the largest events in the Heroes world, with 118 people playing in one of the last ones, all of them the best players in the northern capital. The closest competitors, Moscow and Minsk, the strongest communities, even in their best years, could not gather more than 60-65 players for club tournaments. What are the origins of such a massive turnout?

Lord Maniac:
Hmm3 was very popular among the masses at that time. There were not so few people who only played Heroes. Advertising in a popular computer magazine at the time + a certain reputation of the tournaments + the most serious positioning of the tournament + a good and convenient club for players = such a turnout.
Moscow used different schemes. If my scheme had been applied in Moscow, IMHO, even more people could have come.

Nagan-4:
What always surprised me was the prompt reports from the scene, because about two hundred matches were played in a tournament, and you managed to write a report for each of them, and what wonderful reports they were, you could read them for hours. And at the same time, you were solving organizational issues, making the draw, resolving disputes between players. How did you manage to do everything on your own?

Lord Maniac:
The critical thing is not the number of matches per tournament, but per game day - there are much fewer of them. I tried to monitor them in my free time from organizational issues, going from computer to computer. And my memory is pretty good. The most difficult thing is that writing reports for a day is not compatible with getting a normal amount of sleep if you have to go and judge the next day (or night). Organizational issues during tournaments do not take up much time. After all the matches of the round have started, it becomes easier.

Nagan-4:
In essence, you have seen all the best players in your city in action. Can you name the three most talented players, in your opinion?

Lord Maniac:
Lord Dima
Antal
Master of Lightnings.

Nagan-4: .
The most difficult conflict at a tournament during your time as a judge?

Lord Maniac:
I don't remember anything like that, there were many minor issues.

Nagan-4: Once, I had a heartfelt conversation with old players, and the idea was expressed that your departure from the Heroes world was facilitated by Heroes 4. Almost all Heroes fans were sure that Heroes 4 would replace Heroes 3, just as Heroes 3 replaced Heroes of Might and Magic 2.
The half-baked product that was called Heroes of Might and Magic 4 was terrible in its original version; in fact, it didn't even have multiplayer, only hot-seat.
The Grand Underground has a detailed description of this tournament, with all the difficulties that the players and, above all, the judge and organizer had to face. Were Heroes 4 really hopeless for club tournaments from the very beginning?

Lord Maniac:
That's a terrible lie, Hmm4 has nothing to do with it. The main reason is the specifics of my new job (100% busy on Saturdays and Sundays).
Regarding Hmm4 - the battles are very long. I managed to hold one championship on them. It is unrealistic to play 2 matches a day or night - at least some of the matches will not be completed.

Nagan-4:
Thank you very much for the conversation.

That's all for the interview. For now, that's all. I plan to take a few more interviews, and also write about how the Heroes tournaments appeared in our city, the most memorable moments, etc. I also ask, I really ask all the players of our resource, as well as guests, to share their Heroes stories, remember how they came to Heroes - this is definitely interesting.

I also ask, I really ask all the players of our resource, as well as guests, to share their hero stories, to remember how they came to Heroes - it's definitely interesting.

Yes, Heroes is our common hobby, and it's very nice that the younger generation is also getting involved in Heroes.

For me, Heroes 3 was introduced by my friend in 1999 or 2000, and we played together, either at my place or his place.
Then, at his request, we started playing "privately".
Very often I caught my friend (he was quite a sly one:smile29: ) using a mirror or a disc to peek at my moves.
I remember playing campaigns for nights on end when I had to go to the Academy the next morning.
I remember, when playing random maps with AI (I liked HL with the Underworld), I really liked to take one or two castles, control them, and defend against the AI that had captured everything else. I would deliberately prolong the games to around month 11, etc., to give the AI a chance to develop, and then I would sit in "Defense".

Glory to Heroes!

Yes, Heroes is our common hobby, and I'm very glad that the younger generation is also getting into Heroes.

A friend introduced me to Heroes 3 in 1999 or 2000, and we used to play at each other's houses.
Then, at his request, we started playing "privately."
I often caught my friend (he was quite the sly one:smile29:) using a mirror or a disc to peek at my moves.
I remember playing campaigns for nights on end, even when I had to go to the Academy the next morning.
I remember, when playing random maps with the AI (I loved playing as the Haven faction with the Underground faction), I really liked taking one or two castles, controlling them, and defending against the AI that had captured everything else. I would deliberately prolong the games to around month 11, etc., to give the AI a chance to develop, and then I would sit in "Defense."

Glory to Heroes!

As for me, I spent the first 2-3 months of getting acquainted with this game in a complete trance, often forgetting to sleep and eat for a long time, and almost completely losing contact with reality... I don't regret it at all... Although I do regret that those delightful moments can't be brought back... :(
Heroes 3 rocks!!!!!! :cool:

Continuing the topic. I would like to tell you about the Michurinsk tournaments from 2000-2007.
Our city is small, but it's a science town; several institutes are located within a relatively small area. From the moment Heroes III was released, people there were simply obsessed. Computers were scarce back then and we were young, so we played during working hours without worrying about the bosses, stayed late into the evenings, and often even overnight. And we argued—argued endlessly—about the strength of castles, heroes, and creatures, naturally at a very low, noob level. Gradually, the most advanced people, those completely obsessed with Heroes, realized at some point that they played significantly better than their friends.
Since the city is small but interest in the game was huge, rumors started: "You play well, but there's this guy in town who plays so well it's beyond your wildest dreams...". No one actually knew these guys, but people believed fervently in their existence. Therefore, by August 2000, Veland and I decided to hold the first tournament.
We hardly ever played random maps; we played fixes from the original map set. There were many wonderful maps in HoMM2 that were also in the third game, such as "Xatras' Prize," "Monks' Retreat," "Chaos Reality," etc. We took the "Warlords" map and heavily reworked it; it turned out quite well, or so we thought at the time. We played on that single map.
Imagining a computer club in a provincial town of the Chernozem region back then was far too optimistic; we played at Veland's apartment, connecting his computer to a laptop.
8 people showed up who rightfully considered themselves the best in their circles – Veland, Pavel, Dmitgrid, Cannabis, Dimen, Serg, ХВОСТ and vam rad (that's me). For two days, Saturday and Sunday, we played almost without breaks, talking only about Heroes. Pavel and Cannabis, men of no inhibitions, immediately bought vodka and bitter tinctures and vanished into the kitchen to fry fish, cut sausage, etc.
Those were the times; nobody played same-game tournaments sober. It's embarrassing, of course, but also pleasant to remember—those were golden times. Anyway, first place in the very first tournament went to the host himself, second was Cannabis, and third was me. The result was completely predictable: Veland was the most obsessed person with Heroes in town; he had a computer and internet at home, and he devoured every informative site available, so Veland was indeed the first truly competent Heroes player I met in real life.
I met the second same-game master six months later in Tambov. The regional center was more advanced and had a computer club. Dropping in there, I obviously hoped to meet people playing Heroes and, certainly, to beat them. I had Multiplayer experience and successful tournament participation. Walking through the club, I immediately noticed two people playing hot-seat, and they were playing skillfully. Naturally, I went to introduce myself and after a while was already playing against the best player, Saver. He crushed me over about two weeks. Later we played a lot, but I never managed to win a single game like that against him. As an amateur, I could oppose nothing against a person who had taken a systematic approach to studying Heroes. From him, I learned about ToH, proper tournament fix-maps, and the strongest Moscow player at the time, Impe, who played fixes brilliantly (yes, there was a time when even in Moscow, fixes prevailed).
In the spring of 2001, I organized the second city tournament. This time on proper fix-maps, having agreed with the local university administration to use the computer lab on Saturday and Sunday. 20 people gathered—more than I expected. Unfortunately, the "disease" of the first tournament carried over to the next. Next to the computer classroom was an adjacent room where the table groaned under... well, you know what.
We played happily, with soul and passion. We couldn't fit it all into two days, so we played the following weekend as well. In Veland's absence, I managed to win the tournament.

In the autumn of 2001, a third tournament was held with 22 players, and Cannabis won. By this time, the community had fully formed. Two wonderful girls played with us—Serge's wife Nata and also Irina (Dragon)—thanks to whom the tournaments were conducted without swearing, although there were plenty of arguments. Two strong "sandboxes" emerged. The first was led by Veland, who possessed great leadership qualities; Cannabis, Dimen, Khvost, and brothers Dimen and Alex learned from him. The second had equally strong players—brothers Dmitgrid and Alexgrid, Pavel, Serge, and myself. Thanks to the competition, the level of play gradually grew.

In 2002, two more tournaments were held; Veland won one, and I won the other again, but fewer people started coming. Perhaps it was because Heroes IV came out and main attention shifted toward it. I had no idea how to run tournaments for it since there was only hot-seat. Of course, reading "Hero's Corner" back then was interesting, but in terms of online play—useless.
Sitting together over the fourth game, we concluded that a stack of heroes on one side clashed with another stack of heroes on the other through an insane amount of wasted time. We never managed to organize a single tournament for IV.
On the other hand, the best fix maps were played at our tournaments—Duel, Guardians, Land of Magic, Desert War, Boomerang, Universal Commander; these are the gold fund of mapmaking, and by the way, almost all of them were used in World seasonal tournaments.

When playing fixes, one can use the map editor, but we did things differently. Dmitgrid and Veland, being computer geniuses, made maps nearly 1m x 1m in size, printing them out and pasting them on the walls. It was convenient—while the opponent is thinking, you could walk up to the wall and examine the key points of the map in full detail; you can't do that in the editor.
Regardless, by 2003 it was time for change; interest in Heroes within the community was falling. All I could think of was going out into the world, leaving the sandbox.
Lord Maniac officially posted an invitation in autumn 2002 to an open St. Petersburg tournament. In spring 2003, Alan Prost also invited everyone interested to Krasnodar. I tried to persuade people to go, especially since the tournaments turned out great in the end. But the conservatism of our community knew no bounds. Players' opinions varied—from "no need to embarrass ourselves" to "why do we need those St. Petersburg and Moscow snobs"—but they were united on one thing: not going anywhere.

Moreover, in 2003, the proactive Veland organized a wonderful project—the "Wings" computer club. By this time, several clubs had appeared in our city where kids played Counter-Strike and GTA, but the new club was their complete opposite.
Two games prevailed—Heroes and Diablo, where a professional approach was applied. In Diablo, the Wings team took 2nd place in Europe in one of the tournaments and appeared in several others; I don't remember the details.
As for Heroes, a wonderful "Guardians" tournament was held immediately, which perhaps remains our best tournament. 16 people played, all the strongest players; I didn't play and acted as the judge. It was on one map, imho, the best of all. In the final, Cannabis beat Veland, while Pavel and ХВОСТ shared third place. New people joined the old players—Lixent, Ace, Flash, Zlo, Solo. The atmosphere was amazing; no scandals, you could talk for hours only about Heroes. By this time, it had been established that feasts do not go well with a champ, so people switched to lighter fare—beer and chips, although in my opinion, still in excessive doses.

Through the efforts of Chaos and Dilvish, the Moscow Chaos League rapidly gained strength; first Minsk befriended them, then, quite reluctantly, grunting... St. Petersburg, and finally, Alan Prost announced that the next Krasnodar tournament of 2003 would be played on random.
Having missed that tournament, by 2004 I had firmly established myself on the League of Heroes, and only an atomic bomb could have stopped me from going to the Krasnodar Festival 2004. There, I met almost all the strongest players of the former post-Soviet space in real life. I sharply changed my previously negative opinion about the "Chaosites"; they turned out to be wonderful guys in person.
Our 7th tournament was conducted according to Chaos rules, inviting Chaos and Dilvish specifically. The arrival of such players allowed us to revive our tournaments. Clearly, we couldn't compete with Chaos—he easily took 1st place—but people still started coming back to us.

It was very timely that we met the Tambov players here. Cannabis, being a strong Warcraft player and having a restless nature, got into some trouble while playing in Tambov. Therefore, a Tambov resident with the nickname Mut entered the Wings forum (and it was a wonderful forum) and explained in plain language the material and moral costs incurred by the city of Tambov due to Cannabis's visit; only the prepositions were censored. To the credit of the forum members, they didn't fall into a crude "they're beating our guys!!!" reaction, but instead politely explained to the man that this is not how one enters a decent forum.
The guest turned out to be a decent person and soon a friendly conversation ensued, as a result of which it turned out that the Heroes movement was also developed in Tambov. Naturally, a match took place shortly after, which we won 4-1. But we felt the strength of the Tambov community—Mizrael, Scorp, Stas, Big Dan and Little Dan, Pukh, Mut played decently. Their only mistake was taking Dragon Utopia too late, which we exploited in the match.
After settling into our forum, the Tambov players quickly improved and won the next match 3-2. After that, we clashed with them long and hard until we practically became a single community.

Muscovites led by Chaos visited us again for the 8th tournament, which Chaos won again; second was unexpectedly ХВОСТ, third Mizrael. There was a trip to St. Petersburg for tournaments held by Lord Maniac and Horn; there I met those Petersburgers whom I hadn't yet known from Krasnodar.
Then many Muscovites and Petersburgers visited us—DVStranger, Stinger, Yama-Dharma, Vitalik, Joker, Killer, Lord Maniac, Horn, Napalm, Vietnam, Expert; strong players from Stary Oskol also came—Dmitry, Mystic, Titan, others came too, you can't remember everyone. Our city played matches with Moscow and St. Petersburg, and not random rosters came, but those from the top ten. In general, soon 30 to 35 people were playing in tournaments. Great players like Lavren, Tema, Lekha, Sapsan arrived. By this time, even beer at tournaments had ended; we let loose at barbecues and post-tournament banquets.

What's pleasant is that quite a few girls played with us—not just wives or girlfriends of players, but some came on their own. One moment especially stands out. An attractive brunette arrives: mini-skirt, makeup—everything in place. I thought she was a fan; there were always plenty of fans at tournaments both at the university and at "Wings." No, she comes to sign up for the tournament. In my sinful heart, I decided that one of our lads had caught her eye and she was introducing herself in such an unconventional way. But no, she was simply obsessed with the game, playing incessantly; given her appearance, this seemed wonderful to me. True, her presence affected the quality of play of other players; it was necessary to remind them to look more at the screen. She played in a couple of tournaments before finishing institute and leaving for home. In short, Strela, if you're reading this—huge respect to you and all the other girls.
By the way, the girls strongly disliked playing at night, but our tours happened exactly at night. Married players also couldn't play at night. We had to find compromises.
The tournaments continued until 2008. There were 17 numbered tournaments, a Chernozem championship, several regional championships, all of which Scorp won. Various matches were held, and much more happened.
If poker ruined the Chaos League in Moscow, then for our tournaments it was Moscow. The proximity of a huge metropolis with easy money is too strong a temptation for a young, energetic person with a higher education.
Over the course of a year and a half, Alf, Alex, Veland, Pavel, Dimen, ХВОСТ moved to Moscow; Dmitgrid went to Ukraine; Serj and Nata to Tambov; upon finishing their studies, Irina Dragon, Lavren and several others left.
About 20 people left the city, including the leading figures of the community; it was difficult to restore the tournaments after that due to the large age gap with young players. Although they didn't abandon Heroes—HoMM3 is still installed in any club in the city where people play.
There was the Wings forum, so much info was there, but now it is gone forever; a pity.

I spent half an hour trying to come up with something to write to express my gratitude for THESE lines written above by NAGANO. I couldn't think of anything, but I would like to say a huge THANK YOU for allowing me to delve into a part of your story. I read everything in one breath, without looking away from the monitor, and even shed a few tears, not knowing why... I myself am from Kyiv and played in a club near my house, day and night! There are also many talented, perhaps unknown, players in our area: FAER, MIKHA, VNUk SUVOROVA, and I sat nearby, learning a little. But the club closed, and everyone scattered, and I started looking for opponents myself, among friends, acquaintances; we played for money and just for fun... And now, coming here, I learned about the true heroes; thank you for the lessons!!! If possible, dear Nagan, please write to me on ICQ 411719767... I'm currently communicating with Scorp, and I would like to do an interview or at least share some information...

Interesting topic. Although I didn't finish playing up to the memoirs (and it's doubtful I will, given my busy schedule), I can still share some things.

I live in the city of Barnaul. As a hero gaming center, it's practically unknown, but it has produced players who played a significant role in the development of the hero gaming community. I got acquainted with the game in 2003 (it's a pity it was so late, when the major hero gaming gatherings were already declining). I played in my first online tournament at an internet cafe. The rules of that newbie tournament now seem funny: a random map M without underground was played, with a 2-minute control time. If no winner was determined by the end of the 3rd month (!!!), a final battle was scheduled. Later, I was one of the organizers of a university tournament, which a girl won with 100% success! And this victory was hard-earned in a tough fight, with no easy wins or gentlemanly behavior from the male participants. I remember in the final battle, we both destroyed huge armies, and I was left with a large stack of dendroids, while she had only a couple of devils, which I somehow didn't consider dangerous. And then I realized that I had lost completely... The residents of Heroes Portal are well familiar with the nickname Lady Ash. She actively participated in the official and online sections of the game, boosting online activity during a difficult time when Armageddon and BalaMut left the Portal. Another strong hero gamer who used to beat Stepan BalaMut was MaximusX. He was one of the first to explore the theory of templates, and you can find his template section on my website. Together with Ancient from the Far East, he developed templates for BY tournaments. Unfortunately, these wonderful people have left the hero gaming community. But they have been replaced by an active newcomer, Alessandro, who is now more than just a newcomer. Sasha quickly gained experience and is now leading the selection for the Premier League on the Portal and several other author tournaments.

Well, that's basically it. It's a pity that the main hero gaming centers are far from Barnaul. I've only had a couple of opportunities to meet hero gamers from other cities in person. It was two years ago in Moscow - I was there for a couple of days on business and met with Vigo and Vitalik. And last year, I visited the glorious city of Michurinsk, where we ate shashlik and played with Nagann, Scorp, Mizrael, Rapper, and his charming sister TaKotoraya...

Best regards to all my wonderful friends and acquaintances in the hero gaming community!

Last year, I visited the glorious city of Michurinsk, we ate shashlik and went for horse rides together with Nagan, Scorp, Mizrael, Rapper, and his charming sister TaKotoraya...

Yes, quite a gathering back then. :rolleyes:

Continuing the topic, here is an interview with Chaos, the organizer of the Moscow Chaos League, perhaps the most well-structured organization in the Heroes world throughout its existence. The Chaos League made many players famous - Andre, Bishop, Stinger... the list could go on. Just a few years ago, Chaos rules dominated throughout the post-Soviet space.

Nagan-4
On the HeroesWorld website, a project called "History" has begun. This project aims to give a voice to people who have made the greatest contribution to the development of the Heroes world. If any question seems unethical or provocative to you, you can leave it without comment.
Let's start, the first question, what is your zodiac sign?

Chaos:
Virgo.

Nagan-4:
Favorite movie.

Chaos:
Gentlemen of Fortune.

Nagan-4:
Favorite city.

Chaos:
Chusovoy.

Nagan-4
Do you still play Diablo sometimes? After all, your duo with Dilvish was one of the strongest in Russia.

Chaos:
I don't play.

Nagan-4:
Favorite Castle in HoMM3?

Chaos:
Fortress.

Nagan-4:
Favorite Hero in HoMM3?

Chaos:
Tazar

Nagan-4:
Alexey, you are known for your work in the Russian Computer Sports Federation. How did you get into the FCS?

Chaos:
Through Dilvish.

Nagan-4:
How did the idea of creating the Chaos League come about?

Chaos:
The person liked to play Heroes. He wanted to participate in tournaments. So he had to organize them himself.

Nagan-4:
Your tournaments had 50-60 people, 9-10 rounds, clear organization, and good coverage of the tournaments. And almost all of this was done by two people, in addition to their other work at the FCS. Was it difficult to organize all of this?

Chaos:
One person was in charge of the entire organization, and it wasn't that difficult.

Nagan-4:
In which clubs were the Chaos League tournaments held?

Chaos:
5 or 6 clubs in Moscow. At different times in different ones.

Nagan-4:
Moscow has produced and continues to produce many good players for the Heroes world. Name three, in your opinion, the most talented players of the Chaos League.

Chaos:
I won't name the most talented, but the strongest at that time, please:
Bishop, Andre, Chaos.

Nagan-4:
Match with St. Petersburg in 2002. On fixed maps, the home turf of the St. Petersburg players. When I read on ProGamer that you, the random map players, agreed to such a match with a good stake, I thought: "What are they doing?". Do you think it was possible to win against the St. Petersburg players under those conditions? Or would it have been better not to agree to the match?

Chaos:
After the match ended, I was much more confident that we should have won than before it started. I already described this in detail in the report. I am sure that in all other parallel realities (if they exist), we won that match.

Nagan-4:
What is Dilvish doing now?

Chaos:
I suppose he is waiting for you to interview him.

Nagan-4:
The first Chaos League tournaments were won by different people - Imp, Dilvish, Andre, Joker, Mega Pes, but somewhere in the middle of 2004, Bishop won several tournaments in a row. What is this? Luck, perseverance, or is he really that much more talented than everyone else?


Chaos:
Honestly, I don't remember him winning several in a row. But, given the specifics of the game, even being the strongest player, it is impossible to win several tournaments in a row without luck.
My answer is luck.

Nagan-4:
How did you and Alan Prost come up with the idea of joining forces with the League of Heroes in 2004 to hold a joint festival?

Chaos:
I suppose it came to mind in the same way that all other thoughts come to mind, like eating or scratching. You want to - you scratch, you want to - you hold a festival.

Nagan-4:
Still, who had the initiative to hold Krasnodar-2004, Alan Prost or you?

Chaos:
The proposal for joint organization came from me, but I don't know, maybe they would have held it even without me.

Nagan-4:
Moscow brought a wonderful team to Krasnodar-2004 - you, Andre, Bishop, Phil 123, Joker, Mega Pes, and another dozen strong players. There were rumors in the corridors that there would be at least 6 Muscovites in the quarterfinals. Only three made it. Do you think you could have performed better then?

Chaos:
No, I don't think so.

Nagan-4:
Now, the Minsk players, if not dominating the forums, make up a very significant force. In part, thanks to you, they have become a powerful group, and they lost a lot of money to you at one time: they still remember the matches with you with nostalgia. How did you meet the Minsk players?

Chaos:
At one of the tournaments, I think it was StarCraft, Dilvish and DC_Vasya decided to play a group party in Heroes. Vasya came to Moscow accompanied by DDD and Skuns'a. On our side, Dilvish, Elisei, and I played. We had a lot of fun, and everyone liked it, so we decided to continue. I wouldn't say that "they lost a lot of money to us". Both sides had winners and losers.

Nagan-4:
Your attitude towards HoMM4 and HoMM5?

Chaos:
HoMM4 - a failure
HoMM5 - a good game, but it was too late.

Nagan-4:
The problem of fighting cheating in online games is currently quite acute. How did the Chaos League fight cheaters? I remember that even map editors were killed on computers so that they wouldn't be tempted to mess around.

Chaos:
When playing over the internet, the protection measures used in live tournaments do not work.

Nagan-4:
And, finally. There are many new players on the HeroesWorld forum who participate in online tournaments. Being one of the strongest players in Russia, what would you wish them?

Chaos:
In light of the previous question, I can only wish the participants of online tournaments fair opponents, and of course, not to cheat themselves.

Nagan-4:
Thank you. And good luck!

Chaos:
Bye!

I live in the city of Barnaul.

Besides Ash, Maximus, myself, and Alessandro, you forgot about Nikolai – this Barnaul is a unique city in terms of heroes ;)

Lady Ash is a legend in Heroes.
As is Lady Pups.
The two strongest female players in Heroes.
Jerky Fox also played – but offline – her articles are still read by beginners – http://heroesportal.net/tavern/?id=10588&pagenum=1

MaximusX is also a legend – he created templates for online play and is the strongest player in the Union.

Typucm – his articles on Hugolka – just one of them is worth something – heroes.ag.ru/h3/h3_speed – those who know him know that he is the strongest Heroes player, although he doesn't like to play, but rather finds new features and tactics that everyone then uses.

ShadeByte – a monster at creating programs for Heroes.

And I am proud that all these people were in my clan :) – Ash, Pups, Jerky Fox, MaximusX, Typucm, ShadeByte – it's still nice to read our clan's forum :)

If you don't mind, I'll add a bit of Heroes 4 to our purely Heroes 3 conversation. And we have an interesting person here, with an impressive title – World Champion in Heroes of Might and Magic 4, which he will soon be defending in a new tournament.
A legitimate champion, according to no less than 4 major resources. It's great that he's a member of our forum, the respected STRANNiK. Here's an interview with him.

As far as I remember, you're not indifferent to football. Who is closer to you in mentality – the explosive, attacking "Barcelona" or the balanced, thoughtful "Manchester"?

It's hard for me to judge myself. I always want to remain thoughtful, but in reality, emotions sometimes take over.

Favorite book?

There's a book that I liked more than others. I read it about 5 years ago. It's "Hearts in Atlantis" by Stephen King.

Favorite food?

I really love fish in any form. Especially patonka.

Many players started playing Heroes 4 when it was released, but after a while they returned to Heroes 3, or waited for Heroes 5. Why did you choose the fourth installment?

Actually, I'm no different from others. I was waiting for Heroes 4, but after its release, I didn't play it for long and quickly returned to Heroes 3. I started playing Heroes 4 again only because I couldn't play Heroes 3 online. With Heroes 4, the connection worked right away. The choice between Heroes 3 and Heroes 4 turned into a choice between offline and online. The latter turned out to be more interesting.

How did you find your first online opponents?

I went to GameSpy, used a well-known Russian nickname, and opponents started contacting me. In 2004, there were no problems finding opponents in GameSpy.

Stages of growth... who did you learn from, who did you play with, who was a difficult opponent?

I can only talk about two stages of growth. In the first, you break away from hotseat and single-player, thinking of yourself as an unbeatable player. In the second stage, you learn to play. The essential difference between these stages is that at first, you don't know anything about classic online tactics, and then you try to use all of them without mistakes.
I learned to play from Keks. An excellent player from St. Petersburg. We used to be in the same clan on ToH. I always liked his style and ability to play rush. I learned a lot from Camoes. I remember several games with him in 2v2. In these games, I gained a significant part of my experience.
I played against everyone who agreed. Gamers from different countries. I can't remember them all.)
The most difficult opponent was gagatek, a strong Polish player. I lost many games on Powerspot to him. There, Seaman also mercilessly killed me more than once.

A provocative question, before the new world championship, I'll give a hint to the competitors... What is your favorite Heroes 4 castle?

I doubt the question turned out to be provocative. Many people know that I try to start games on random.

There is an opinion that the fourth installment is not so much Heroes of Might and Magic, but Might and Magic, that is, the game is closer not to a strategy, but to an RPG, an action-adventure. Look, a hero appears, develops, gains unique skills for his class, then other heroes join him... in the final battle, you have to maneuver not with monsters, but with a squad of heroes. Maybe Heroes 4 is really an RPG?

Heroes 4 is not an RPG. It's a strategy. A turn-based strategy. Yes, heroes have more weight in the fourth installment than in any other part. But I've never been interested in maps where you can level up one hero and defeat everyone. I like to play where 3-4 heroes are developed, and the rest are monsters. In this situation, the strategic component looks more convincing.

I really like two features in the fourth installment – unique magic for each of the castles, completely different from each other, and equally unique heroes. What would you, as a master of the game, like to add to the game, or, conversely, remove something?

The uniqueness of magic for each of the castles is indeed a feature of Heroes 4. Would I want to fundamentally change something in Heroes 4? I can't say "yes." But I wouldn't leave it as it is either. My knowledge of the Heroes system is probably not enough to consider myself a master. For offline players, it's better to contact Serger, for online players, m8mat. Regarding the creation and balancing of maps, contact pacobac. In general, the Equi team is fully dedicated to this. Their forum also contains my thoughts. The common desire of all players is, of course, impossible: adding the function of simultaneous turn in online and eliminating the imbalance.

Do you play Heroes 5?

No.

A question about our favorite forum. You've been a member of the World forum for a long time. What did you like about this resource three years ago? What was it like then?

I came here hoping to create a school for Heroes 4 online. It was a young, newly created forum. I liked it for its freedom of speech and action. The energy of young players.

Are there team tournaments for the Heroes 4 game?

If you mean something like clan-war, then such tournaments are not active now.

You are the world champion in the online game. And at the same time, you are the creator of one of the most famous clans on our forum, "E Pluribus Unum." Do you think that people with a rational-gaming mindset and people who prefer the role-playing element in the game can coexist? Is there a danger of discord between these two groups of people on the forum?

The danger of discord always exists. But it's also easy to coexist, the main thing is not to forget that it's just a game. Arguing is, of course, useful, but a brawl is not good.)

Let's move on to the world championship? Who initiated the World Championship 2008?

I don't know who initiated the World Championship 2008. I helped Oxygen and Shnurov as much as I could.

As far as I understand, you were also a judge from our resource at the World Championship. Were there any disputes during the games?

There were no disputes during the games or about their outcomes.

The most intense game?

Judging by the game as a whole, the game against Zud on Giant Maze. I was playing rush on the opponent's board.
Judging by the final battle, it was undoubtedly the final of the World Championship 2008 against m8mat.

Who was your most dangerous opponent among Russian-speaking players?

I can't single anyone out. CMEPTb, Oxygen, Seaman, Shnurov were always dangerous for me.

When is the next world championship planned?

I hope this fall.

What would you like to wish the online players of our site?

Play more often and play fairly.)

Thank you very much for the interview, I want to wish you new great victories in Heroes!
Good luck!

Thank you for the wishes and interesting questions!

I started playing King's Bounty, and it captivated me, even though I didn't understand much. But how much joy I felt when my army consisted only of flying units, and I soared across the map! Then the internet appeared, and I kept searching for the game's name in search engines, which led me to the League. I am very grateful to them for my first gaming experience and for the opportunity to participate in the Krasnodar Festival (the final of the CIS championship according to "Chaos League"). A little about those days: first, on the train, on Stranger's laptop, who was going to play the 4th version, we were testing the heroes, and he got hooked on the third one. We couldn't convince Oxygen and Shnurov (you can't outdrink them!). Then, hospitable Krasnodar welcomed us. Huge thanks to the organizer, Alan Prost, who brought together game enthusiasts from all over the CIS. There were games, a chess tournament (Lord Dim took first place), kebabs high in the mountains, and discussions with Antal about 4 goals out of 10 shots from one goal to another. Jabbar made everyone run around the basketball court, Horn taught the art of final battles... In general, a sea of emotions and experiences. Later, online gaming took off, with more and more people, more communication. We had kebab parties in Moscow, and Balamut and Cobra came. I remember it was raining, but thanks to the experience of building temporary roofs between trees (the architect, Old Man), we managed to have our kebabs! It's nice to remember how every time we had kebabs (usually before and after summer, when the water was either still cold or already warm), MacLeod swam in the canal, and it was cold to watch him. But he was having a good time!
Sometimes, Dream would join us, it's a shame it wasn't often, come visit!
As I already wrote, there were also Michurinsk tournaments, and Vam Rad welcomed us very warmly. It's a nice city, we had a great time sitting in cafes, like one big family...
The internet allows you to play from home, and now I'm less willing to go to clubs. It's harder to organize tournaments like the Haus tournaments, but those were legendary tournaments. Sitting next to the "mega-fathers" and gaining experience in just one game was sometimes more than you could gain in years. It's good in St. Petersburg, where club gaming is still thriving, and not everyone has switched to playing poker. May there be games and communication!

PS I've attached a photo from Krasnodar

Great topic, kudos to Nagan! :) I first encountered the game with three factions around 1999, and it might have happened much later, but most of my friends boasted and discussed this genre and the game itself, which drew my attention. They brought me in, didn't say anything about what to do, just told me to "figure it out myself," chose Rampart for me, and started "Forward Vikings." Of course, I lost my first game against more experienced friends. But maybe that's why I liked it even more! Then it was just practice, playing with one person, then another. I started winning, and soon I was taken more seriously, and games could be played for money or for treats (which was much more welcome :). For some reason, we always thought that the time limit for a turn shouldn't exceed one minute. I probably won my first match on different computers not because I was more skilled, knowledgeable, or better than my opponent, but simply because I studied the map better. If there was a one-minute limit, there would be an automatic turn transition, but I could hold down the left mouse button on the map and view it for as long as I wanted – there was no transition (I don't know if this trick still works). My opponent didn't know this, which led to his defeat. Later, I discovered this wonderful resource, which continued to expand my knowledge of the game. I found not only opponents but also great friends. I don't regret joining this community. Our city, Ryazan, is also not a center or even a gathering place for Heroes players, which is a pity. However, there are other Heroes players from our city on the forum, such as Vbn and Fanat. I'm very glad to have personal communication and friendship with them. A little later, I got to know one of the largest clans, Phoenix, which led to meeting even more experienced and, at the same time, wonderful people. Heroes 3 has been around for about 15 years, and the number of players continues to grow, which is a great thing.

Good afternoon everyone, with the permission of the Honorable Nagan, I am writing an interview with Scorp. I apologize in advance if there are any mistakes, inconsistencies, or simply my beginner errors in this story. I am writing in a simple form, in the way I am used to, and I hope you will like it: SEM_56 Hi, want to play? Scorp Hi, I'm not playing right now. SEM_56 That's a shame... I read a little about you in the Heroes story... Scorp Is it good? Is Nagan the author? SEM_56 Yes… Scorp We stayed at his place, he was very hospitable, and now he invites us – but now everyone has different work/concerns – there is little free time. SEM_56 Quote: The Tournaments continued until 2008. There were 17 numbered tournaments, the Black Earth Championship, and several regional championships, all of which Scorp won. Various matches were held, and a lot of things happened. Scorp Not everything :-[ he's exaggerating. SEM_56 And half of it has already gone down in history.... SEM_56 How did you start playing Heroes, and what motivated you to dedicate time to this game? Scorp I saw two people playing Heroes in college, it attracted me, I played a little in the second game, then there was a short break, and then the third game came out, and that's when I started playing, first the campaigns, and only the campaigns. Then they suggested playing online, and that's how it started... You can write about it endlessly. SEM_56 2. Games with real opponents, where did it happen, and did anyone teach you? Scorp Hmm... I played with a real opponent in a club on a fixed map (before that, I only played random) 1 on 1, and I was completely defeated – but I can't call him a real opponent (I didn't know the specifics of that map, and he had been playing on it for quite some time), then I met Stas (St.Ac), he was the first one who, in my opinion, played at a good level, we started playing on the same computer, and it was like a training session... At the first championship in Tambov (about 20 people came), that's where I met him, the one who beat me... twice... – the tournament was best of two losses, and it was Mizrael, who I didn't know yet... the final was intense... Scorp I used to want to beat the Moscow players. SEM_56 As far as I know, it's quite possible... Scorp On those templates, skill had a very strong influence on the outcome of the game, on 2cm4d3 – you could beat any Moscow player, but before, it was more difficult. Scorp We used to gather for battles in Heroes, but now we have barbecues, bowling, etc. SEM_56 How did that happen, that is, did you have the willpower, or something else, that allowed you to be so consistently successful and win so much at that time? Scorp You have no idea what kind of adrenaline there was in the finals – with any opponent (they were all strong), everything was on the line because of the uncertainty of what the opponent had. SEM_56 I can only imagine... Scorp Sometimes the initiative/advantage shifted from one to the other... Scorp And the key to victory is attitude, and everyone has a different one... SEM_56 For example, if it's not a secret? Scorp When we gathered in Michurinsk, we told all the Tambov players not to start any games for 1-2 days – but not everyone followed that rule... Scorp Get a good night's sleep, don't drink before the game... Don't be angry, always play relaxed, never be afraid of your opponent. SEM_56 So, you had a captain who gave these instructions? Scorp No, we were friends – mutual respect... Don't drink during the games... SEM_56 Okay, it's a shame that we didn't have anything like that in our area, but maybe it will happen again, from March 1st to June 1st, more than 60 players registered on the website just to play three-player online... Scorp Even so, with the aggressive and strong (almost obsessive) popularization of POKER, there will mainly be amateurs, and there will only be a few true patriots of this game. Scorp This is about online games. SEM_56 I agree, I myself have stopped playing poker... Scorp If duels and championships were held in clubs, that's what I would like. SEM_56 Yes, I would give a lot to just watch a tournament in a club... SEM_56 3. Tournaments, you found out about them through friends, clubs, and how did these adventures happen, like trips to another city. To unknown places, to compete with the people from Michurinsk and Moscow? Scorp Mostly, all the advertising went through the clubs, and then we exchanged phone numbers, and when something was organized, we called each other. The people from Michurinsk came to us first, through our friend Mutant, who played well in Warcraft, the result was not good for us, 4-1, but it was a lesson for us (and for me, for sure) that you can play even if you haven't played for 3 months, and without taking shortcuts, we agreed on a rematch in Michurinsk, as I wrote earlier, Eric won 3-2, and then we started visiting each other like relatives. The people from Moscow introduced us, and they showed me how to play... SEM_56 If you can, tell me about the Black Earth tournament, I'm not quite sure what the name means. Scorp Of course, it would be good, in a friendly atmosphere, and not only Black Earth. And about the game: at first, there was an introduction to the opponent, who had what strengths/castles, etc., and in subsequent championships, we just didn't let each other use their trump cards, and Eric made me play with the Human castle (to learn it while playing – let's just say). And we considered Black Earth to be the championship that was held in Michurinsk, where people from the Tambov region gathered. SEM_56 You say that you don't actively participate in current Heroes events, so how can we, as newcomers, restore its former glory, and prevent the game from becoming just a good memory? Scorp It's 2009, the game is from 1999 – the answer is obvious, and since more and more newcomers are coming to the Heroes world, the game is not going to disappear!!! This is my turn. SEM_56 But our problem, as newcomers, is that we are not able to understand, that is, we lack the skill and ability to even accept the teachings that veterans like you explain to us... Scorp If a newcomer starts playing with a strong opponent, he probably won't like it, and I don't think the opponent will like the game either. You need to find an opponent who is at the same level (or slightly higher) – it's easy to find out by talking, or just ask a more experienced player to play, and after the game, first point out the main mistakes, and then the more subtle ones. SEM_56 Okay, what can you wish the future players? Scorp Exciting matches and to meet only friendly players who are ready for a serious battle on their gaming path. SEM_56 Thank you very much for taking the time to answer the questions, I hope we will play again.

Excellent initiative, Nagan! We look forward to new interviews with: Antal, Flam, Fedor...
By the way, here's an archive of some St. Petersburg championships, in case anyone is interested: http://www.dimensiondoor.da.ru/ And also, I found this: http://artboykov.narod.ru/ Ah, those were the days.

Thank you very much to all the Heroes fans for sharing such interesting stories, and a special thank you to Sem(u)_56 for the excellent interview with Skorp. I'll add a few clarifications about it.
The Black Earth Championship was held in 2005. Representing Tambov were Skorp, Mizrael, and Stas; from Stary Oskol, Dmitry, Mystic, and Titan; and from Michurinsk, Veland, Dimen, HVOST, and Dmitgrid, as well as "vam rad," plus, as a special entry, the young players Flash and Prikol. Although they weren't from the Black Earth region, players from Moscow also participated: DVSstranger, Vitalik, and Yama-Dharma.
There were three days of intense competition, and DVSstranger came in first, with Skorp, Stas, and "vam rad" sharing 2nd-4th place.

The Tambov Oblast Championships were held three times, always bringing together the best players, usually 4 people from Tambov and 4 from Michurinsk, from 2005 to 2007. Skorp won all three, and Veland, Mizrael, and "vam rad" were among the prize winners.

Great initiative, Nagan! We look forward to new interviews with: Antal, Flam, Fedor...

2 Kobra RR.
Definitely. I'm not sure about Flamingo and Uncle Fedor; they've been gone for a while, but an interview with the world champion according to TOH, Antal, would be great. I spoke with Alan Prost about an interview, and he seemed open to it.

If we're talking about who to interview, who better than you? You're one of the most experienced players from the strongest community. Think about the questions that could be asked about old matches...
1. Where did online gaming originate in Russia, from TOH or elsewhere?
2. How did Vesuvius feel about Russian players?
3. How did you organize your Tournaments?
4. How did you defeat Moscow in the match? And did Moscow have a chance back then?
5. Krasnodar 2003, your final match against Chaos... and much more...

If you agree to an interview, write to me on ICQ - 570-323-979, and I'll send you the questions.

P.S. In the near future, I've arranged an interview with Alex R, a member of the "Homo Homini" champion team. I hope we'll have a lot to talk about.
Good luck!

Here is the long-promised interview with Alex R. It is in no way related to the latest disputes; it had been scheduled for a long time with the person who made a decisive contribution to the team's victory in the semifinals and finals. Here it is...

Nagan-4:
I see you on the forum on a wide variety of threads. Still, which versions of Heroes do you play online and offline?

Alex R:
I play Heroes 3 and 5 online regularly; I tried playing Heroes 2, but there are few people there.
Offline, I mainly played when I registered on the forum in February 2007; I didn't have internet at home, stumbled upon the site at work, and started downloading saves from all the tournaments in a row, and played through them at home... I played all 5 versions.

Nagan-4:
Heroes 5 and Heroes 1?

Alex R:
I play Heroes 5; I would play Heroes 1 too, but there are critical bugs and the online simply doesn't work. I haven't tried Heroes 4 online and I don't feel like playing it.

Nagan-4:
Do you have enough time for everything?

Alex R:
There is less and less time; there was never enough; I just have to economize on quality or sift through tournaments.

Nagan-4:
Then let's try to get things in order. What's your favorite version?

Alex R:
I can't say for sure... most likely I just like the Heroes series in general... and the reason I play Heroes 3 most often is simply because there are more opponents, more tournaments, etc.

Nagan-4:
What about the first and second parts? What's their deal?

Alex R:
Heroes 1 is nostalgia... quite simple overall, although the atmosphere and nostalgia prevent you from forgetting it. Plus, it's one of the most interesting from the perspective of computer AI (the AI is dangerous there, IMHO).
Heroes 2, like the first one, also evokes more nostalgic feelings, but it has more room for maneuvering and such.
Overall, it's the most suitable for a pocket game (so to speak, a chess simulator).

Nagan-4:
Tell me, you've been on our forum for quite a while now. What made it so appealing to you back then that you decided to stay?

Alex R:
Well, I didn't really choose it; I stumbled upon it by chance (I don't remember what I was looking for) and registered. About half a year later, I saw the Portal, but I wasn't particularly drawn there... HeroesWorld remained a priority, even after I checked out the League and Bai... though I did register on the Portal eventually, during a period of slight stagnation on HeroesWorld.

Nagan-4:
About Heroes 2 - what maps were there... What hot-seat battles you had. What's your favorite map in Heroes 2?

Alex R:
In Heroes 1 and 2, whether hot-seat or solo, I played through all the maps and all the campaigns at least once.
Specifically in Heroes 1, I love the duel map "Two by the Sea".
In Heroes 2, the choice of maps is larger, but most often "Continent" or "Good vs. Evil".

Nagan-4:
Now a question about the clan. When I came to the forum, the great clan Homo Homini was dominating - in the seasonal tournament, 4 out of 6 first places were yours. Then suddenly - Invisible and Adelaida left... What is it - natural rotation (people got tired of the forum) or were there tensions within the clan?

Alex R:
Adelaida didn't leave; she's temporarily on vacation. In principle, she's back now, but she still has very little time.
Invisible left; I didn't delve into the details of that decision; it's more like the usual rotation.
But that's not the point.
The clan Homo Homini was very active playing offline in 2007 and a bit in 2008, but now there are very few players who prefer offline to online.

Nagan-4:
This is probably a trend - offline prevails at first, but when online appears, players gradually switch to it.
We can recall the Portal, the Heroes League, and now the World.

Alex R:
Yes, I agree. As soon as I got internet at home, the scales immediately tipped towards online. Of course, I played a couple of offline tournaments after that, but time was catastrophically short, and it affected the results.

Nagan-4:
But gradually your clan managed to attract new players; even recently, Aldegir, Britvochka, and Erdem joined you. What attracts them? Does the clan have a player recruitment program, or do they find you themselves?

Alex R:
In principle, for Heroes 3, among the strong players, we only specially invited Pit to strengthen the clan.
Well, before Adelaida left, she was personally able to attract a lot of Heroes 5 online players. For example, in the current tournament, about 5 out of 20 players are from our clan. There are also players who played in past tournaments, and all of them are very strong players.
As for Heroes 3, it's more like the players found a clan "to their taste" themselves :)
I don't remember if I suggested Aldegir join, but I noticed Erdem and consider him very promising (still with the newcomer status), but with a fairly strong game.

Nagan-4:
Congratulations to the clan on good reinforcement. Now let's talk about the past team tournament. Which match was the most difficult for your team?

Alex R:
O_o that's a tough question... unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity to support and follow each other's games offline or online, so each of us only knows about our own matches...

Nagan-4:
Still, you brought in the decisive victory in the semifinal against the Heroes legend Cobra and in the final against Vigo.

Alex R:
The match with Cobra was personally the most difficult for me. Frankly, I was on the verge of another transition to Heroes 5 at that time, and the positive result gave me a new surge of desire to play Heroes 3.
And in the final, my match was the last, but the decisive victory was more brought by Aldegir.
vbn and I subconsciously felt that one of us had to win against the "Phoenixes".
Overall, I think Aldegir performed best on our team and deserves the title of "player of the tournament" - he brought 3.5 points out of 4 matches played. But it's also very important that he almost always played first, and we started each match with a positive balance and mood.

If you take the match as a series of games, rather than any specific individual game, then I think the most we prepared for was the game against Zavry. But that doesn't mean the other matches were easier or that we didn't prepare for them; it's just that the match against Zavry decided our advancement from the Group and the position we would take, and after that, it was like "euphoria". We supported each other with the saying that there was nothing left to lose - the minimum task was accomplished. Special thanks to vbn for that.

Nagan-4:
Online started with the first seasonal tournament by Adelaida, which you won in spring 2007. All this time you have been participating in tournaments. Who on the forum is your most principled and most inconvenient opponent?

Alex R:
Hmm... I don't have to think much; I played very few games relative to the number of games and the playing period (about 80 games in 2 years).
I have a file where 95% of all my games (headers) are recorded.
The most inconvenient opponent is Uran (we played 2 times in finals, 1 time in a team tournament).
It's always hard to play against him. The toughest and most memorable matches were against Napalm during the inter-portal tournament... we played 3 games, and all of them went past the 3rd week.

Nagan-4:
Now for a painful question... The thread: "What do you think this could be?" shocked me. The essence of the topic is that the player Yakuza cheated. And he cheated completely obviously, not particularly hiding it. The arguments were damning. As a lawyer, I'd say - I couldn't defend his position in court.
And what's worse - based on the manner of communication and writing posts on the forum, the pseudonym "Yakuza" hides a well-known player, a devotee of Heroes, with a very good reputation.
In your opinion, was this a temporary lapse of reason (problems in the family, at work) or did the person actually cheat systematically?

Alex R:
In my opinion, the specific presented episode is a kind of revenge for an argument in the topic "tactics for playing as Stronghold" (an attempt to prove one's point by any means, but as always, the truth got lost somewhere along the way to the goal).
This is definitely not a lapse of reason; regarding problems in the family, etc. - it's not worth talking about... perhaps there is something like that, but that's that person's personal business.
Whether he cheated systematically - I think no, but where the motivation was serious - then most likely yes! Occasionally, by the way, a difference is noticeable in the skill of the same player; and if you consider how much these games differ in motivation, one could assume... it's slacking off in insignificant games or simply there was no opportunity/desire to cheat.

Nagan-4:
What's your attitude towards cheaters? Still, it's been proven, say, a well-known person in our circles cheats, looks at the map, opens the game in a second window... what should be done with him?
A permanent ban on the forum, or could you suggest something else?

Alex R:
Well, on our forum, he'll probably get a "black mark". As for the ban or disqualification from tournaments, that's for the organizers and administration to decide...
Of course, cheaters don't evoke positive emotions; I definitely wouldn't play against them in tournaments, although I might play a season game... I feel more antipathy towards people who behave disgustingly; I wouldn't play even a season game against them.

I won't suggest anything, because the goal was to catch them; what to do next is less interesting.

Nagan-4:
Okay, I'll continue with the tough questions. You and Derty are both respected offline players, now successfully playing online, forum veterans, adults, respected forum members.
Where did the war between you come from? The hostility damages our forum, the same AK, your refusal to join it, the recent thread about moderators, we can recall a couple more threads. How to overcome the discord? What would you suggest to Derty for peace and the successful prosperity of the forum? I don't doubt for a second that you both love the World very much.

Alex R:
It's a dead-end question. He thinks I'm to blame, I think he's to blame.
The more relevant question is not where the war came from, but why it continues?
It's hard to judge myself, but I can say there were periods of neutrality - and then it all started anew. I don't like the communication style of such forum members as Derty and Vlk777... Qwerty once tried to convey the same thing to them, but they unanimously pointed him to the Heroes 2 section (by the way, that was a very ugly and unfair move).
I was a moderator for just over a week, saw the forum a bit from the other side, partially realized some of my old mistakes, partially felt what it's like for other moderators, but the fact that there is a problem with player communication is a fact. There's not much to suggest here, except perhaps tightening the moderation rules. Also, I personally think that the current Heroes 3 moderators are far too tolerant and, by the way, all very busy.
I refused AK not because of Derty... I just don't like doing PR, including black PR. And when I see something starting, something going on behind my back, I simply withdraw my volunteer impulses. Anyway, if someone wants to, they can outmaneuver anyone - but this isn't real life - there's nothing for me to fight them over here (my nerves are more precious).

Nagan-4:
By the way, I fully approved of your appointment as a moderator. A moderator in an online topic should be a strong player themselves. And yet, being a moderator is a thankless job; they always get kicked around on all forums. Why did you agree?

Alex R:
I agreed because I saw this problem, because I discussed it with Qwerty, who, by the way, suggested it to me. And, well, I became the 4th moderator there, since there were already three - and 2 of them are my clanmates, with whom it's no problem to discuss something, and a pleasant Girl... I wanted to help them all.
There's, of course, a ton of work, but since I visit the forum often, I managed to do at least part of the work.
But given all these factors, the decision was 50/50, because I had been offered moderator positions in the Heroes 1 section and other sections before, but I was categorically against it - precisely because I understood that the work is thankless and that I don't have that much time; to faithfully fulfill all the duties... and I honestly admit that I considered myself not quite suitable for the role of moderator... sometimes I could lose my way at the corners.

Nagan-4:
I have no doubt that good sense will prevail, and the two respected forum members will overcome their differences and work together for the benefit of our forum.
Next question - a new clan war starts in July. Will there be any changes in your championship team?

Alex R:
:-) It's too early to say; we are assembling the team - haven't had time to discuss it yet...
My vision for the future team is the veterans on the bench or out of the game, while the new generation will go into battle.
I really hope for this lineup
Core:
ewgeniy
Aldegir
Britvochka
Erdem.

On the bench
vbn
I probably won't participate, except maybe as a reserve.

Nagan-4:
Yes, you'll make your opponents scratch their heads with such a lineup.
And at the end of the interview - what is your favorite town (in all versions of Heroes) and favorite main hero?

Alex R:
I can't single out a town in any of the parts. In different periods, I played for different towns and different heroes...

Nagan-4:
Thank you very much for the substantive conversation. I want to wish you and the wonderful clan Homo Homini new great victories. Good luck!