Discussions, post-mortems, analysis, inflated egos, and all that jazz.

Instead of reasoned criticism,
we only see disrespectful treatment of someone else's work.

I can't imagine what criticism is possible. A malicious caricature of a masterpiece is beyond criticism. I don't see any point in wasting time listing everything that exists in Heroes and doesn't exist in HotA, and vice versa.

I can't imagine a more respectful attitude towards the original from modders.

a more *disrespectful* attitude.

What else do these people want,
when they talk about "shame and degradation"?

Only one thing. That HotA stops being presented as "improved Heroes 3." It's a completely different game.

Let me explain with an example.
Let's say a hypothetical Stas Mikhailov records a mega-popular song, using a remix of Mozart's "Requiem" as the melody. No objections.
But if, at the same time, he declares himself the new, "improved Mozart," and his numerous fans start shouting this at every corner, that would look ridiculous.
The same goes for HotA. It is only connected to Heroes 3 by the "borrowed" engine, and nothing more.
Everything that people like in Heroes 3 has been removed or replaced with something else in it. Do you like it? Yes, please! Play it as much as you want, organize Tournaments, etc.
But why try to pass it off as Heroes 3, and even impose this on others?!

I understand that my words are unlikely to have the desired effect,
and I alone cannot protect Heroes 3 from hordes of angry fanatics. In the future, I will try to ignore attacks on Heroes 3 (the question is whether I will succeed).