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It's foolish to deny that free is better than paid, and, of course, that's important for a new player. But if you take players who have been playing for a long time, the lobby fee doesn't matter.

You're mistaken, it matters immensely, if not decisively. Someone will say that 3 bucks a month is mere pocket change,
but for many (including myself) it's a significant amount. What then about students and schoolchildren, or residents of, say, Uzbekistan,
where many earn a salary of 100$ a month! (info from one of the HeroesWorld players from there)!?
And there are those (among the old, experienced HeroesWorld players) who fundamentally refuse to pay ("I don't want to sponsor HotA"). I try to object that this has nothing to do with sponsoring HotA, that it's purely the lobby developer's earnings (but I'm not 100% sure of that myself).

There's another problem too: the payment system isn't perfected. (Either sanctions get in the way, or something else). Complaints from lobby users have become more frequent — payments aren't going through (where they used to go through without issue), technical errors.

The creator didn't abandon the rating system. I don't follow it, but it seems to be working; even hero and castle images have appeared.
Another matter is that the HeroesWorld rating is currently irrelevant for the majority of players.
Even for the Siberia Championship draw, we used the lobby rating. The HeroesWorld rating isn't a problem at the moment; it can work however it wants,
but when only a little over 10 people are playing in that rating system, it's worthless.

The problem actually started with the disappearance of the Nitro rating (which was very clear and convenient, with a breakdown by seasons and tournaments. Igromant tried to revive it, but it feels like he wasn't allowed to.
I communicate a lot with new players. And for them, it's very inconvenient and difficult to navigate the forum. I constantly have to point out where to find what.

But nevertheless, not everything is so bleak; the early start of registration for the "Новичок" tournament is starting to show positive results. Some have already fulfilled the requirements for fun reports, and two have even registered for the season, where the requirements are even stricter.