Editing Greg Fulton/Fanstratics Newsletters/37 (section)

== HoMM3 Question ==
'''I have a small question to you regarding your past as HoMM3 designer and hope it won't be overbearing.  There is an [[Inferno]] hero named [[Zydar]].  His class is [[Heretic]].  In the manual his race is stated to be [[Efreet]].  His bio in the game reads:  "When Zydar isn't in the field leading troops, he is studying new ways to increase the potency of his spells.  While not the greatest of mages, he certainly shows more promise than any of his demon-kin."  His stated race is Efreet, him having horns also fits that description (another Efreets, like Octavia, have them as well), but due to the "his demon-kin" part some people assure Zydar is a [[Kreegan]] or some other type of demon.  Then again, "demon-kin" may refer to [[Eeofol]] Inferno creatures in general.  And Efreeti are part of those and can be described as demonic, just like Kreegan, [[Gog]]s, etc.  There's also the loading screen image in HoMM vanilla, where an archangel battles a person that looks to be Zydar.  And the latter has a similar sort of "fire wave" in the lower half of his body that Efreeti have.  Would be nice to hear your stance on that.'''

When I crafted the various 'factions' in HoMM3, I thought of them more as 'cultures', not as 'races’.  I suspect this is my ‘Americanness’ showing through in my work.  For instance, in the USA, you have regional cultures such as... New England, Rust Belt, Deep South, Midwest, Rocky Mountains, etc.  Each 'culture' is comprised of people from various ethnic and religious backgrounds, but with a shared regional culture.  Perhaps the most noteworthy comparison is the New York region versus the SoCal region.  Both are similar regarding their ethnic and religious composition, but culturally... they couldn't be farther apart.  With this in mind, I always considered the Efreets 'demonic', but not necessarily Kreegan.  Hope this answers your question.