Besides, you shouldn't underestimate newcomers – some of them play quite well, they just aren't registered on various forums and don't participate in tournaments.

This is actually one of the problems. There are indeed quite strong players, even on the original game, those same "founding fathers" from Ubisoft, but they won't come to play with us, not because they dislike the Total Enhancement (TE) mod – they might use that as an "excuse" for not wanting to play with it – but because they are worried about their status. How can I be a "founding father" here, but be a mediocre player there? This is most likely a psychological factor. After all, we all know that TE is still the same Heroes game; the heroes don't run backward in TE, Orcs don't cast "Armageddon," and other races don't cast "Wrath of the Horde." TE doesn't fundamentally affect the game mechanics; TE is primarily about striving for maximum game balance. This is what needs to be explained to everyone who wants to improve their gaming skills, rather than playing "Former Friends" on the original Ubisoft version for the hundredth time.
P.S. By the way, me and Player-76 played "Underground Treasures" on Ubisoft countless times about 3-4 years ago