I don't know the least bit about BirdNES, but I will add two cents about time changes.
The main conflict at work is, I don't think, impatience vs. macromanagement. Instead, it would be impatience vs. connectivity. People do not mind managing big gaps of time, as I have gleaned from BT orders: they often find less stress and write much simpler orders if they don't think they need to manage every part.
At the same time, however, hundred year jumps, or even fifty, are immensely difficult to adjust to. Militaries have vastly changed. A world class military can be an abominable third world mutinying pack of dogs after half a century. Infrastructure can utterly collapse: think of the Romans after their fall: yes, the roads remained, as did the walls, but who thinks the pipe systems still worked?
Most disconcerting of all, especially for story writers like myself, characters have most likely died. You need to invent a whole new cast... Or you could go the Years of Rice and Salt route and have them be reincarnated with the same first letters in their names. Everyone wants their king to be an Alexander, but it's difficult to build them up if you only have an update's space to do it in.
And the IT-BT system, though das must be given credit for trying, is not a solution, either. If you analyze the world in depth, there might not be war every year in every place (though this overemphasis on warfare that NESes have is rather stupid anyway), but most of the time, there is at least one major war or conflict going on in the world. And there is always a major cultural or religious conflict going on. People do not sit idly by for centuries, doodling on pieces of paper and dwelling on the trials of their ancestors.
Think about it: has there actually been a boring year in your life, let alone a boring decade? The 1990s were immensely important, but so are the 2000s, and skipping the 1980s would be folly. I know that from 2000-2006, we've had year after year of trouble that we've had to live through, and it's doubtful that will change any time soon. The geopolitical balance is eternally changing.
While the struggles of individuals is vastly important, so are the tides of cultural change that are constantly sweeping over the world. It would seem like there isn't really an easy solution.