I just cannot understand why is the emotional depth of this game, in which founding your personal clan and having a family, is the depth of your average mud puddle
You cannot talk, spend time, form relations or really even meet your siblings, children or husband/wife. Or rather, you can go to them but why would you ever do that?
Your wedding, the birth of your first children, the death of a sibling or a family member etc are passed as just mentions of no importance, even though they should be big deals for the character. Why should I try to care about my family or clan members, when there's no reason for it and when none of the characters act in a believable way.
I think I am not asking much here, even the idea that the clan exists outside of the player character would be nice, people meeting each other and talking, socialising, rumours being rampant etc. There's not even a letter system where a character, for example your wife, could send you a letter asking if you would like to spend time with them like in warband. Or god forbid, allowing you to communicate with letters which would be awesome.
If we're going to the deep end, I thought of an idea that instead of you having to "grind" relations with for example your spouse (not sure if that is even possible), their opinion of you would change based on traits and your actions
Merciful and honourable persons might not like you hiring bandits or raiding villages, while they might like you fighting bandits. While calculating persons might like you ransoming lords, would not care about hiring bandits and would not agree with letting captives go
Same could also apply to you. Either it would all happen automatically, or letting you choose if you agree or disagree with certain actions of the characters
Then, if the other characters like you enough, they would want to spend time with you. Or if they hate your guts, they might plot against you, spread rumours about you affecting relations with other lords, or even perhaps start a rebellion against you.
This would make it more important to manage your relations with people in the early game, and choose your spouse with care. It would also warrant a better dialogue mini-game, or at least more tries, with a singular suitor. Perhaps they could be persuaded into giving you another change. Also, why is it, that no npc is ever interested in you in marriage, why does it have to be the other way around every time?
Or you could just disregard all that and marry people for politics, nothing more, nothing less
I would just love to be able to care about the npc's which are supposed to be my characters family, in a game where family is an important aspect of both the gameplay, but also the world. I would love that the game would allow that.
On this note, the dialogue system is just non-existent and I hope the devs are working on it, for example you bring actual dialogue in it. There's clearly intended spots for it but no dialogue
Overall, I feel that the game lacks soul. Like the devs are not really interested in doing it justice and making the best game that they could. But more than anything, I am extremely worried about the current way they seem to be heading for. I have not found any kind of roadmap for the future so for all I know, all of this could be listed in there, and I hope that it is. But if there is no communication between the devs and us, why should I waste my energy and time in some vain hope I have no logic backing up?
I hope the devs realize what an unambitious and undelivering mess Bannerlord is at the moment, and aim to do something about it. I think whether they abandon the project once it releases or continue to develop it is what I call "a no man's sky decision", the shut up or put up moment when the upper leadership of Taleworlds will have to decide whether they want to change Bannerlord to be the greatest and grandest **** ever, or leave it as a barely working undeveloped mess and move forward.
One option will cost them money, another will cost them their fans.
You cannot talk, spend time, form relations or really even meet your siblings, children or husband/wife. Or rather, you can go to them but why would you ever do that?
Your wedding, the birth of your first children, the death of a sibling or a family member etc are passed as just mentions of no importance, even though they should be big deals for the character. Why should I try to care about my family or clan members, when there's no reason for it and when none of the characters act in a believable way.
I think I am not asking much here, even the idea that the clan exists outside of the player character would be nice, people meeting each other and talking, socialising, rumours being rampant etc. There's not even a letter system where a character, for example your wife, could send you a letter asking if you would like to spend time with them like in warband. Or god forbid, allowing you to communicate with letters which would be awesome.
If we're going to the deep end, I thought of an idea that instead of you having to "grind" relations with for example your spouse (not sure if that is even possible), their opinion of you would change based on traits and your actions
Merciful and honourable persons might not like you hiring bandits or raiding villages, while they might like you fighting bandits. While calculating persons might like you ransoming lords, would not care about hiring bandits and would not agree with letting captives go
Same could also apply to you. Either it would all happen automatically, or letting you choose if you agree or disagree with certain actions of the characters
Then, if the other characters like you enough, they would want to spend time with you. Or if they hate your guts, they might plot against you, spread rumours about you affecting relations with other lords, or even perhaps start a rebellion against you.
This would make it more important to manage your relations with people in the early game, and choose your spouse with care. It would also warrant a better dialogue mini-game, or at least more tries, with a singular suitor. Perhaps they could be persuaded into giving you another change. Also, why is it, that no npc is ever interested in you in marriage, why does it have to be the other way around every time?
Or you could just disregard all that and marry people for politics, nothing more, nothing less
I would just love to be able to care about the npc's which are supposed to be my characters family, in a game where family is an important aspect of both the gameplay, but also the world. I would love that the game would allow that.
On this note, the dialogue system is just non-existent and I hope the devs are working on it, for example you bring actual dialogue in it. There's clearly intended spots for it but no dialogue
Overall, I feel that the game lacks soul. Like the devs are not really interested in doing it justice and making the best game that they could. But more than anything, I am extremely worried about the current way they seem to be heading for. I have not found any kind of roadmap for the future so for all I know, all of this could be listed in there, and I hope that it is. But if there is no communication between the devs and us, why should I waste my energy and time in some vain hope I have no logic backing up?
I hope the devs realize what an unambitious and undelivering mess Bannerlord is at the moment, and aim to do something about it. I think whether they abandon the project once it releases or continue to develop it is what I call "a no man's sky decision", the shut up or put up moment when the upper leadership of Taleworlds will have to decide whether they want to change Bannerlord to be the greatest and grandest **** ever, or leave it as a barely working undeveloped mess and move forward.
One option will cost them money, another will cost them their fans.