Game is definitely worth it if you like medieval battles and sieges. Don't listen to the forum community too much, some are just toxic whiners.
The way to play this with mods is to make sure you have it via steam, then right click on the game in your library, go to properties, then the beta tab and select a stable version that matches the version the mods you want to use are made for.
For example, I am playing 1.7.0, and I use mods only compatible with 1.7.0
Never do beta and mods together, that's just asking for save corruption and ****.
The above way allows you to play forever on that version until you feel ready to upgrade. So if you have the correct stable and compatible mods you can play on to your hearts desire.
Corrupted or faulty saves usually happen when you're playing with an old save on new versions, especially a modded save. For example, starting a game on 1.5.4 then upgrading to 1.7.0 and you will face problems. Some problems may not be apparent at first, but they will be there in the background.
