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The answer(s) nobody brought up in this thread are "offset crankshaft" and "combustion speed". An offset crankshaft imbalances an engine (not great for very high RPM operation) but greatly reduces stresses on both the cylinder liners, and on the conrods, and it also repositions TDC to a non zero crank angle.
Modern combustion chambers aim to speed up combustion above all else. The faster combustion completes, the less of it needs to happen before the piston reaches TDC, and the less negative work, and less conrod stress, there is.
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