It might be slightly off-topic, but I think this information will also be useful. Most online Heroes games are played using the Hamachi program. From my own experience, I know that recently, with the release of new versions, various technical problems have arisen. For example, I couldn't properly finish the quarter-final in the Portal Super Cup because of them. I was greatly helped by the Hamachi usage tips posted on heroes.by. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with them – it will save you a lot of trouble.

Hmm, who said they would be available for free?

As I think: players tell the organizer which map they have chosen, the organizer generates a save file for that map, and sends it to the players just before the match. There is simply no time to review the save file. Well, technically there is, but not much...

And the players will have to wait while the organizer runs through both starting locations of the generated save file, checks that there isn't a significant imbalance in resources, money in chests, dropped artifacts, and guards – is that what you mean?