One Month To Go and I Have Cold Feet

[Goldfire223]

I really don't want to be a Debby downer but I can't be the only one thinking it. From the information we have, it just doesn't feel like the game is going to be ready / starting out strong.

Let's review the facts. First off we have all the information from the gameplay videos and everything from Gamescom 2019, which was five-month ago. Then we have the Dev blogs, which are great, but some of the information is YEARS old at this point. Of the Dev blogs posted after Gamescom, two were about the website and forums, two about lighting and audio, and the remaining five about varying gameplay mechanics / features all of which only discussed skin deep. I can only hope they didn't bother to inform us because they've been buckling down on development. Then we have the limited answered questions of this forum and the closed beta. The Beta is what concerns me the most. Granted it's mainly there to test the multiplayer and maybe they've done tons of work on the singleplayer for Early Access that just doesn't reflect in the beta, but the Beta is not in the best state. Number one it's still in a closed beta, so it hasn't been hit by the majority of players yet, Number two it runs like a toaster when there are more than twenty people in a server. Number three is the massive balancing needed between range, infantry, and cavalry, and Number four we still haven't seen sieges even on a small scale. I get the servers can't handle it, but it gives me little faith because Seige mode is where I've been wanting to put the AI to the test and see how it reacts, paths, and thinks. I want validation the AI can be smart and not be another Warband Seige. Even just a bumping up the number of units in Captains mode would have given me hope. Maybe let everyone command a small battalion of archers, infantry and cavalry. So us what the game can truly do, even if just for a day.

The fact of the matter is... We are a month out from the launch of Early Access, from the limited information we have (which is basically non-existent) We can only hope that this radio silence ( or pretty near) means Taleworlds, who I love to bits, is working hard on the final touches so the we, who love the game soo dearly and have waited half an eternity, can finally play it. But my respect and admiration of Taleworlds won't stop me from worrying that Bannerlord is going to be a little undercooked even for an Early Access title. I expected or just wanted to see more gameplay footage, more in-depth Dev blogs, Open Beta Weekends, and all the like to really show off how far along it is and it's level of polish. Maybe that's just not how Taleworlds rolls?

 

[Emil]

Imagine a movie production where they spoil the ending just to confirm for the audience that the movie is complete before entering the cinema saloon. I'm pretty certain they're testing the single-player behind closed doors or to a selected few in the moderator team / active on the forums.
As for the quality, it's pretty much too late to adjust any heavy work with one month to go. If the game sucks you got that panic (refund) button to press and then do your own waiting for fixes and updates. Early Access means we can expect anything and be told it'll come soon(TM).

 

[MauledByABeer]

What I've seen from the Gamescom demos looks fun. What I've played of the beta has been fun too. I see no reason to expect I won't enjoy the EA just because TW hasn't made a big production of marketing an early access build. Honestly, even if it's not fun right away, that's not really reason to panic (at least not on Its own). It's not going to be a finished product. We shouldn't expect it to be and we shouldn't expect TW to treat it like one.

 

[vicwiz007]

Well there's only 3 dev blogs before March. If we don't start to hear any of the important stuff in the next 1 or 2, then I'll be concerned. For all we know, they are planning to do huge amounts of marketing and info dumps toward the end of February or right before release.

At the very least, they'll have to give us solid statements on what will/won't be included in the launch, because they need to convince people to pay up

 

[Goldfire223]

Imagine a movie production where they spoil the ending just to confirm for the audience that the movie is complete before entering the cinema saloon. I'm pretty certain they're testing the single-player behind closed doors or to a selected few in the moderator team / active on the forums.
As for the quality, it's pretty much too late to adjust any heavy work with one month to go. If the game sucks you got that panic (refund) button to press and then do your own waiting for fixes and updates. Early Access means we can expect anything and be told it'll come soon(TM).

Yes, but movies and games are entirely different media, so they don't follow the same rules. If you went into a movie theater only to watch a half baked movie you would be outraged, even if the production company said: "well it was early access". In the gaming industry, we have the new beautiful thing called early access, which we have been slowly setting rules and expectations for, even though they aren't concrete. The whole point of early access is for the game to be, yes to be played early, but also tested by the masses, and reviewed, so the developers can get the feedback and make changes in line with their vision for the game to make it a greater success. We know what we are getting into and we are willing to pay for the privilege despite the game being broken, bugging, or not what we even expected. So the only good reason to close down communication is to focus on the development of the game. This is what I hope they are doing, but as we get closing I will become more and more worried.

Think about it this way. If you were developing your own game and you're almost ready to deliver it to the world. Your confident your game has a strong foundation and that the features you've included are interesting and bring the game to life, wouldn't you want to show it off? See what everyone thinks like a proud Mama Hen? Then put it into early access so your dedicated fans can experience your vision, bug test, and give quality feedback so you can make changes for the final version.

Well there's only 3 dev blogs before March. If we don't start to hear any of the important stuff in the next 1 or 2, then I'll be concerned. For all we know, they are planning to do huge amounts of marketing and info dumps toward the end of February or right before release.

At the very least, they'll have to give us solid statements on what will/won't be included in the launch, because they need to convince people to pay up

This is why if we don't start seeing this in the coming month, to tie it to my analogy, showboating, I will start to be even more worried about Taleworlds confidence. Not to mention it would be a completely missed opportunity for marketing. It also may be reasonable evidence to assume we may be in for yet another delay. But here is hoping the next three dev blogs point toward the actual prepared release of Early Access in March.

 

[Ikea Knight]

I am 100% looking forward to EA. What I am afraid of, is the ignorance of people. When the closed Beta started, so many players were expecting singleplayer. Others were expecting a polished experience.
So I what I am expecting from EA is a buggy, unpolished and probably partly frustrating experience.
So if the game ends up being better than that, I am going to be very happy. I trust the devs, because so far, they haven't given me any reason not to do so. At some point it is going to be a finished game.
And if singleplayer sucks in EA I'll stick with multiplayer, that's already enjoyable to me.

 

[Younes]

Calling multiplayer enjoyable at its current state is too far.

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

Imagine a movie production where they spoil the ending just to confirm for the audience that the movie is complete before entering the cinema saloon.

You can't "spoil" game mechanics. If there was anything big we really didn't know about bannerlord, it would have been blogged about already. If there's anything they aren't telling us it's because they're not certain it'll make it into the game.

I'm pretty certain they're testing the single-player behind closed doors or to a selected few in the moderator team / active on the forums.

They aren't. Any testing that is going on is happening within the studio itself.

 

[Insider]

Everything will be revealed in a couple of months. In the meantime, just enjoy the beta or other products, it helps your mind

 

[Emil]

I expected or just wanted to see more gameplay footage, more in-depth Dev blogs, Open Beta Weekends, and all the like to really show off how far along it is and it's level of polish. Maybe that's just not how Taleworlds rolls?

"I expected a complete Let's Play before release of X." - That's maybe a better comparison for you? Of course you could argue that info can never be enough, and in some aspects I do agree.

And no it's not how TW rolls. They are a pretty new game studio being free from Paradox Interactive in the middle of Bannerlords development. Reasons for Paradox pulling out can be put into question, as well as other things.

I don't hold high expectations or hype the game into No Man's Sky level. I expect a game from what they've shown, not whatever the community expect or any promises they've made. I press the refund button if I don't like TW's CEO:s brain child.

We're already told mod kits won't be available at launch. It seems TW listened to the few elitist, competitive native clans/players and initally completely ignored ordinary people playing the single-player or public multi-player.

 

[RkT]

Well there's only 3 dev blogs before March. If we don't start to hear any of the important stuff in the next 1 or 2, then I'll be concerned. For all we know, they are planning to do huge amounts of marketing and info dumps toward the end of February or right before release.

At the very least, they'll have to give us solid statements on what will/won't be included in the launch, because they need to convince people to pay up

I agree with this.

Calling multiplayer enjoyable at its current state is too far.

And with this I also agree.

 

[Ikea Knight]

Calling multiplayer enjoyable at its current state is too far.

Okay actually I can agree to that. The Captain Ai is stupid and jav spam is frustrating skirmish. But it is always improving.

 

[Floyd]

Im not caring much about the AI.
I know, when we (modders) can handle those files and find how AI works, its onlt matter of time to see really impresive and challenging (in some cases even annoying inteligent) Ai.

 

[YourStepDad]

To be completely frank, while this may be true... so what?

Hear me out. This game will absolutely EXPLODE in popularity. We will, if the tools support it, see support beyond the 10 years Warband had. I had never seen any game, not even Bethesda games, have such stunning, downright unparalleled mod support.

Bannerlord isn't just a game, it will be a years long project by TaleWorlds and the community. A great foundation to be built upon.

I also have confidence that TaleWorlds will iron out all the clunkiness Bannerlord suffers from currently. Just maybe not as soon as they should. But gradually, yes.

Even Warband and surely Bannerlord alone will have a ton to offer just for what they are, modding aside. If you recall, and I would not be surprised that many of you don't, Mount & Blade was in alpha/beta for years, practically since 2005 or so.

Be patient folks, you'll all get what you want, sooner or later.

 

[Emil]

You can't "spoil" game mechanics. If there was anything big we really didn't know about bannerlord, it would have been blogged about already. If there's anything they aren't telling us it's because they're not certain it'll make it into the game.



They aren't. Any testing that is going on is happening within the studio itself.

Not necessary talking about game mechanics, most of which has been covered for years in their developers blogs together with a number of videos. I was more or less talking about the people here worrying the game will be bad because they don't spoil too much about the story or possible events taking place in-game. Yet from screenshots it seems pretty similar to Warband in terms of 'find and kill the raiders''-missions and even ''return the cows''/''escort the peasants/caravans''-missions. Aside from that any real new missions or impact in-game has yet to be shown, but it's likely there are new depth of things. Also, they are obviously testing the single-player and has been for a long time. Steamdb often tracked like 50 players or so playing at the same time.

 

[Jesus YOUR LORD]

Taleworlds are pouring heart and soul into this game. Early Access means just that. Development isnt going to stop after the march release. It looks great so far and even if your worst fears are realised the game will continue to evolve and expand.

 

[Jety Wawoo]

Hopefully Early Access, in TaleWorlds eyes, isn't just a way to get money without having to complete the game first.

 

[John the Roleplayer]

Don't ask for better or more marketing and advertising. It is a bane on mankind. Because it demonstrates how easy and effective it is to manipulate people and get inside their heads, and because it manipulates and inflates your desires and expectations to sell a product, leading to disappointment.
This is especially relevant for gaming, as video gaming, being a comparatively young industry, is still being held to a relatively high standard when it comes to truth in advertising. In what other industry would you be in any way surprised if a marketing campaign didn't tell you the whole truth about a product, let alone objectively informed you about its features and functions?

Taleworlds doesn't have a marketing department to do a big campaign for release. They are game developers, and preparing something like this would be time taken from actual developing. Not everything can be dumped on Callum after all.

 

[Orbit-]

Im not caring much about the AI.
I know, when we (modders) can handle those files and find how AI works, its onlt matter of time to see really impresive and challenging (in some cases even annoying inteligent) Ai.

It is not modders job to fix a broken game. We pay full price to a company that offers us a product and we expect the best from them. Modders can fix the AI, modders can add that, add this... Thats not how it should be, modders are the ones to add additional features to the game, not to fix existing ones.

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

Not necessary talking about game mechanics, most of which has been covered for years in their developers blogs together with a number of videos. I was more or less talking about the people here worrying the game will be bad because they don't spoil too much about the story or possible events taking place in-game.

I'm not aware of anyone who's said that, not in this thread or anywhere else. The initial post talks about some pretty substantial omissions like siege MP battles and decent framerates in large matches.

Also, they are obviously testing the single-player and has been for a long time. Steamdb often tracked like 50 players or so playing at the same time.

Those are employees, and someone posted a thread a while back where they noticed they were all on certain days at certain times. There isn't a singleplayer beta, if that's what you're thinking.

Im not caring much about the AI.
I know, when we (modders) can handle those files and find how AI works, its onlt matter of time to see really impresive and challenging (in some cases even annoying inteligent) Ai.

In warband you couldn't access the AI code at all, and since it's a core feature that they need to run as fast as possible (i.e. on the .exe), I wouldn't assume they'd put it on the editable API along with all the other stuff. I could be wrong, but don't assume the AI will be available for modders to edit.