The thing also is that Warband had several popular mods, which added functionality that is now still missing in native Bannerlord (like freelancer) and which won´t hurt the game in my opinion.Come on! Do you really believe this? I mean I think everyone could come up with the idea of RBM mod, RTS mod or Freelancer mod. The features of these mods are so simple but not everyone knowledgeable enough to code these into the game.
Early access: a way to release an unfinished game, charge anything you want with the promise that the game MAY become good someday, and not being hold accountable for insulting your fan base and being silent for months. Basically a scam.
I would say I messure a company on their EA description on Steam and judge if they have fulfilled it or not.