I think I heard some undertones of female jealousy... :)

So, let me elaborate a bit. Initially, Hota was created as a fan-made add-on for the single-player mode, one of many mods for WOG. Over time, it was ported to its own engine, but the overall direction of development remained the same.

As of version 1.2, there was already the Dock, a large number of new objects, Campaigns, fixed maps, etc. The idea of online play existed, but in a latent form – it would be nice to have it someday.

Shortly before the release of 1.3, Wicc appeared and translated this idea into a constructive phase – "let's bring all this into a large online game." Changes were made to the balance of the factions, workshops were added, and so on – the Tvariny show match, the Tasting, etc.

At the same time, no one neglected the needs of the single-player mode – new objects were created (including those not intended for online play), maps were drawn, the graphics were refined, and another Campaign was released. The amount of work "for online play" is quite small and boils down to balance adjustments, which are not very noticeable to casual players. For example, who among them would notice the difference between 10-20 starting gnolls and 15-25? But for online play, this is a key change.

Regarding the Conflux and Necropolis – it's obvious that they needed to be changed because the factions are unbalanced. In all online rules for Heroes, they were either restricted or adjusted programmatically in one way or another, and Hota is no exception. The basis for the changes was not the rules of HotA, and not even the rules of WOG; a different version was devised, more compatible with the single-player mode and the overall atmosphere of Heroes. It is not positioned as a final version; adjustments are quite acceptable, provided there is an awareness of their necessity and an understanding of the degree of imbalance.

As for the statement that "the ban/change of certain objects seems questionable," I have read many different reviews about Hota's gameplay, and I can confirm the phrase "as many players, so many opinions" with hundreds of examples. Therefore, it is impossible to make something that everyone will like; the developers are making the game to their liking, trying to maintain a golden mean as much as possible.