Just want to make sure it is clear, I wasn't defending TW for not having custom servers only saying that we can only be patient until we get them. The fact that they aren't currently in the game is a failing, and I'm not gonna defend them on that. Not having custom servers has really hurt the multiplayer scene, and hopefully it can get somewhat fixed.
Bannerlord's gameplay is more complex than Warband's pretty much wherever you care to look. People just keep using complex as a synonym for "fun," even when they aren't actually having any fun with the objectively deeper mechanics. Most of the fun of WB wasn't in deep mechanics -- otherwise VC would have a higher rating than WB instead of the other way around -- it was in RP stuff that allowed people to headcanon fake features.
Isn't complexity a simple excuse for the lack of real interest? Complex does not mean "too complex" and I agree it is "fun". It could be a funnier game. It doesn't seem to be the main goal.
No, it probably isn't an excuse for lack of interest since TW does introduce complex mechanics like rebellions, the new ranged system or the upcoming terrain system. None of those were or are simple but at the same they don't really add much fun either. Rebellions just turned into another thing most players hate, because most players don't know the game that well and treat it as a straight-forward map-painter. Having to do settlement management to avoid rebellion is annoying for them at best, even if they previously were excited for rebellions.
It isn't an analogy, it is a direct comparison: VC has always had relatively poor ratings compared to WB. You can look for yourself on Steam if you don't believe me. People being tired of a genre and down-rating it doesn't hold much water because these are people who bought the game.
An 'analogy' was the wrong word choice, should have said 'example', my bad. Haven't read those steam ratings before, but what you say stands correct. I don't know, maybe you are right... I bought all games and there are some I wasn't really keen to play but Warband...always.
Yeah, I am quite reluctant to start cheering as well... I really wait for fun new features to be implemented no matter from where those suggestions were pulled. But it seems to me TW does not want to learn from the so-called 'good features in warband that are missing in bannerlord' [Saw it in someone's signature] ;p.
VC had a disastrous first release and that impacts its ratings. The Reforged stuff is objectively superior to Warband in every way.
So, if you want to argue that Bannerlord for technical purposes is more complex in almost every way, that's fair. To me at least though, much of the important aspects feel less complex than Warband, even if they really aren't. Features are cut or feel way too simplistic in practice. Even if something is technically more "complex" in Bannerlord, that doesn't necessarily mean that it has much gameplay value or variety at all. Wars, quests, politics, intrigue, and lord interactions feel much worse than what we've had before, not to mention all the missing features that aren't replaced with anything.
Recent reviews are even lower.
Yes, that's what I said. One of the charms of Warband, as @Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James said, was it was really simple to pick up and get started. It didn't require much in the way of knowledge or effort. Bannerlord, in comparison, you can easily screw yourself with the wrong decision somewhere twenty hours earlier, with no way to recover.
What's this?
The recent reviews (all 25 of them in the last month) are about a 7 year old game and are tech support problems (when negative).
Yeah I love being unable to pronounce all the faction names
Would be nice if they added more starting options. You always start out with a horse, 1000 gold and equipment.
I wouldnt say they tried to dumb down the game, that would imply they are trying to broaden the audience to newer and less experienced players. The game is dumbed down, but not for that reason. The most important issue is the lack of the features they promised, being cut because “poor us we have so much on our plate and can’t get it all in”. What the reason for that is, is up to speculation and debate. Whether that’s because of incompetence, rushing the game to grift the playerbase, or they’re working on that “next huge patch that will change EVERYTHING” is anyone’s guess.
"not worth it. mods do this already and better. the new features are mostly obnoxiously overdone as well." doesn't sound like a tech support issue to me.
Non-cosmetic DLCs are for players who played the original game, liked it, LEARNED IT and want more. Similarly, it would be wrong for a casual to skip Native and play a big complex mod full of new mechanics. It will look obnoxiously overdone, when in reality it's feature-rich if you are an experienced player and that's just what you need after Native.
