Now as a event host of many years I feel I must put my 10p into the discussion about battle game mode. the battle game mode is the basis for all the clan and regiments events the vast majority of the events occur on Battle where you are given a plane canvas in order to play how you desire using different tactics etc.. Respawning dose have its problems when it comes to trying to play as 1 group and that is you don't all die at the same time so cannot stick together, slowly over the cause of the event you become divided as people run of and follow other lines etc. its one of the reasons I found people preferring battle over siege. people want to play as a clan in a group in a formation of shields or a archer line. The battle mode is as already said the base of all events and clans keep coming to the same battle game mode for years and has as a result kept the community alive for so long and in the grand scheme of things rather big its just that its harder to see its size due to all the mods events (note not a bad thing).
The removal of buying items and replacing it with pre-sets will be a great disappointment to a lot of eager fans and clans. The items meant you could customize yourself and play how you wanted be it heavy armour and a spear or light and a huge sword. it also added a bit of uniqueness to each person and clan for instance in a event you could be a infantry block next to another infantry block and yet not be the same as you and your men have a big spike on your heads etc. people like to be a little different I even see it in my NW and NaS events where regs actively wait to see what over lines have gone and then choose a regiment that no one else has taken so they can stand out. in NW etc. there are uniforms for regiments which is why you cannot just have a random bunch of things on but with Native there was that leeway with the fact there not a regimental uniform so people could decide this is what my clan would look like and wield in battle and its there uniform.
There is no real reason in my mind for there not to be both battle with no respawns and a open canvas for people to be equipped with what they want and use the formations and tactics they choose so people can put there tactics and skills to the test in one battle, with there also being a skirmish mode though i think maybe implementing the economy system in that would be good as well.
I hope you find my feed back useful when it comes to debating this with one another and if it dose get brought up with the rest of the development team as the previous game worked so well that you could have published warband 2 with better graphics and I am sure it would have been fine with the fans but you are actively seeking out new things to implement which is great however I do hope you don't over look the small things that made the fans stay with the game for so long such as customization and the clan battle events.