"War by the rules"

Here's my fresh take: I just stopped playing a game with that player about 15 minutes ago, on a 256x256 map. We were playing a mirror match with Humans, and my opponent got Rutger. Oh, that's a strong hero, perfect for this map. I, on the other hand, bought Dugald on the second day. The starting zone was generated as narrow and long. By the end of the first week, I managed to break through to an adjacent zone, ending up in Demon territory. Dugald was only level 7, and there wasn't even a hint of a Log yet. Of course, I turned back, sending a Roach towards the Demons. So, here's the thing: I only broke through to the second adjacent zone by the end of the second week, and that's with Dugald not diverting anywhere or getting distracted! During the third week, I was exploring the adjacent zone, looking for convenient portals to break through. Yes, a whole week, because the adjacent zone is also HUGE. And, of course, I didn't get lucky with the Log; it wasn't fully upgraded by level 15. When I was breaking through the portal on my side, turn-based mode kicked in, and I realized that my opponent was already in that zone. It was a 3-day journey to the other portal, and this was already the 4th WEEK – it's just complete nonsense!!! Personally, I've decided that I won't play on such a large map size anymore. Let the smaller maps have some issues, or let artifacts be guarded by weak creatures – that's fine, the chances are equal for both players. But the kind of hassle I experienced in that game, I'll remember for a long time!