N E W S

March 30th, 2000 [by Caspar] :
    Items! View your items here! Stats and pics! I'm proud to present what might be the most comprehensive presentation of the Items and Weapons of MM8. Go see pictures and complete stats for *all* the gear you haven't found yet. Artifacts, Special Items etc. etc., nothing is left out! Need I tell you that it's TELP's data cruncher par excellence, Bones, who has worked his magic once again? I didn't think so ; )

    We have a new Poll up - sorry for the delay, BTW. Inspired by all the reviews we're seeing these days, we would like to get *your* rating of the game - what do you say? Is it the poorest thing you've ever played, or the best thing since Pong? Go rate it!
    You can see the result of last week's poll right here.

    I recently told you about our new intermediate approach to the Maps section. We're currently expanding the concept a bit, and you should see improvements soon. Stay tuned.

    I have removed the bottle graphics from the printable list of potions. Thanks to Tavern regular Fruit Fly for the excellent suggestion. : )

    On to the links:

    The reviews are popping up all over the place: Actiontrip rates it 59%, Gamezone are somewhat more positive with a total score of 75%, while our friends at Blinkingdot has posted one of the most positive reviews we've seen, awarding it a cool 85%. Check it out! : )

March 26th, 2000 [by Caspar] :
    Where do you want to go today? I have updated the Maps section to reflect that TELP won't be making it's own area- or dungeon-maps in the nearest future. Instead, we'll be linking to the best MM8 map pages out there. A lot of you have offered to let TELP use your maps, and for this we thank you - but for now, this solution seems to be the best.

    Today's links:

    There are a couple of new reviews up: Gamespot awards MM8 a mediocre 6/10, while IGNPC gives it 6.5 out of 10 (I guess that amounts to something like 13 out of 20 ; )).

    I *finally* got around to add The K-Files to the Links section. Oh, and I changed the name of L.M.M.'s MM8 site, formerly known as Prince...I mean, E.L.D.'s MM8 site.

    Other than that, I'm busy playing...and I'm having more fun than 13 on a scale from 1 to 20, I tell you ; )

March 23rd, 2000 [by Caspar] :
    Oh no! A vampire! Quick! To the Monsters Section! Errr... The Official MM8 site has been completely revamped -- some would say that it's about time ; ). Go there and check out the new sections (Gallery, Weapons, Monsters etc.).

    We have a couple of more links for you today:

    First, I'd like to apologize to Tavern visitor Sensei Phoenix for not posting a link to his review at RPGFan sooner. It's a very good piece, and he's being thourough and quite fair. He awards the game 75% overall. Check it out.

    And there's another review up by one of the biggest online games magazines, CNET Gamecenter. It's *very* negative, to say the least, and gives the game a 4/10 score. If you're in a hurry, and only have time to check one of the reviews out, go for the one mentioned above instead ; )

    We have added some new fansites to the Links section: Inqusitor's CyberSpace, which is by a guy from the 3DO Community, and E.L.D.'s MM8 site, a page by Tavern regulars Cricket, Snoova, Jack and Hero. These guys are a friendly bunch, so give the site a spin, even if it's still under construction : )

    Lastly, we spotted that the second expansion pack to the hugely successful Heroes of Might & Magic III, The Shadow of Death, has shipped. Find the announcement here.

March 20th, 2000 [by Caspar] :
    Read all about me in the Monster Section There's a new Poll up - this week I thought it would be interesting to see what you MM8 players think of the much-discussed graphics of the game. I have yet to read a (p)review that didn't complain about this aspect of the game, but what really matters is what you people think, right? Go cast your vote now!

    See the result of last week's poll by clicking here.

    Other than that, we have some pretty cool links and some other stuff from the Mailbox for you today. First up is walkthrus.cetus.net/mm8 and MM8 MINI-FAQ. Both sites hold huge amounts of information (and both had a MM7 counterpart, BTW), even if their way of presenting it is very different. Both definitely deserve a visit. Thanks to visitor Monica Schwab for sending word to the Mailbox.

    And there's a new MM8 review up at Startgamez.com, who awards it a respectable 75%. The review ends with this remark:

      Might & Magic VIII is a good old RPG with party adventuring, stats and skills, a lot of fighting, exploring, dungeon hacking and switch pushing. This game will keep you going for weeks, if you can tolerate the crappy graphics, that is. The game is too much like MM7 and MM6 for it's own good, but I have to admit I just can't stop playing it for the moment, but for how long I still don't know. If you liked the last two games in the series, you will want to play MM8, if you didn't like the other two, you won't like MM8 either.

    Notice that blurb about the graphics? See? Anyway, thanks to visitor Joe Dellamorte for making us aware of it : )

    These links have of course all been added to the Links section.

    I have corrected a couple of misspellings on the Travel pages - both Alvar and Garrote Gorge was spelled wrong. Sorry about that ; )

    Our Postmaster, AndrewP., informs me that the Mailbox is now accepting suggestions for future games in the Might and Magic series. Go tell him what you think the M&M games are missing! : )

    A few visitors have complained that they can't see the whole top menu when accessing the page with a 640x480 resolution. We're sorry about that, but our attempt to make a satisfactory solution to fit all resolutions has not been successful. I hope those visitors will take solace in the fact that the only menu item they can't see is the one on Screenshots. They can access that directly by clicking here.

March 18th, 2000 [by Caspar] :
    Monsters! Bones, TELP's major-domo and data cruncher, and me both got the game this past Wednesday. While I have been playing happily away to a current level of 12-13, he has been busy busting the game wide open, looking into the internal game files.

    We're very proud to present this, the first result of his research:


    In this new section, you'll find anything you need to know about the game's monsters - including basic stuff like their HP and AC, but also the really neat stuff like information on special attacks and resistances. Go check it out!

    Naturally, MM8 is popping up on sales charts all over the place. It is debuting at no. 5 on the NPD Group's North American bestseller list for the period of February 27th to March 4th. (spotted at RPGvault).

    Similarly, it pops in at no. 7 on PC Data's weekly bestseller list. This was reported by Gamecenter.com, who goes on to say...

      The only newcomer to this week's chart is Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer from The 3DO Company. I know there are a lot of Might and Magic fans out there, but come on, 3DO, it's time to shake up the RPG series. The graphics engine has been pretty much the same since VI.

    BTW, it seems CGO is having some server problems - I haven't been able to reach their site for some time now - which should explain why some visitors have had problems getting the link I posted below to their review to work.

March 16th, 2000 [by Caspar] :
    I got the game! I got it! Woohoo! Now you don't have to listen to me complain anymore... : )

    Weekly Poll! It seems the Poll has been a welcome addition to the site. Thank you all for participating.

    There's a review of MM8 up over at Computer Games Online. It recieves a fair rating (3.5 of 5), and these ending remarks:

      But many of these weaknesses are a part of the game’s loopy charm. While it may be overly familiar, it’s also quite comfortable. You may initially wonder why you’re playing, but 40 hours later you realize you had a pretty good time, in that traditional, albeit all-too-familiar, hack-and-slash role-playing kind of way. It delivers exactly what you expect from a Might and Magic - here’s hoping the next edition tries for a few surprises.

    It has of course been added to the Links section.

    Talking of Links, we've added MM8 Location List and w00kie's MM8 board to the Fansites and Messageboards sections, respectively.

    Finally, we've corrected an error concerning the Pure Personality black potion (see Potions). Thanks to Tavern visitor masotime for the info. We apologize if we caused any explosions! ; )

    Now, I gotta run. I have some very, very important...um...work to do! Yeah, work, that's it! ; )
© The Erathian Liberation Party 2000