Wicc
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Firstly, such posts should include this, in my opinion. Secondly, for example, I don't see anything interesting in the skirmishes at the beginning of the game. What's the point of the hero having 8 skill points if you can get by with something primitive like a battle between weak, small squads of early-level units, when even a single magic arrow is already powerful? No, Heroes is a game about development, and "close combat" is for Starcraft :rolleyes:. As proof, you can look at the reports; most people say that the game becomes interesting when it reaches at least the 3rd week. And you don't need to oversimplify it; "accumulate power, then come and win" doesn't always work, and often having more troops doesn't lead to victory, and in general, everything is much more complex.
The main components of interest are variety and unpredictability. Since you mentioned Starcraft, there's a similar trend there – NR, which stands for no rush. That is, people agree not to attack each other for 5-10-15 minutes from the start of the game and develop peacefully. I don't think I'll surprise anyone if I say that these people are on the periphery of the Starcraft scene and are labeled as noobs (which they actually are).
So, in Heroes, it's the same. The potential for a rush leads to the need to either constantly take it into account or attack yourself. The mental load increases, the number of possible game developments increases noticeably, and the predictability of events decreases significantly. This is what provides interest.
Moreover, if games can be both long and short, this is also variety/unpredictability, and as a result, increased interest. Of course, if 90% of games end in the 1st or 2nd week with a rush/counter-rush, that's bad. Just as it's bad if 90% of games end in the 2nd month. It's good when the histogram of game duration is spread more or less evenly across the timeline.
As for close combat, it's good because the factors mentioned at the beginning of the post are present in full. Moreover, it doesn't matter much when the contact phase begins – in the 1st week or the 3rd; the effect is similar; the duration of this contact matters more.
The earlier it starts, the less there will be a phase of relatively monotonous and predictable monster-bashing, which is objectively less interesting than battles with each other.
Another example from esports is Warcraft 3. Compared to Starcraft, it introduced neutral monsters that could be killed for money and items. The spectacle of the process decreased many times over... all the time the players were farming, the viewers were bored. Some action began either with direct clashes or with ambushes while farming or with harassment of the base/army. In general, wherever the players competed with each other, and not with the computer.
In Heroes, the sphere of interaction with the environment is much richer and can provide enough food for gaming interest even without the help of an opponent. However, for players with rich experience and a developed gaming culture, it is no longer a worthy opponent; the human factor is also needed.