If you dont and dont believe the game will ever be specifically made for your particular taste, why are you still here.
Because I believe that it is possible that this game will be fixed in the future, but I don't believe that will happen unless there is consistent feedback from fans that the ship needs to turn course immediately.
Telling us to, effectively, buzz off if we're even moderately blackpilled about BL despite over a decade of fandom for many of us is also ass-backwards (and it IS clearly the most hardcore fans who dominate the redpill/blackpill faction - which is also the clear majority in this forum). I joined this forum in 2014 - am I seriously supposed to delete my account just because I think BL sucks and will definitely continue sucking without serious changes?
Telling people to leave the forum is an invitation for us to not only stop offending your eyes with our negative commentary - it's an invitation for us to virally spread the word to all our friends that, despite being the biggest MB fans they know, we hate BL and think it's a scam.
TW may have already made their money on this game, but they can kiss future profits goodbye if your wish comes true and the most fanatically loyal fans
We could probably pool some money and pay for a player survey to settle this.
I would literally pay money to settle this so I don't have to hear this "tens of thousands of happy players!" nonsense anymore. I'll make a post proposing it. Polls can be somewhat pricey, but I'm sure we can afford it with a modest pooling of funds if enough see the value in it.
This would be more than just settling an internet argument. It could help people in TW management realize that there's a problem and they need to change. That could actually make this year-plus-long argument worth something. Something productive.
It makes Bannerlord perfectly normal in that regard; that's why it isn't a concern.
Except Bannerlord isn't a typical SP game AND the drop-off has been slightly more pronounced than even extremely linear, non-replayable SP games. M&B games are unique, genre-defying sandboxes with obsessive cult followings. The fact that absolutely none of the updates in the past year have triggered a noticeable uptick in player count tells us that there is nothing going on in EA development that rises to the buzz level of DLC.
It's still inconclusive, but don't kid yourself into thinking that this is in fact typical performance comparable to similar games. Don't make me sit down with a damn spreadsheet and actually do the math to prove it.
The ENTIRE point I was trying to make is that using player counts as a proxy for fan happiness is dumb in the first place and that very arguably the same data points to the opposite conclusion.
The forum is statistically significant, and has never been so small as to be insignificant. It is also a platform with a high concentration of dedicated, long-term fans who have been with the franchise since before BL. However, we are in fact a small portion of the player base.
I'm not sure if we're talking past each other and actually agree... so I'll just try to more clearly and concisely state what I meant:
1) The forum and polled votes on it have a population large enough to reach statistically-significant conclusions
2) These conclusions can't be applied to the broader player base since this is obviously not a representative sample (fans on the forum are, by definition, more likely to be loyal and long-term fans)
3) My anecdotal evidence suggests that:
3a) Most players picked up BL and were disappointed, so are now checking in on the progress every few months and waiting for it to "not suck"
3b) Many players who are extremely optimistic about the final release are ignorant of the status of development - and get very angry when given information that contradicts their expectations (either in frustration with TW or in denial that what they're being told is true)
3c) Some players are having "fun" playing the game (usually with tons of mods - the DL counts are much higher than you'd expect for a game with a lot of normie exposure), but are still disappointed with the pace of EA development and would be angry if the game released without serious further development
4) With these things in mind, I believe that TW is in for a fan revolt of they release in something resembling the current state of development in Q4 2021 or Q1-2 2022.
It won´t be trash if you´ve never played Warband + Mods and if you´re only interested in open field battles as some forum users are.
Very shallow, nonsensical and ahistorical open field battles - at that.
Viking Conquest had working spears in infantry combat and shieldwalls. That was a thing that happened in real life.
Over half a dozen years later and BL can't handle ladders... while spears are mega trash and shieldwalls are the worst formation because they bork up the weapon physics. Insult to injury... they made the infantry AI stupid on purpose so that lines of spearmen wouldn't be able to stop cavalry charges.
And the black cherry on top of my blackpill pie is the fact that a dev just said that he was open to the idea that maybe, just maybe, it might be worth thinking about to make spears usable in infantry combat as well as against horses. Which is infuriating because spear combat already worked in VC and - throughout human history - spears have been primarily used against infantry, not horses.
Someone at Taleworlds has a background in communications or media?
They must be part of the janitorial staff.
Yeah I remember looking through the posting and social media history of one particular TW employee a while back... hardly anything about BL for months, but he did find the time to trash-talk Israel on Twitter. I don't want to @ him or blame him - since there may be other factors at play - but TW could really use some more active and transparent comms strategy.
I don't see how pushing TW's work onto the backs of modders whilst they still get paid is any solution, or a win. lol
Honestly that's what they did with Warband and that worked out just fine.
The fact that letting modders clean up TW's whoopsies is NOT the official strategy is kind of insane, when . In fact, there've been times where TW has actively worked against popular mods for seemingly arbitrary or envious reasons - which is putting the cart before the horse and then throwing the horse into a volcano.