You probably heard of a game called Heroes of Might and Magic III. You might even know that this game has an expansion, called Armageddon's Blade, which changed from its original concept after fan backlash.
The expansion introduces a Conflux town filled with elementals, but originally it supposed to have a Forge town that contained sci-fi elements like goblins with blasters and zombies with cybernetic enhancements. The town was meant as a consequence of the developers making canon the evil ending from the Might and Magic VII RPG. When the developers showed off the concepts, the fans didn’t like the introduction of sci-fi elements into so far purely fantasy Heroes series and supposedly some also took offense at partial nudity of the Naga Tank creature.
When I learned about this history, I was disappointed that the developers decided to surrender to fan pressure and went with the good ending again, scrapping the cool Forge town. I didn’t see the fans as “real” Might and Magic fans, because sci-fi elements were always part of the setting and helped to distinguish the games from other fantasy RPG games.
But then someone pointed out to me, that the Heroes series started as separate, a whole new universe, and only later got connected to the Might and Magic RPG series. And it is true. I played the games, I read the manuals. Apart from very vague hints, like the mentioning of Varnal Hills (the world of first Might and Magic was named VARN) and reusing of some names (which Might and Magic series loves to do, there are so many guys named Sandro, who are totally different characters) there is no clear connection between the Heroes of Might and Magic and the Might and Magic series. The first clear connection comes with Might & Magic VI, which takes place in the world established by the first two Heroes games and brings in all the sci-fi stuff from previous Might and Magic games. I wonder whether there was someone at that time, who realized that this will eventually lead to the sci-fi elements leaking into Heroes series. The fans should have complained right there but I can’t blame them for not seeing the future.
So, I was wrong, the fan complaints were valid. Still, the games are owned by the developers, who have their own vision. Which side here is the right side? Well, there is no right answer to this. As customers, the players are correct to complain and to say they won’t buy the game, if their points are not addressed. After all, why should they buy something they don’t like? On the other hand, the writers and game designers have their own vision. If they bow to every complaint and don’t take risks, their game will be a mess or just a by the numbers product. Unfortunately, usually the decision is not made based on what would make the game better, but based on what will bring in more sales. As long as games are created to earn money, artist’s vision will be secondary to pleasing customers. The complaint about Naga Tank nudity is bullshit though, the Water Elemental is naked too!