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

A couple of years ago, I wrote my opinion on the matter, and it hasn't changed much since then.

And it’s precisely all these bans on redraw, restrictions on the Grail, bans on upgrades, bans on bypassing guards, visiting objects without clearing them, plus the resulting exploits and contentious situations... they really bother me aesthetically. I tried for a long time to get used to it, but I couldn't.

This really is a matter of habit. Before I started playing Heroes back in 2011 in a VK group, the first thing I did was study the rules. And those were WCL rules: no Necropolis and Conflux, no Air Magic control (I think), with a limit on external dwellings for tier 7 units, and so on. Later, I ended up on HeroesWorld, and again the first thing I did was study the rules. They were more complex and allowed more freedom of action. And I got used to them, and in most cases when they were amended, I was against it. But I also got used to most of those amendments, though there are exceptions. For example, even now I believe that Air Magic control on Panic and Balance maps should be allowed (it was banned in 2013) — especially now that we play with guild restructuring.
It's exactly the same matter of habit whether to play HotA or not. Some couldn't get used to the HeroesWorld rules, while others don't want to get used to the new graphics, new objects, new heroes, and creatures. And the new flight mechanics, of course.

Or remember our game on SMK where I flew over the Static Guards with wings, and we spent about 20 minutes trying to find a rule allowing or forbidding such actions. And by the way, we never found anything definitive. I choose not to play Heroes like that!

Well, it's strange to look for a rule that doesn't exist. There is a rule stating that everything not forbidden is allowed, and from there you just need to know what is forbidden to do everything else. It's another matter that the practical application of the rules doesn't always align with that reasoning. For example, the former CIS champion once couldn't find a rule about the Admiral's Hat — you know what happened next :rolleyes: