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Originally Posted by rowport

I agree in concept with your point, but would observe that the more players are "interested and engaged" the faster combat tends to go.

I'd agree, in general. However, in the last big 3.x campaign I was in, an encounter would take, on average, 2-4 hours once we hit 12th-15th level or so. We were certainly interested and engaged, but the stakes of the battle (and the complexity of high-level 3.5) mandated that combats were only going to move so fast.

My basic point is that I couldn't put a hard cap on how long D&D fights are supposed to last in session-time. I've played four hour combats that were nail-biters, and I've played 20-minute combats that put me to sleep.

I could certainly see discussing a minimum time for combats. I.e., if the handling time of a game's combat mechanics are such that even a one-on-one fight between an inexperienced fighter and a baby kobold takes at least half an hour, then you've got a problem.