I have seen some crazy house games, the initiative and king safety are way more important than material. Sac the queen to initiate an attack is quite common. In addition, direct-attack pieces (knight) are stronger in drop games.
26:11 Yeah... I thought the concept of human balance testing was a bit insane in the first place, even before many complex-sounding rules got added. I guess I'd try to keep the rules simple until a robust testing framework becomes available.