DISCUSSIONS on “Rules for online games in HoMM3 and formulas for calculating player rating.”

The discussion was a joke. Cheating streamers, hints are decisive, you need to ask the opponent for permission because their copyright is being violated, technical losses for hints, and so on and so forth. Do you even realize what kind of nonsense you're writing?

First of all, we need to distinguish between "streams" and "broadcasts." These are "slightly" different things. Equating a full-fledged multi-hour stream for a large audience with a lagging broadcast for 10 people without commentary is stupid, to say the least. And that's exactly what's happening here—everything is being lumped together.

A streamer handles a huge workflow during the game (besides the game itself); their attention is scattered, and it's much harder to maintain concentration and stay sharp. If there is active live communication in the chat (like on my stream, for example), various tips, hints, and "expert" opinions are inevitable. Ranging from: pick up the stones, upgrade the fairies, take the Dragon Utopia, to actually useful advice: you missed a stack or a building somewhere, etc. When important battles or FB occur, the flow of advice is like Niagara Falls. Every active viewer has their own expert opinion and rushes to share it. As a rule, 95% of it is filler, and extracting a truly useful tip is very difficult. And no one is even looking for these tips. Usually, the chat is read between turns. Whether hints help or actually distract is a matter of perspective. But it's certain that the streamer is not in a more advantageous position, at the very least.

When I started streaming RTA 5x Heroes 2.5 years ago, there were exactly the same discussions. That if the opponent is against it, you can't stream; that hints are decisive. In the end, there was an equally heated community discussion and a decision that the problem wasn't worth a single cent, and naturally, no bans appeared. But it was easier back then because my level of play personally was very high and hints didn't matter at all.

I won't go into how much influence streams have on the development and popularization of Heroes; that's obvious anyway. I'll only say that in its time, it was exactly streams that brought back my interest in Heroes 5, and exactly streams that lured me into Heroes 3. And it is exactly streams that maintain interest in the game. All of my games without exception are streamed; I simply see no point or interest in playing games without a stream.

This isn't a solution, it will only slightly reduce the problem. Important info from the chat can be received during the opponent's turn as well. And the timer doesn't apply to the finale at all. Yet in the finale, you can get key advice from a viewer who sees the stream from both sides. In the finale with Tvaryna, out of one hour, about 2/3 was spent on his consultation with the chat and reading fizmig)))) A solution would be if another timer were added specifically for finales))

And what happened in the end? Did Tvaryna use a useful hint and win the battle? No, Tvaryna struggled for a long time, thought it over, and ultimately lost the battle. Due to lack of experience. Just like the game at M200 last year, where experience was also lacking. Now I would have won that battle with Moon. Experience is what matters, not hints. And as for time—well, experience matters there too. Personally, I play faster and faster with every game. At least it seems to me. Well, a chess timer is definitely needed. I hope everything is heading that way.

In essence:
1. It is absolutely unnecessary to ban or somehow regulate streams (asking the opponent's permission). Moreover, this should be supported and promoted.
2. The opponent is forbidden from watching the stream (this is obvious anyway and relies on trust, but it's still worth adding such a point to the rules).

Sorry for the rambling; I don't know how to and don't like writing such walls of text. :D