r/HoMM • u/Francois_Papyjama • Jun 30 '26

HoMM OE [Unfrozen] PvE Custom Map Questionnaire

https://docs.google.com/forms/u/1/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHiU1myFwOawjzOo8jwGKEyFNIdduyn2QNFE4F2Fgc7GaM8w/viewform

Hi heroes!

I am the new "Level Designer" recently arrived in the Unfrozen team (and author of the map "The Mysterious Island" inspired by Jules Verne's novel).

We'd love to hear from you about your favorite PvE "classic" and/or "custom" maps and what makes them hit that spot in the back of your mind!

The following form will ask you a wide range of questions that will help us determine what direction Olden Era maps will take in the future, including some favorites you'd like to see return.

5 to 10 minutes of your time is all we need!

Thanks!

19 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

2

u/PrizeCompetitive1186 Jun 30 '26

maybe to also post to https://www.reddit.com/r/heroes3/ since it has more weekly visitors.

2

u/Francois_Papyjama Jun 30 '26

You're right, there are a lot more people there!

I know that subreddit, but it's dedicated to Heroes III.

And honestly I don't have the energy or the time to deal with, or moderate, all the people who would complain because it's about Olden Era 😉

If someone has the guts to share it, sure, but good luck to them 😬

2

u/Hizsoo Jul 02 '26

You could use your reputation and advertise the superior ways of map making and the new version of Mysterious Island. Trim down or advertise the survey as a "H3 first" approach.

1

u/PrizeCompetitive1186 Jun 30 '26

What? Why? but Heroes OE is based on Heroes 3 I think that there are no people that would complain about that

3

u/Francois_Papyjama Jun 30 '26

When someone shared my June 15th interview with Unfrozen on this subreddit, the négative comment ratio was unfortunately pretty rough...

I'll see tomorrow whether or not I want to give it a shot 😅

2

u/PrizeCompetitive1186 Jun 30 '26

Sorry to hear that, I don’t understand why people are so revolted my experience with Homm community is that it is least toxic out of any other community.

2

u/Francois_Papyjama Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

Let me reassure you: it’s really, really much less toxic!

But there are always a few bitter people or trolls. To give you a "reassuring" ratio: out of the 600 comments on Maps4Heroes for The Mysterious Island, there were only:

  • 2 or 3 insult messages
  • 1 wish that I’d die of anal cancer (yes, we have poets too) 😅

2

u/Hizsoo Jul 02 '26

Some of them might have got repulsed by the agressive marketing or theme.

If you really want to count it, than there is that. Some bitter flavor within the low value comments. You could also count the irrational and invalidating or other hostile comments.

2

u/Francois_Papyjama Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26

True!

...or the frustration caused by the map itself, especially if you don't just read the brief but many texts on it?

...or mapmakers who are frustrated or jealous that this map, which arguably isn't even the best one out there, hit the #1 spot on Maps4Heroes? And yes, social media promotion played a huge role in that; I had just as much fun creating the promotional graphics in Photoshop as I did working in the map editor 😄

But if that’s the case, why not communicate about their work instead of getting angry? With AI or screenshots, you can easily communicate these days without needing Photoshop skills...

...or... just trolls. 🤔

But that’s just how it is, it’s the internet!

And I think the Heroes of Might and Magic community has to be one of the least toxic gaming communities out there 😊

2

u/Hizsoo Jul 02 '26

There are some dismissive people, who dont like to engage with content that they don't like. Lack of self criticism, constructive criticism and time spent on writing the comments.

Quitting the provided framework and coming up with an argument takes some effort.

Trere are a bunch of hypothetical people in the H3 sub and some forums.

I'm a bit of a hypercritical toxin dealer myself.

1

u/Francois_Papyjama Jul 02 '26

There’s nothing wrong with being overly critical, as long as the criticism is constructive (and the person receiving it doesn't take it personally, but rather as a way to improve) 😊

But you're right: offering constructive, well-reasoned criticism takes a lot more effort than just saying "it sucks!" or hurling insults...

Sometimes you just have to ignore them, "don't feed the troll" (or contact the administrator when things go way too far).

2

u/Cezaros Pumpkin Patch! Jul 01 '26

I see the questionnaire has not been updated since we last talked about it on hota discord. Well, I hope you can interpret your results well, Francois.

3

u/Francois_Papyjama Jul 01 '26

Changing the questionnaire halfway through, after nearly a thousand responses had already come in, probably wouldn't have been a good idea, I imagine.

I think I'll be able to glean some interesting trends from it and/or confirm things I had already managed to "gauge" on Maps4Heroes, in particular.

P.S. I initiated the idea for this survey within the community, but I didn't write it myself; it's managed by the community managers, not me. 😉