That's exactly what I meant when I said that these wouldn't be heroes.

These won't be the heroes we love.

This is what I meant by the "cultural layer" – established habits and viewpoints. Plus, the selection of players for whom this format is convenient.

It's clear that if Heroes had initially been developed in an environment of blitz-style, turn-based gameplay, most of the current players wouldn't have been drawn to it, or they would have already left. But there would be others, who have experience with RTS and FPS games, for whom

the ability to instantly assess the situation and quickly click the mouse

is just part of the skill set.

In Heroes, it just turned out that way – for a game in which you have to wait 20 minutes for the opponent's turn, which requires you to sit for many hours, plan your game time in advance, accept the fact that you can't always finish the game in the evening (or even in a day), etc., a certain type of character is required. Which, firstly, not everyone has, and secondly, even if they do, not everyone's lifestyle allows them to play that way. That is, not only do players adapt the game to themselves, but the game also selects players for itself.

This is a significant advantage of FPS and RTS games: a match lasts 15-30 minutes, which allows you to fit it even into a busy or unpredictable schedule. Plus, tournaments can be played in a day, which is also a significant plus.

Many newcomers have come to me, and many have dropped out simply because of the extremely long match times, even before they had time to fully understand the essence of the game. We're arguing about what's better, SoD or VT, but for most people on the outside, it doesn't matter; they're looking at other things.

Added 15 minutes ago

In a normal game, with full effort, one game week takes 2 hours (complete all tasks, eat everything, using the maximum number of units). If you shorten the time limit, players simply won't have time to complete everything necessary.

But do you think people in Starcraft have time to complete everything necessary? Even top Korean pros don't have time. And they don't complain about it... they don't demand that the game speed be lowered (which Starcraft allows, by the way). On the contrary, Blizzard initially set the standard for the ladder to be fast, but everyone immediately started playing on fastest, and in the end, fastest became the standard.

The point is not to complete everything. The point is to play better than the opponent. If you only manage 60% of what's needed, and the opponent manages 50%, then well done, take the victory.

This is also a noteworthy feature of the cultural layer in Heroes: local idealism. To the point that people give up, making a mistake somewhere, and don't even bother to check if the opponent is already on the verge of defeat.

That is, the worldview of a typical Heroes player is strongly influenced by offline play (even if they haven't played it), where the player fights opponents remotely, and the direct confrontation is only with the map. In contrast, a sporting worldview assumes a confrontation with the opponent. That is, the game is not about making the first mistake, but about making the last mistake – and then whoever makes the last mistake loses...

Although... now the average age of players in StarCraft, Warcraft, and Counter-Strike at WCG is 18-20 years old. The average age of an online Heroes player is approaching 27-30 years old. The average age of tournament judges is much younger. Do we need this? Or should we go our own way, which is quite good in terms of possibilities?

I understand all this. I'm still a realist and I keep an eye on the wind.

My point is that we shouldn't claim that everything as it is now is the best and the greatest. Because it's not the greatest, but just a consequence of mistakes made long ago. Of course, mostly due to inexperience, but nevertheless.

And it's also clear that the longer you go, the harder it is to get rid of bad habits. Like SoD. Or control with 4000+500. People are complaining that it's not enough, that we need to increase it. Lol.