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

twaryna, don't clutch your face and address me formally)
I tried to simulate a battle-heavy game. Even if most battles are over within a minute, which is far from guaranteed for Inferno, Necropolis, Barbarians, Fortress, and Conflux — the rest have to be sacrificed.
Yes, I've played several dozen times with a short timer — there was 30-50 minutes left, but — only because
1) with a one-minute timer, I initially set myself up for blitz battles, often lost single stacks on quick combat (let's leave aside discussing whether that's advisable), didn't engage battles with hordes of dwarves on day 11, and
2) I play almost exclusively with easy factions that can take out pedestrian units with shooters like in Half-Life, i.e., with closed eyes.
So far, only emotions have been offered against my calculations. I exaggerated the number of battles a bit for effect; maybe no one ever fights that many? By the way, 10% of games is not "never"; it should be taken into account. Even if only in 1% of games you have to crawl out on your teeth — a one-minute timer will kill that possibility, and in difficult situations, even experienced players will have to automatically concede. Is that good?
I'm for pace, but not at the cost of monotony and lack of choice. IMO, an x+x+1.5 minute timer would suit beginners too, who also need to play and to delight the observing top players.

And for all this, they apparently don't have enough time. People, this is an online game! A semblance of e-sports. Want to spend 10 minutes thinking about which hex is better to hit a neutral from — go ahead. But pay for it with your own time, not just others'. And if you don't want to pay — play against the computer! You see, it'll be inconvenient to kill zombies with harpies. And you won't be able to break through a horde of golems with a ballista anymore. Oh, what tactical tricks we're missing out on! How the game is becoming impoverished...

I don't think an extra 30 seconds will make players exploit battle time for cunning deliberation.. especially since timing battles with a stopwatch contradicts comfortable gameplay. Answer this — do you see the 2-turn reachability of 7 enemy stacks at once, or do you count it by hexes? And if the former — did you know how from the very first battle, or did you first count by cells in the hundreds?
If we decide now to abandon complex battles, then next comes a move toward mandatory quick combat, I fear.
I'll repeat, the griffin harpies + zombies scenario is only 1% of games, and I just now specifically counted — it takes 8 minutes, and that's with favorable terrain. Think about it, what difference does a 1, 1.5, or 2 minute timer make — it'll all go down the drain anyway.