I agree with others who argue that no spawntime(r) change is needed.
My base assumption: I think that spawntimers aren't really necessary. I don't know many people who use them. As Thanatoaster mentioned, most competitive teams simply call out spawntimes once on vent/ts and players remember that interval for the rest of the half round. I don't use a software spawntimer, neither does my clan. Instead, we just employ third grade math in our heads. (Which is good, because some of my clanmates math education ends with arithmetic)
Regarding Proposal 1 - Including a spawntimer in etpro:
I don't really care too much about including a spawntimer in etpro, but I think it would largely be a waste of time for Bani. Seriously, anyone who really wants a spawntimer can find the necessary script on their own. There isn't much of a point in including it in a competition mod.
IF a spawntimer is ever included in etpro, it is imperative that said timer function exactly like third party timers that people use. That is, the timer MUST require one to actually observe the enemy's spawntimer. I don't know if I'm on the right track here, but I think that some people are arguing an etpro spawntimer that simply gives one the enemy's spawntime. That would be a tragic decision. In other words, if a spawntimer is included in etpro (which I don't think is worth Bani's time) it must have the full capacity for human error that currently available spawntimers have.
Regarding Proposal 2 - Random/nonstatic spawntimes:
Under no circumstances is this change needed, or should it be used in competitive play. It negatively affects the ability of teams to make viable strategies. My ramblings in this section apply to both proposed ideas: randomizing spawntimes and allowing players to offset their spawntimes.
For attacking teams, randomized spawntimes will impair strategies because most maps in ET require attackers to somehow pass or interact with defending teams spawnpoints. If spawntimes are randomized, attackers could kill an entire defending team only to have them spawn unexpectedly afterwords. At least having a predictable spawntime allows teams to make crucial decisions about whether to press forward or hold back at certain points in a match. This has been argued at length previously, so I'll not go into any more depth.
For defending teams, randomized spawntimes would add too much of an unpredictable variable for defenses. For example, lets say that on Oasis (always a map used in the final rounds of playoffs) the allies have blown the north gun already, and plant the south a few seconds after the last axis engineer has been killed/gibbed, a few seconds after axis respawns. The remaininig axis team kills the allied attack, and secures the south gun. However, the random time for the next axis spawn is 33 seconds. Therefore, even though the axis have shut down the current axis attack and have secured the south gun, it is mathmatically impossible for an axis engineer to defuse. Under these circumstances, a plant that could otherwise be defused will blow. I didn't use precise times, in seconds, in this example, but it shouldn't be difficult to understand how random spawntimes would have strong potential to make a lottery out of a round of ET.
The preceeding example cognates well to other maps (second tank barrier on Goldrush, main objectives on Battery and Fueldump, etc.) Use your imagination. Granted the Oasis example only applies to randomized spawntimes.
As a general note about allowing players to offset their spawn times, my response is simple. Serious clans wouldn't use this feature. Instead of averting a spawncamp, setting one's own spawntime back would only allow the spawncamping team to become more entrenched around a spawnpoint.
Why would someone elect to allow an opposing team to insure an even greater advantage by allowing them to choose ideal positions from which to launch a spawncamp? Even if delaying your own spawntime (and having the rest of your team do the same) would allow you to avoid an arty or airstrike attack, it would also allow the opposing team to get a panzer, some medics, or other players in ideal positions to launch a more effective spawncamp.
Conclusion:
None of the proposed changes should be adopted regarding spawntimes. I'm rather neutral about the benign addition of a simple spawntimer that would allow for the same types of human error as the spawntimers currently in use. Would I use such a timer? No. Would most competitive teams use it? Probably not. Is it worth Bani's valuable time? Absolutely not.
I'm sorry this reply was rather verbose, but I wanted to be thorough. (I'm a grad student, if you can't tell by my [sarcasm] captivating [/sarcasm] prose. For further reference, check out the comments at et-center, which represent diverse views from the competitive community. (if you can handle the flames)
http://www.et-center.com/?page=news&id=488#comments 
. The long-campaign servers, the no-XP-reset servers (OK, so they're not etpro, but that aside) etc DON'T have problems with spawn timers, because nobody uses them. No, seriously - NOBODY uses them!
