Bannerlord was a grift

[ShakenSpeare]

I wonder if the Turkish government funding conspiracy theory has any merit. Yes, Callum said the funding is "small" but that doesn't necessarily make it true. If it was a considerable amount of money it's not like TW would allow any public statement to mention that. It could explain a few things if TW really did get a tidy sum from El Presidente Erdogan. I could totally see TW milking that money ship dry before they "have to" do something of substance. I doubt it's really true but it's just a random thought. It doesn't matter so much now after Bannerlord's sales.

 

[Roy1012]

I wonder if the Turkish government funding conspiracy theory has any merit. Yes, Callum said the funding is "small" but that doesn't necessarily make it true. If it was a considerable amount of money it's not like TW would allow any public statement to mention that. It could explain a few things if TW really did get a tidy sum from El Presidente Erdogan. I could totally see TW milking that money ship dry before they "have to" do something of substance. I doubt it's really true but it's just a random thought. It doesn't matter so much now after Bannerlord's sales.

I avoided this theory because it could be construed as libelous, but as you say, it could have some merit. I doubt it would be the main factor, if it is one, it would be a smaller piece of the pie.

 

[Mad Vader]

I wonder if the Turkish government funding conspiracy theory has any merit.

This is basically a test if you are a conspiracy theorist and believe in other crap theories as well.
*This message was only partially funded by the Turkish government, nothing to worry about.

 

[Lord Grindelvald]

The lack of progress and slowness kind of makes me think they are doing the bare minimum to have the plausible deniability of it being a grift, hoping fans will take it and buy their next product. However, seeing the reaction to bannerlord, that isn’t the case. The people expect more and I doubt their next game will be a success unless they change course.

Has progress slowed down since EA release? Or is it consistenly paced?

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

I wonder if the Turkish government funding conspiracy theory has any merit. Yes, Callum said the funding is "small" but that doesn't necessarily make it true. If it was a considerable amount of money it's not like TW would allow any public statement to mention that. It could explain a few things if TW really did get a tidy sum from El Presidente Erdogan. I could totally see TW milking that money ship dry before they "have to" do something of substance. I doubt it's really true but it's just a random thought. It doesn't matter so much now after Bannerlord's sales.

Taleworlds made something like a billion dollars with the release of bannerlord. Very few governments have that kind of cash sloshing around to throw at individual art / culture projects, so anything they could contribute would be a drop in the ocean compared to the insane amount that taleworlds makes already.

If the Turkish (or any) government wanted to directly fund a video game, they would let everyone know. I'm kind of surprised erdogan hasn't met with armagan in person or made some official statement or whatever, because besides a handful of films and tv shows about the Ottomans, mount and blade is probably the most well known modern cultural project to come out of turkey. It's soft power on a scale that none of their neighbours really have.

 

[Roy1012]

Has progress slowed down since EA release? Or is it consistenly paced?

The rate at which bannerlord is updating is absurdly slow. Bear in mind that bannerlords EA began in March 2020, aka 17 and a half months ago. While some aspects have certainly improved, the EA should have finished and the first DLC should be well released after 17 months. Yet it will be another 8-10 months for us to possibly see the game release, who knows how many decades before a napoleonic wars module is released. That is absurd. I’m not sure if we should say they have ramped up/slowed down production at any point during EA compared to now, but I certainly believe that the rate of progress is abysmal. Consistently paced slowly is still slow.

 

[Lord Grindelvald]

The rate at which bannerlord is updating is absurdly slow. Bear in mind that bannerlords EA began in March 2020, aka 17 and a half months ago. While some aspects have certainly improved, the EA should have finished and the first DLC should be well released after 17 months. Yet it will be another 8-10 months for us to possibly see the game release, who knows how many decades before a napoleonic wars module is released. That is absurd. I’m not sure if we should say they have ramped up/slowed down production at any point during EA compared to now, but I certainly believe that the rate of progress is abysmal. Consistently paced slowly is still slow.

But has it slowed down? Did they put in a skeleton team after release and sent everyone to the bahamas or did they continue working at the same pace?

 

[Roy1012]

But has it slowed down? Did they put in a skeleton team after release and sent everyone to the bahamas or did they continue working at the same pace?

I’d say it slowed down a bit mid last year and is picking up slightly, not enough to make a significant difference in either situation though. However, I do believe the skeleton team/Bahamas vacation has been going on for a couple years already independent of EA.

 

[NPC99]

I wonder if the Turkish government funding conspiracy theory has any merit. Yes, Callum said the funding is "small" but that doesn't necessarily make it true. If it was a considerable amount of money it's not like TW would allow any public statement to mention that. It could explain a few things if TW really did get a tidy sum from El Presidente Erdogan. I could totally see TW milking that money ship dry before they "have to" do something of substance. I doubt it's really true but it's just a random thought. It doesn't matter so much now after Bannerlord's sales.

IIRC the Turkish government funding was mainly a subsidy that refunded a proportion of advertising and marketing costs incurred - so useful but not significant.

https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/dev-blog-31-01-19.381714/post-9077540

But has it slowed down? Did they put in a skeleton team after release and sent everyone to the bahamas or did they continue working at the same pace?

Mexxico admitted leaving the office due to covid impacted their pace of development. However, all the evidence indicates TW remain focused on BL.

They must be generating new scenes for the terrain battle system, which isn't a trivial amount of work.
Why did TW conduct a recent survey on the Tools editor, if they weren't focused on improving it?
The rate and extent of patches continue undiminished.
Devs remain active on the modding discord.
TW continue to review suggestions.
A skeleton team would be inadequate to complete TW's roadmaps, optimise performance prior to a console port, finish all unresolved bug tickets, stabilise MP servers and build custom servers, covering all game modes etc.

 

[Lord Grindelvald]

I’d say it slowed down a bit mid last year and is picking up slightly, not enough to make a significant difference in either situation though. However, I do believe the skeleton team/Bahamas vacation has been going on for a couple years already independent of EA.

But wouldn't it be sensible to halt development once the majority of sales have happened and maximize profits? If they have the same pace without noticable differences before or after release they're not maximizing profits.

Neglecting everything afterwards will work for the original jolt of cash, but make your fans lose confidence. Which is what makes me wonder if Bannerlord is a grift. The lack of progress and slowness kind of makes me think they are doing the bare minimum to have the plausible deniability of it being a grift, hoping fans will take it and buy their next product.

If it truly was a grift they wouldn't be working at the same pace as before, right? They'd maximize profits by sacking the bunch which would slow the pace down to a much slower rate then it was before.

But if that didnt happen and pace is consistent then can it be a grift?

 

[Ser Jon]

The rate at which bannerlord is updating is absurdly slow. Bear in mind that bannerlords EA began in March 2020, aka 17 and a half months ago. While some aspects have certainly improved, the EA should have finished and the first DLC should be well released after 17 months. Yet it will be another 8-10 months for us to possibly see the game release, who knows how many decades before a napoleonic wars module is released. That is absurd. I’m not sure if we should say they have ramped up/slowed down production at any point during EA compared to now, but I certainly believe that the rate of progress is abysmal. Consistently paced slowly is still slow.

I think you are being way too kind with that 8-10 month estimate.

Judging by the state of the game, it will be much longer until release...unless they kick themselves into gear. There's too much missing, not implemented or just so entirely broken and or imbalanced, that it would be very foolish of them to release in this state. That's not even considering how terrible and dead MP is.

I can only hope that at this point, TW has shifted all attention to BL now and that content patches that are not massive bug lists will start hitting the game soon.

 

[MostBlunted]

I can only hope that at this point, TW has shifted all attention to BL now and that content patches that are not massive bug lists will start hitting the game soon.

I hope this too but I don´t think so.

"Some" devs are working on the console port (which won´t improve the PC version) and "some" are working on the spacegame. I can´t imagine that 100% of their dev ressources are working on Bannerlord (PC).

 

[Lord Grindelvald]

I hope this too but I don´t think so.

"Some" devs are working on the console port (which won´t improve the PC version) and "some" are working on the spacegame. I can´t imagine that 100% of their dev ressources are working on Bannerlord (PC).

Which makes sense from a business point of view, I’d imagine TW would want to diversify their game portfolio. Betting it all on one horse greatly endangers the continuity of the company.

 

[ShakenSpeare]

I avoided this theory because it could be construed as libelous, but as you say, it could have some merit. I doubt it would be the main factor, if it is one, it would be a smaller piece of the pie.

Maybe it does, I doubt it. But why can't I have a piece of this juicy, juicy, pie? It sounds tasty and luxurious. Rich, in fact. Full of cash.

Taleworlds made something like a billion dollars with the release of bannerlord. Very few governments have that kind of cash sloshing around to throw at individual art / culture projects, so anything they could contribute would be a drop in the ocean compared to the insane amount that taleworlds makes already.

If the Turkish (or any) government wanted to directly fund a video game, they would let everyone know. I'm kind of surprised erdogan hasn't met with armagan in person or made some official statement or whatever, because besides a handful of films and tv shows about the Ottomans, mount and blade is probably the most well known modern cultural project to come out of turkey. It's soft power on a scale that none of their neighbours really have.

Like I said, it doesn't matter so much now after the cash cow, but if the rumor was true, it would apply to pre-Bannerlord EA release. Not sure if the Turkish government would be so transparent, they aren't known for their inspiring transparency and resistance against corruption. I don't think it's true myself but I don't think it's impossible. The soft power of M&B is interesting and is something not brought up a lot.

This is basically a test if you are a conspiracy theorist and believe in other crap theories as well.
*This message was only partially funded by the Turkish government, nothing to worry about.

I am convinced now that the deep state and the Rockefellers have something to do with it. Why would they focus on calling it a "conspiracy theory" if it weren't true, hmmmm? They just want to control the narrative and hide their plans of world domination. You just have your head in the sand amidst the obvious truth, commie scum.

 

[Mad Vader]

Like I said, it doesn't matter so much now after the cash cow, but if the rumor was true, it would apply to pre-Bannerlord EA release. Not sure if the Turkish government would be so transparent, they aren't known for their inspiring transparency and resistance against corruption. I don't think it's true myself but I don't think it's impossible. The soft power of M&B is interesting and is something not brought up a lot.

The Turkish government has some standard subsidies for export oriented tech companies (or something similar). Taleworlds is just one of the recipients. It really is a non-issue, this kind of stuff exists all over the world.

 

[ShakenSpeare]

The Turkish government has some standard subsidies for export oriented tech companies (or something similar). Taleworlds is just one of the recipients. It really is a non-issue, this kind of stuff exists all over the world.

As much as I like to promote a tantalizing conspiracy theory about this, you're probably right. I don't think there's any real substance to the theory.

 

[Roy1012]

I don’t think that really matters. I think if they actually were slow because they were getting government subsidies, the quality of the work wouldn’t go down, as it has for bannerlord, but the quantity would go up. They’d just pack a ton of **** into the game during that time, but they didn’t.

 

[Captain Ralh]

Imagine posting on the creators own forums to outright insult them.

As you are all well aware, Taleworlds and the original Mount and Blade was started by two people in a garage. It is incredible that they have grown to this point.

Bannerlords is growing into it's own beautiful game with enough departure from Warband to make it exciting again.

It really just sounds like you are all mad that they got the bag and made money and are doing well enough that they can enjoy the fruit of their labor, or you're really just mad that there isn't a "Bannerlord Online" that supposedly the whole player base was asking for...? I've never heard of that, and a persistent online server is never what Mount and Blade was aiming to be.

 

[Captain Ralh]

Also, I'd love to know how many hours OP or anyone else agreeing with him on this thread have put into to Bannerlords. I'd take a wild guess that it's at least over 100 and closer to 300 maybe.

So you get your money's worth then call the developers scammers.

 

[Roy1012]

Imagine posting on the creators own forums to outright insult them.

Imagine not wishing to give any feedback whatsoever and just be a yes-man to everything instead of actually trying to instigate change.

As you are all well aware, Taleworlds and the original Mount and Blade was started by two people in a garage. It is incredible that they have grown to this point.

And it is a company that employs over 100 people today. Your point?

Bannerlords is growing into it's own beautiful game with enough departure from Warband to make it exciting again.

It is not, at least at this rate not within my lifetime.

It really just sounds like you are all mad that they got the bag and made money and are doing well enough that they can enjoy the fruit of their labor, or you're really just mad that there isn't a "Bannerlord Online" that supposedly the whole player base was asking for...? I've never heard of that, and a persistent online server is never what Mount and Blade was aiming to be.

I don't care what you think Mount and Blade was "aiming to be", the fact of the matter is that Bannerlord is a hollow, boring game that has been in development for a decade, with little to show for it. It's not good, and they are doing next to nothing to fix that.

Also, I'd love to know how many hours OP or anyone else agreeing with him on this thread have put into to Bannerlords. I'd take a wild guess that it's at least over 100 and closer to 300 maybe.

So you get your money's worth then call the developers scammers.

Bro, I have been complaining about Bannerlord since 2016 and have only ramped that anger up since I got my hands on the beta and realized how bad it was. So, no. I did not "get my money's worth" and then complain. I have been complaining the entire time. Also, nobody has gotten their money's worth...