Honestly, when I first got Mount and Blade the only real town was Zendar. There was the inn, but it was just an empty field. Now, we have towns filled with NPCs during the day, a lot more enemies, better equipment, awesome animations, sieges, tournaments, mods, etc.
The difference between the first version I played and the final version is absolutely amazing. I feel priveledged to have seen the various incarnations of this game over the years and I think Armagon's development style was revolutionary. Thank you, thank you for having the courage to allow fans to play a game from the beginning up until the end. I am sure that other developers would be terrified to have fans play a game before it goes into its official beta stages.
The developer's involvement with the community has gone above and beyond what other companies have ever done.