Private servers are a must if this game wants to survive anywhere near as long as Warband did, and the sooner the better. The vast majority of my almost 2,000 hours in Warband were spent in multiplayer servers, and they were a big part of why I kept coming back to the game. There were tons of servers for me to choose from, and an array of custom games. However, after not even 150 hours in Bannerlord (half of that being singleplayer) I am already getting burnt out on the repetitive nature of the multiplayer, so much so that I can only stand to play an hour or two at a time now before I've had enough. As a huge Mount & Blade fan I want to see Bannerlord be even more successful than Warband, but I'm afraid that if people are not allowed to host custom servers soon, a large portion of the multiplayer base will simply drift away in a few months' time.