Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Developer Blog 11 - Some Context

Back to topic I do agree with Wulfburk about the lack of updates. There have been found videos where they explain stuff that we have never read anything about on the webpage, but in Turkish and no reference from TaleWorlds (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYCgZqMP2Bc). Something that I find wierd. I'm not asking much, a simple paragraf explaining abit about one of the factions or some pictures of random objects (etc) is enough update for me. But this silence is annoying, more like a tease. I dont quite buy Captain Lust post, I feel its pitty cheap way out to say that we dont do regular update beacause.. (read it yourself) : https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,249537.msg8187132.html#msg8187132 (However I am glad thow that you have actually enlighten us with something)

I can wait 2, 3 months tops, but this is to long -especially when TaleWorlds have said on several occesions that there will be more updates, and I very much douth that you have absolute nothing to show off since your last updateover 4months ago. Even if you didnt you still have some plans for factions, some units, some persons, or something that is worth mentioning. I would rather have bits, then nothing. 

I personally find this is arrogant and unprofessional from TaleWorlds.

Stud said:

Back to topic I do agree with Wulfburk about the lack of updates. There have been found videos where they explain stuff that we have never read anything about on the webpage, but in Turkish and no reference from TaleWorlds (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYCgZqMP2Bc). Something that I find wierd. I'm not asking much, a simple paragraf explaining abit about one of the factions or some pictures of random objects (etc) is enough update for me. But this silence is annoying, more like a tease. I dont quite buy Captain Lust post, I feel its pitty cheap way out to say that we dont do regular update beacause.. (read it yourself) : https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,249537.msg8187132.html#msg8187132 (However I am glad thow that you have actually enlighten us with something)

I can wait 2, 3 months tops, but this is to long -especially when TaleWorlds have said on several occesions that there will be more updates, and I very much douth that you have absolute nothing to show off since your last updateover 4months ago. Even if you didnt you still have some plans for factions, some units, some persons, or something that is worth mentioning. I would rather have bits, then nothing. 

I personally find this is arrogant and unprofessional from TaleWorlds.

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what the **** seriously bro....look at bethesda no ****ing news until 3-4 months before release.....any news you get from taleworlds is a ****ing gift and you should be happy about it.....

whooosa. ok im calm now any way peeple please stop complaining there will be a post when theres one. my advise is dont visit the website frequently that will frustrate you.

i personally cant wait for the release or kickstarter or alpha or whatever.

remember patience is key

The general frustration, in my own opinion, is not caused due to impatience, but rather due to a lack of insight in the product itself. The reality is that the people don't really know what to expect, and the constant lack of information gives a sense of insecurity about the final product. A disciplined company which respects its customers would always care to provide enough information about its products as a means to show that everything is going fine and that the products are being developed in a professional manner. The current case of TaleWorlds sticking their fingers in the ears and going "lalalalala I don't hear you" is not really a good sign, both from a developing and marketing standpoint. First of all, it reveals that the inability to release more news is hampered by serious technical problems, which they haven't managed to sort out in a couple of months. On the other hand, this keeps away a good chunk of new potential customers, who may easily forget about the game after noticing that there's nothing new in 4 months. Thus, if you do the math, the situation is not that shiny.

I know that I'm going to get the game regardless how it is, since I'm an active forum member who has been following the development process from the very beginning, but I'm not too sure about the casuals around here.

...and most importantly, the cult of September 27th had been ruined.

The Bowman said:

The general frustration, in my own opinion, is not caused due to impatience, but rather due to a lack of insight in the product itself. The reality is that the people don't really know what to expect, and the constant lack of information gives a sense of insecurity about the final product. A disciplined company which respects its customers would always care to provide enough information about its products as a means to show that everything is going fine and that the products are being developed in a professional manner. The current case of TaleWorlds sticking their fingers in the ears and going "lalalalala I don't hear you" is not really a good sign, both from a developing and marketing standpoint. First of all, it reveals that the inability to release more news is hampered by serious technical problems, which they haven't managed to sort out in a couple of months. On the other hand, this keeps away a good chunk of new potential customers, who may easily forget about the game after noticing that there's nothing new in 4 months. Thus, if you do the math, the situation is not that shiny.

I know that I'm going to get the game regardless how it is, since I'm an active forum member who has been following the development process from the very beginning, but I'm not too sure about the casuals around here.

...and most importantly, the cult of September 27th had been ruined.

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+1 it is kind of wierd that they dont really want to reach out for new players. Sure they do alot of discounts deals n stuff on warband but do sänot mention Bannerlord at all. Thats whats makes my head spin a bit. But like you said. Im one of those who will buy it whatsoever

I'll buy it too,
but the lack of substantial updates puts one in two places: On the one hand it seems they know what they are doing. What they have shown so far seems kinda solid (well BL definitely looks better than Warband), and it seems they are planning to show/tell us more come March 2016.

On the other hand, as The Bowman pointed out, one worries that they may have serious technical problems, because they tell us so little.

In case you need a reason to give us a blog or something, Lust or TW, just pretend it is Christmas soon. 

I personally think that all the marketing stuff should (and probably will be done) only when the game is fully done and is being polished right before release. Any marketing done now would be rendered moot, due to the fact that people are soo impatient. I think tw delaying the marketing campaign is a good decision. All that said I wouldn't hurtif they do post anything for us the crazy cult I mean I would be happy even from seeing some photos from the game.

The Bowman said:

The general frustration, in my own opinion, is not caused due to impatience, but rather due to a lack of insight in the product itself. The reality is that the people don't really know what to expect, and the constant lack of information gives a sense of insecurity about the final product. A disciplined company which respects its customers would always care to provide enough information about its products as a means to show that everything is going fine and that the products are being developed in a professional manner. The current case of TaleWorlds sticking their fingers in the ears and going "lalalalala I don't hear you" is not really a good sign, both from a developing and marketing standpoint. First of all, it reveals that the inability to release more news is hampered by serious technical problems, which they haven't managed to sort out in a couple of months. On the other hand, this keeps away a good chunk of new potential customers, who may easily forget about the game after noticing that there's nothing new in 4 months. Thus, if you do the math, the situation is not that shiny.

I know that I'm going to get the game regardless how it is, since I'm an active forum member who has been following the development process from the very beginning, but I'm not too sure about the casuals around here.

...and most importantly, the cult of September 27th had been ruined.

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This. +1.

As I see it, there are two major expectations when it comes to game-development news.
The first (and more traditional) is deep silence. Think of Fallout 4 having not so much of a peep until it was about to come out. Think of the Last Guardian going off the grid for years. Their silence allows us to put them in the back of our minds and focus on what is relevant now.
The other method (and much newer) is to ride the social media trend. We have our curiosity in the inner workings satiated with tweets, posts, and blogs. I mean, just take a look at Star Citizen's weekly and in-depth updates, it's ridiculous!
The issue I take with TaleWorld's pattern is that they are trying to straddle a middle ground that is just frustrating. They want to remain relevant to us, yet the sporadic nature of their posts just makes it feel more like teases that become tiring. Are we just a spoiled lot? Absolutely. And maybe that's not commendable, but they need to realize that fact when they communicate with us. Ultimately I feel TaleWorld's just doesn't understand PR, which is really it's own unique beast.

And maybe they shouldn't understand it. They are, after all, a game-development studio. All that should matter to them and all that they really owe to us is to make and deliver the best possible game. As such I think they simply should not have tried to do the blogs at all, and just let things be silent until they were ready to ramp up the hype. Now, though, it's too late because to go silent after having said anything at all would be devastating to the morale of their fanbase. Hopefully the next time around they'll have learned to either
1) be silent until you are ready to deliver or
2) hire a PR team that understands social media and crowd control and make them dedicated to that.

The Bowman said:

First of all, it reveals that the inability to release more news is hampered by serious technical problems, which they haven't managed to sort out in a couple of months. On the other hand, this keeps away a good chunk of new potential customers, who may easily forget about the game after noticing that there's nothing new in 4 months. Thus, if you do the math, the situation is not that shiny.

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A lack of information reveals that they are having technical problems? It doesn't reveal any such thing. A pessimistic person who was unfamiliar with Taleworlds might suspect that a lack of frequent updates means that there is a problem with the game, but anyone (such as you!) who has been here for a long time knows that Taleworlds have never done frequent info updates for their games during development, and so would not interpret silence as a sign of a problem. Even if you did suspect, you cannot know- nothing is 'revealed'. In fact, getting several blogs for Bannerlord is more than we ever got for M&B or Warband. I only remember one sneak preview of an upcoming update for M&B (which was of course early access for years before final release), other than that the first news we got about changes to the game was the change log in the post of the new version (which were months apart, sometimes as much as a year if I remember rightly).

If by 'serious technical problems, which they haven't managed to sort out in a couple of months' you are actually referring to what Lust recently described, then I am really quite annoyed with you because you must be aware that is false. Certainly an error that would cause the map text to look strange is not a 'serious technical problem' by any standard, nor is there any basis for you to speculate on how long it has taken them to create the hot fix. You don't know when the update of the game engine (which lead to the graphical error, something Lust explained was a natural part of the way they worked because the engine was still being developed alongside the game) occurred, and you don't know when the features being showcased were originally expected to be ready. Your statement implies that the map text was the only thing stopping them doing the blog straight away, when you must know, if you read Lust's post, that it was just part of the intended blog.

By the way, all this general discussion about Bannerlord is not relevant to this blog. It is more suitable to post in the main thread: https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,249537.0.html

Soooo people whats next?

Hmmm ive been Thinking. They told us about craf ting swords right?
What about crafting amor?

pellehard said:

Soooo people whats next?

Hmmm ive been Thinking. They told us about craf ting swords right?
What about crafting amor?

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  stop pushing your luck they might still remove that feature. I was playing warband when viking conquest came, I was so impressed by it that I played it non-stop. until I saw the bannerlords gameplay videos. Since I saw the video I couldn't  bring myself to play any previous version of the game, I even tried yesterday. But  I am willing to wait after all, we waited four years for a gameplay video what would 12 more months do.

LonelyStep said:

As I see it, there are two major expectations when it comes to game-development news.
The first (and more traditional) is deep silence. Think of Fallout 4 having not so much of a peep until it was about to come out. Think of the Last Guardian going off the grid for years. Their silence allows us to put them in the back of our minds and focus on what is relevant now.
The other method (and much newer) is to ride the social media trend. We have our curiosity in the inner workings satiated with tweets, posts, and blogs. I mean, just take a look at Star Citizen's weekly and in-depth updates, it's ridiculous!
The issue I take with TaleWorld's pattern is that they are trying to straddle a middle ground that is just frustrating. They want to remain relevant to us, yet the sporadic nature of their posts just makes it feel more like teases that become tiring. Are we just a spoiled lot? Absolutely. And maybe that's not commendable, but they need to realize that fact when they communicate with us. Ultimately I feel TaleWorld's just doesn't understand PR, which is really it's own unique beast.

And maybe they shouldn't understand it. They are, after all, a game-development studio. All that should matter to them and all that they really owe to us is to make and deliver the best possible game. As such I think they simply should not have tried to do the blogs at all, and just let things be silent until they were ready to ramp up the hype. Now, though, it's too late because to go silent after having said anything at all would be devastating to the morale of their fanbase. Hopefully the next time around they'll have learned to either
1) be silent until you are ready to deliver or
2) hire a PR team that understands social media and crowd control and make them dedicated to that.

Click to expand...

Yeah,  maybe they should've waited another little while before releasing the Bannerlord announcement.  Though they probably had their reasons for doing it when they did.  I am hoping for a Christmas blog (cross my fingers) and that will hopefully be enough to sustain people until March.

You realise how fast time goes by when you think of the last time you read a Bannerlord blogg. "holy **** that Was 4 months ago? Allready been 4 months?" damn im getting old fast      ......

Johan_Stormcloak said:

Yeah,  maybe they should've waited another little while before releasing the Bannerlord announcement.  Though they probably had their reasons for doing it when they did.  I am hoping for a Christmas blog (cross my fingers) and that will hopefully be enough to sustain people until March.

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Either christmas or new year. Anything else would be damn disappointing^^

pellehard said:

You realise how fast time goes by when you think of the last time you read a Bannerlord blogg. "holy **** that Was 4 months ago? Allready been 4 months?" damn im getting old fast      ......

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+1 I was literally just thinking that haha! Getting scared!!!

https://twitter.com/captainlust/status/677842747554988033

Soon.

(Please, Captain Lust, stop teasing us!  )

I guess that in the next blog they should include a special chapter about my rants.

And for my pedantic fanboy rants (sorry for my going a bit overboard on the last page, Bowman).

Johan_Stormcloak said:

https://twitter.com/captainlust/status/677842747554988033

Soon.

(Please, Captain Lust, stop teasing us!  )

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Ohh i see i see .."soon?" ?
Anyway a Blog is coming soon

Didn't they say soon after the one in august....