Updates
6/9/03. Updated by 6/23/02. Updated by WyvernRider
One Final Update
I posted something very similar to this on the message board. Basically, I just want to set some things straight, in what will likely be my last update.
First of all, my name is WyvernRider, founding father of the Brotherhood of the Foot and creator of this very site.
The Brotherhood first decided to make a Heroes 3 web site back in October of 1999. (wow, almost four years- longer than I would have guessed). Anyway, back then we were a group of guys who really loved Heroes with a passion, and played it nonstop. We were inspired by some really great gaming sites like "Celestial Heavens", "The Strategist's Corner", "Dungeon's Keeper", and "The Nether Gods" (R.I.P.). We wanted to make a web site of our own, with a unique slant.
Our main idea was that, unlike so many existant sites, we would not focus on statistics and numbers, figures you could find on virtually every site as well as in the manual. Rather, we concentrated on "real strategy", e.g. "The Rampart has the best low-level troops" or "Never get Eagle-Eye" (okay, so that one wasn't really all that insightful). Our plan was to go through each town, and write reports about five major areas: Creatures, Heroes, Buildings, Magic, and Strategy. This was brilliant, or so we thought . . .
In our commitment to excellence (or something), we had forgotten to take into account that 40 (soon to be 45) such reports are a lot of work, especially since there were only three of us on the project. We each completed the reports for our respective favorite towns (Castle, Dungeon, and Tower), which are still up in all their glory. After we finished those, we took a break and began to focus on other parts of the site.
The "Golden Age" of this site arrived. As we grew we installed a message board, chat room, weekly poll, ticker, downloadable maps, and a guestbook. At our peak, we were linked to and from nearly every major Heroes site. (except for Astral Wizard, who never really liked us). Much thanks to everyone who linked to us and helped us get to almost 30,000 hits. (I know that's nothing, but hey, I can remember when that little counter read "000002"). Thanks esp. to Kristo of "The Strategist's Corner" who is a excellent webmaster and a nice guy.
Well, as you can imagine, a lot of things changed. All three of us developed new interests, and were able to spend less and less time working on the site. Weekly updates became monthly, then bi-monthly, etc etc. Part of the problem was that in the hiatus between "Armageddon's Blade" and Heroes 4, not much happened. (yes I know about "shadow of death", but to be honest, people, we all know it sorta sucked). The site fell into, well, not decadence, but more like negligence.
Which brings us to the present. Heroes 4 has of course arrived, and although I feel it is an inferior game, it has won over many Heroes 3 fans. My intersts have greatly changed over the past four years, and while I still feel that Heroes is a truly masterful piece of gaming heaven, it is no longer a major part of my life. I'm sorry to the few of you out there who may have been waiting for the new town pages, but for now they will likely stay a handful of dead links. (albeit with nice backgrounds).
In conclusion, while I still welcome all to this board and site with open arms, please don't expect any major improvements. My once daily trips to this board have gotten less and less frequent over the years, and now I sometimes go months without visting. With summer here, I'll stop by more often, but I don't have time to be constantly checking in. If you have a question though, please feel free to ask, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Alternatively, for a quicker reponse, you can email me at the address above.
Sorry for the extreme loquaciousness of this message, but I just wanted everyone to know the state of things here at TBOTF. Much thanks and love to everyone who has supported us over the years, and to everyone who still supports us today. Goodbye, and happy adventuring!
6/23/02. Updated by WyvernRider
Long Overdue
Well, it's been more than 6 months since I last updated, and I am terribly sorry. Sincere thanks to all who have visited since then, and apologies for not being more complete.
As I'm sure you all realize, Heroes 4 was released this spring. While a much different game than 3, Heroes 4 is a high quality experiance that does not disappoint fans of the series. While I'm not sure which I like more, 3 or 4, I do that they are both excellent games which stand alone.
. . . From a certain point of view, the release of Heroes 4 renders our beloved site somewhat obsolete. However, I do not believe that is completely true. Heroes 3 is still a great game, and I know people will still be playing it for several years. This site will remain active for as long as people still enjoy it.
And of course, the next question. What of the fact that the website is not even close to being complete?
Honestly, I can't say right now. I would love to see this site completed, to serve as an archive for a wonderful game, however, please realize that writing the site takes an incredible amount of time. In the past I had help from the infraggable Titanlord and the grammar-challenged but good-natured Dragod, and it remains to be seen if they are willing to provide more help or not. One thing is certain however, I'll be staying around for a good long while. In the forseeable future, you can plan for an increase in updates, perhaps information on Heroes 4, perhaps more articles concerning Heroes 3, perhaps simply cool pictures.
And to wrap up an extremely loquacious update, thanks again to all of thee who have supported us, and taken us to more than twenty-thousand hits! Suck on that, Lycos Most Requested!
12/14/01. Updated by WyvernRider
Update . . . finally.
Wow . . . five months. I think I've set a new record here for shoddiness in updating. All I can say is, there's nothing to update about. Well, obviously that's not completely true, let's see now . . . Heroes IV release date has now been pushed back to Spring '02, which means, knowing 3DO, figure next Fall. The newest information that's been leaked is some stuff about the new Skills System. It's way too complex to summarize on the H4 page, so just check it out here at Celestial Heavens. In lieu of HOMM4, the new Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds is out now. For those who don't know, it's Star Wars combat built directly onto the Age of Empires platform. For Lucasarts gaming, which has long been tagged with "good idea, bad system", teaming up with the Age platform may be the perfect solution.
8/1/01. Updated by WyvernRider
We Cast Resurrection on the Message Board and Poll ; New H4 Stuff
Well, it took us awhile, but we finally have a new message board. The old one was yanked off of the net when SitePowerUp suddenly became a pay service. Fortunatly, we've found a new one from the good folks at BoardHost, and it's working fine. Also, I finally got around to changing our poll, which had been stagnant for several months. Make sure to check it out.
Finally, there are several new Heroes 4 screenshots up, and the screenshots page has been divided into two seperate pages for ease of use.
7/19/01. Updated by WyvernRider
Apologizies, Optimisms, and Screenshots.
I can't believe that I haven't updated since May . . . my apologizies go out to all the patrons of our site who found it horribly outdated. The truth of the matter is, even though Heroes 4 is slated for early fall of this year, not a whole lot of really interesting information has been released at all. However, as the release date draws nearer, more information will become more readily available. For now, please visit our Heroes 4 Page for all the information we know right now. Also, we recently started a screenshots page for Heroes 4. It's available through the above link, or right here.
5/6/01.Updated by WyvernRider
Heroes IV Breaks Onto Scene!
A LOT of brand spanking new information regarding the much anticipated Heroes 4 was recently released by 3DO! The first major change to be announced was that Heroes 4 will only have 6 towns instead of nine, but each town will have different ways to build it up. Although we havn't seen any town rosters yet, the 4 new town names are as follows: The Academy, the Haven, the Preserve, and the Asylum. The 2 returning towns are the Stronghold, and the Necropolis. Please visit the Brotherhood's Heroes 4 Page for more information!
3/17/01.Updated by WyvernRider
Heroes 4 On the Horizon?
Recently I found the first screenshot from Heroes 4. It looks amazingly different, with a lot more resemblence to games like Age of Empires. Of course, we've already opened a page about it, which is accessible from the homepage, or from right here.
2/7/01. Updated by Titanlord
Minor Changes
The layout of the Main Page has been changed a little, I hope you like it. Stronghold Magic is finally up, expect much more soon. I'm sorry to say that Tickerland is dead, and the Ticker services are no longer available. Work is steadily progressing on the Secondary Skills page. Expect that up in the future.
1/7/01. Updated by WyvernRider
Happy New Year/Heroes Chronicles
First of all, I'd like to wish a very happy new year, and new millenium to everyone out there. Hopefully this year will bring us all health, happiness, and maybe even Heroes 4 . . . On the watch for new Heroes products, the Heroes Chronicles are out now. Basically, these are an individual campaigns packaged seperately. There's no new features added to the game, but the scenarios of the campaigns are well done. If you really like Heroes and have gotten bored with the campaigns that come with the original game, then these are great for you.
11/23/00. Updated by Titanlord
Happy Turkey Day!
The groundbreaking has been laid for the new Secondary Skills page. It will have an overview of all the secondary skills in the game. Work has also been started on the HOMM4 section, but there isn't much to do with that yet. Expect Stronghold Magic to be up soon. And the Brotherhood would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
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