Pretty much says it in the topic; played a bit of all games, never finishing any of them though...

Should I start at 1 and go through all 9? Or jump around... Considering starting at vii, but not sure if there is stuff from 6 that carries over.

Err is there no music in the older dos versions? I guess I'm spoiled by the genesis version lol (2)

I haven't played the PC version in ages. I also was spoiled by the higher-fidelity versions of 2 (I had it on C64 and Genesis, and PC). But I thought I remembered there being music in the PC version, just nowhere near the same quality. I could be wrong, though.

You can start with 1 and go through them all. What carries over from the games that do carry over isn't really worth much (in fact, as stated somewhere [I can't remember where], you may be at a bit of a disadvantage to start with old characters]).

If you can get into the old ones, knock yourself out and enjoy. I personally love #2 the most, but it's colored with a lot of nostalgia. MM6-8 are really quite good games. Not spectacular, but very good.

I tried 4/5, but I did not like them. I'm considering giving them another try some time, b/c nearly everyone says those are the best.

Yeah, I'm strongly considering 4/5. Only thing I don't like is that you start with a prechosen party. I assume you can change this later?

You can completely reform your party as soon as you start the game, just turn around, go 6 spaces forward, turn to the desk, activate it and sign in.

........ now I feel like an idiot! thanks!!!

any party suggestions? lol

1 Cleric
1 Mage
1 Thief/Ninja
Choose 3 from (Barbarian, Knight, Paladin, Ranger, Archer) - a paladin and/or ranger will help for the extra healing. An archer will help for the extra Lloyd's Beacon. Knight and Paladin can wear all armor. Barbarian has excellent attack. Taking all that into account I suggest Barbarian, Paladin, Archer.

Don't worry too much about starting stats. Just get decent enough ones. You'll be able to raise them throughout the game.

EDIT:
Skip the druid...

I recommend the following party:

Half-Orc Barbarian
Dwarf Robber
Human Ranger
Human Paladin
Gnome Cleric
Elf Mage

But many others work well too.

Step 1: Uninstall 9

I started with Might and Magic 1, and found it quite fun and engrossing. I'm not completely done with it, but I couldn't resist starting M&M2 already, and I like that even better. I guess it depends on how tolerant you are of 1980s computer game mechanics, but personally I find 1 and 2 easy to play and I think they hold up surprisingly well.