Age of Heroes: Might and Magic Heroes VII Wiki: Community Engagement

The Shadow Council

The Shadow Council is an Open Dev introduced with the official announcement of Might and Magic Heroes VII at Gamescom on the 16th of August. It is a feature of the official Might and Magic Heroes VII blog through which fans can contribute to the development of the game. The idea itself was presented with Might and Magic X - Legacy and was well received by the community. Behind the Shadow Council website there is a mixed team of Ubisoft and Limbic employees, providing the latest information on the development of the game as well as updating various other features.

Open Development represents the direct link between the community and the development team of Heroes. It is a blog where people can share their opinions with each other on different subjects. The devs decide to put up to vote certain features approaching different aspects of the game, like voting for a Faction to be featured with Vanilla, line-ups, gameplay direction, and so on. When the allocated time expires, the voting stops and the feature with the highest vote percentage is chosen for implementation in the game. This unique system not only gives the future player the means to express his opinion, but also make it relevant and cement it as a real in-game feature.

For more information, please visit the Shadow Council: An Evolving Website and What Is The Shadow Council blog pages.

Votes

The development of M&M Heroes VII is subject to the will and the influence of the community. Heroes fans can choose what they would like to see implemented into the game by expressing themselves through votes. They can also give voice to their opinions and desires by commenting on the pages.

Open Polls

• Collector's Edition Original Sountrack/Lithographic Prints - Third and final vote for Collector's Edition content - Vote Page
  • Original Sountrack
  • Lithographic Prints

End of the vote: December 12th - CDT 5p.m // BST 11p.m // CEST: 12a.m

Closed Polls

• Sylvan vs. Fortress - Fifth faction vote - Vote Result
  • Sylvan - 66%
  • Fortress - 34%

End of the vote: September 11th - CDT 5p.m // BST 11p.m // CEST: 12a.m

• Sylvan Line-up - Sylvan line-up vote - Vote Result; Line-ups
  • The Strength of the Forest - 26% (18,01% official)
  • Earth's Perfect Balance - 31% (36,71% official)
  • Sylanna's Fury - 43% (45,28% official)

End of the vote: September 26th - CDT 5p.m // BST 11p.m // CEST: 12a.m

• Collector's Edition Ivan Figurine - Ivan figurine pose vote - Vote Results
  • The Strategist - 69%
  • The Warrior - 31%

End of the vote: October 17th - CDT 5p.m // BST 11p.m // CEST: 12a.m

• Dungeon vs. Inferno - Sixth faction vote - Vote Result
  • Dungeon - 56%
  • Inferno - 44%

End of the vote: October 31th - CDT 5p.m // BST 11p.m // CEST: 12a.m

• Dungeon Line-up - Dungeon line-up vote, divided in two phases lasting one week each. -
  • First Phase - First Phase Results; Line-ups:
    • The Blade from the Shadows - 36% (31% official)
    • Malassa's Thousand Faces - 31% (48% official)
    • The Shield of Darkness - 33% (21% official)
  • Second Phase - Second Phase Results:
    • The Blade from the Shadows - 44% (36% official)
    • Malassa's Thousand Faces - 56% (64% official)

End of the vote for first phase: November 7th - CDT 5p.m // BST 11p.m // CEST: 12a.m; End of the vote for second phase: November 14th - CDT 5p.m // BST 11p.m // CEST: 12a.m

• Sylvan Townscreen - Sylvan townscreen vote, divided in two phases for general setting and lighting/ambience
  • First Phase Vote Page:
    • The Forest Sanctum - 32%
    • The Tree Island - 68%
  • Second Phase Vote Page Results:
    • Harmony in the Moonlight - 63%
    • Dance of a New Dawn - 37%

End of the vote for first phase: Sunday 09/11, 23:59 CET; End of the vote for second phase: Thursday 13/11, 23:59 CET

• Collector's Edition Griffin Flag/Tarot Deck - Second vote for Collector's Edition content - Vote Results
  • Griffin Dutchy Flag - 24%
  • Deck of Tarot Cards - 76%

End of the vote: December 5th - CDT 5p.m // BST 11p.m // CEST: 12a.m

Features

The website received a big update coinciding with the Igromir event. Shadow Council members can now set their Hero Avatars and there are indications as well as promises from the devs that a leveling and achievement systems will be introduced in the near future.

Issues

Suspicions of cheating the polls via multi-account voting were confirmed by the developers during the Sylvan Line-up vote with the Line-up Vote - Important Information blog post. They addressed the issue by enforcing voting rules as well as sorting out the illicit votes from the poll. It was stated that the previous Sylvan vs. Fortress vote was unaffected in the same manner as developers say there were no irregularities.