Posts from Social poll.

I played about 20 battles in the first or second week, fighting for the Stronghold with a replayable, corrected auto-battle on version 12.

You might as well have quick-tested with pixel art. If we're talking about the first week, the best units for quick battles are those that consistently win against various weaker top-tier units without any losses.

No post will ever be better than Rebellius's post here. The thread can be closed.
That was some subtle trolling, wasn't it, guys?

The more I read this thread, the more I'm baffled by the rigidity and narrow-mindedness of some "old-school" Heroes players. :eek:

I'll reiterate that I'm new to Heroes 3, but before that, I played Heroes 5 extensively and achieved very good results. And I think I can judge the current situation from a broader perspective.

Personally, I find it absurd that people are afraid of a feature that could realistically reduce game time by a significant amount, as if they were primitive humans fearing fire. :smile35:

As I mentioned earlier, Heroes 5 has a similar "re-playable quick battle" feature, and it's used effectively there. And even there, there are situations where the computer "fights better than a human." But this doesn't affect the overall game experience. New players remain new players, and skilled players continue to dominate. Well, you get the idea, I think.

You're afraid of mythical battles with windmills. For example, Waffle's latest argument about a hypothetical battle with minotaurs, claiming that quick battles might perform better than a human due to undiscovered bugs. Yes, that's true. No one is arguing with that. But is it really that scary? :rolleyes:

Yesterday, we discussed this topic for about 3 hours on my stream, including with Waffle. I personally became even more convinced that the problem is exaggerated. I'll try to explain why:

1. People are afraid not of the re-playable quick battle, but of quick battles in general. Yes, sometimes this feature can behave incorrectly. Some bugs are exploited online. For example, taking outposts or conquering towns with hydras (or any creature with an area-of-effect attack), taking swamp dwellings with a minimal army, etc. Is that scary? Oh, it's terrible, those cursed bug abusers! That's just rhetoric. But now, let's think about what "advantage" a re-playable quick battle actually gives? Absolutely none! In such scenarios, you can't play better than the quick battle, no matter what. Or do you have a different opinion?

2. Some people believe that a re-playable quick battle gives some advantage in knowing the exact number of monsters, etc. They say you get more information in advance. But no one realizes that you can't refuse the battle, and you can't rearrange your troops. So, essentially, this information doesn't give you anything. If you weren't ready to kill the maximum number of troops, you won't kill them. No matter what. Or do you have a different opinion?

3. Some people think that a one-sided quick battle is cheating because the other person is "not on equal footing." Question: what prevents the other person from using this feature as well? Is it a matter of religion, perhaps? Or other prejudices? Some people play without the HD mod and are fine. The quick transfer of troops, artifacts, and exchanges have already been mentioned. One person uses it, the other doesn't. And that's not considered an "advantage"? That's ridiculous...

4. The only arguments that it's "cheating" and gives some advantage (meaning the re-playable quick battle in a one-sided manner) were made, strangely enough, by Dirty Player, a person who, as I understand it, is not against it. I didn't get any more convincing comments, unfortunately.

5. People are afraid not so much of the re-playable quick battle as of quick battles in general. IT'S CHEATING AND A BUG, BOO! In my opinion, it doesn't give any significant advantage. And 1 battle out of 100 (or maybe 1000?) games, in which the quick battle behaves unpredictably, is a drop in the ocean compared to the real time saved for all players.

6. And maybe you don't understand how it will save time? There were also posts about that... Well, that's just beyond me. When every simple battle takes from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, and you multiply that by the number of simple battles in each opponent's game... Yes, it doesn't save time at all! Not even a little!

P.S. If anything, I don't use the version with the re-playable quick battle; I play on 2.98 because stability is important to me. But I'm thinking about the future. This is just to say that I might be accused of not being able to live without quick battles, etc....

P.P.S. Sorry for the rambling ;)

Let me add a bit of lyricism too:

Let me say upfront that I will recount many events based on hearsay. At one time, in both capitals, a strong community of Heroes 3 was formed. And at some point, players realized that SoD by itself was a thing of the past. A goal emerged — to turn Heroes into a competitive discipline. Over time, there were discussions, and eventually Horn and his associates created the TE-module, which was primarily intended for play on fixed templates. Apparently, as programmers, they were inferior to the modern team of baratorcha, since the changes were made not through code but through scripts and the VOG platform, but their understanding of the game was excellent. Therefore, many ideas such as classes, experience, and others took root and were later ported into the WT version of the game. Accordingly, the players also split: the strongest and most proactive moved to the new version. The conservatively minded decided not to get involved in competition but to be "the big fish in a small pond." Among WT players, a firm belief took hold that prolonged stagnation in the SoD version leads to a player's degradation.

The WT version is not as universal as the SoD base and is primarily suited for large-sized templates. The fact of the day is this: none of the strong HL players I know who have proven themselves in any way have returned to the SoD version, except for two well-known individuals — RBW aka Troll_GR aka Zatayl_NT and Eddie, also known as Eddi, Billy, Lightsout, Wim-bil-dan, Ironmen, Mr. Win. This might give one pause for thought.

My conclusion (partly shaped by the discussions in this thread) is as follows: the SoD version, in the esports sense, is a corpse. Having some fun with friends over a beer — sure, please, go ahead and play some Jebus Cross, Anarchy, OK. But when there is a competitive process and battle — that's when it's time to put this object where it truly belongs. Baratorch, who miraculously appeared on the Heroes scene, decided to practice some unconventional medicine, trying to revive an object that had been lying in a deep freeze chamber. Alas, a miracle did not happen, although one wanted to believe in it. Based on this thread, one can already predict the future of the SoD and MOD projects, unfortunately.

Though, why speak ill of the dead?

You yourself answered all your questions in your post – what you’re saying here is irrelevant and won’t work; you’re simply not familiar enough with… let’s use your term, the stubbornness of some prominent forum members.
Logic and common sense sometimes lose out to stagnation and the fear of the new – unfortunately.
Just answer my question: what’s the name of the game you’re playing here, and what’s your attitude towards necromancy?…
Many people here are practically tearing their shirts off, claiming they’re true Sod fans for generations, but for example, I, who have been playing Heroes 3 since its release, haven’t seen anything related to Sod here for a long time. Some strange topics have appeared – files, .uay files, text files, mods, nonsense. One person has one version, another has a different one; this one generated a sand tomb, that one uses a quick save, this one fiddles with the game manually, this one uses 2.98, that one uses 3.2, and that one is waiting for 3.15.
I really don’t see any Sod!!! Where is it?
Those who were criticizing WT two years ago realized long ago that Sod isn’t working and needs to be changed. A mod appeared, and now there’s a quick save, but necromancy, key-using, confusing strategies, overpowered quests, healing forts, and tents with obelisks remain. And here, you could have had your advertisement!
I read game reports, and it’s really funny and embarrassing: playing as Castle, a necromancer appears – game over; no earth – game over; didn’t get a slow – game over…
Of course, I wish all reasonable players to find a compromise in these disputes, to find common ground, but at the same time, I advise you to always stand your ground, as stubborn people don’t like that and may crack under pressure.
And let’s not forget: the doors of WT are always open to you. Play with morality, play without experience, play however you want – and we’ll always have a place for you. Come, we’re glad to see decent people and honest players; we’ll be happy to help you adapt.

P.S. A humble request: please don’t comment on my message in a long quote. It’s just my opinion and a response to some individual. I’m not very interested in it, thanks for understanding!

Topic closed at the author's request. We have strayed far from the topic, and each of us remains with their own opinion. Personally, my opinion 100% coincides with twaryna's opinion. +1. As for how it will be, let baratorch decide. Thank you all.