Can mods save this game?

[Craven4]

I wont get in to the details because we all know multiplayer is a hot mess of garbage. but are the modding tools going to be enough to reverse the damage done to the MP community? I'm sure single player will evolve into something beautiful when the tools come out but it feels like they're going to hold MP hostage and force us to play native competitively, using their class system and game modes in what sounds like an attempt to make money off of skins.

I don't know much about mods but i guess my main question is whether or not its going to be possible to revert back from the class system and how many of the well known MP and combat issues can't be solved by the community after release.

 

[Pico]

Hopefully

 

[RCC_God]

Definitely, taleworlds failed at making their game huge but the community at large is addicted to warband, something taleworlds doesn’t truly seem to understand

 

[KnightNI]

only if they allow us dedicated servers, but in order for it to work everyone would have to download the same mod to join the server. but in theory we could change combat, class system and maps

 

[brotherbernie]

Mods can totally make this game great in mp. Played on warband mp for so many years. Every year the community made changes to make things interesting. The community fixed everything that TW couldn't be bothered to fix.

I've just gotten scared that TW is deliberately going to be forced to make mods difficult to do or will incentivise against playing mods for some weird scheme being E-Sports and/or Microstransactions. They seem to be trying to make MP into some type of DOTA2 game. For that to be successful and maybe to be able to sell skins and hats, they kind of have to keep people from using mods where you can use any skin the server owners provide.

We won't be able to tell for sure until we see if/how they release the dedicated server. But at this point siege which I want to play is often empty. And it's not much fun on official servers. I want huge battles Helms Deep style. Not skirmish E-Sports :p.

 

[TheBard]

I doubt that with the current issues present on skirmish maps E-Sports is going to be possible yet.

 

[mrArgentum]

Depends of what you mean saying "save". There is can be online 1-2k in multiplayer if everything would be good. But there will never be 250k+ online like at the start of EA. Developers missed the moment. So online like in warband's mp is the most they can hope for. Nice step forward taleworlds. Good job!

 

[pygc1]

probably not, I doubt that mods can change something fundamental like the combat system unless they can remake the game
but the class system can be replaced by loadout system with modding
I guess the game was never meant to be a mp game, its just add-on to this sp-focused game. But even sp isn't that great atm.

 

[Electre]

One of the things I believe will hapenn is several modded servers using each one their own combat tweaks, game balance settings, skins, lore etc. That could split the community more (I believe it's worse to flat it out with systems such as the current one). So it'd be up to establishing a consistency in combat in all the mp playable mods. Something wich warband already gave by itself, but I invision Bannerlord will fail at providing. Meaning, rather than having each custom server its unique settings, establishing a "mother combat tweak settings" to adapt from.

 

[EbdanianAdmiral]

All it takes is a community effort on the competitive side and everyone can be playing on the same balance patch. The community is tight knit enough to make it work. Mods like PW and CRPG will be their own thing with their own playerbase just like they were in warband.

 

[Hax.]

All it takes is a community effort on the competitive side and everyone can be playing on the same balance patch. The community is tight knit enough to make it work. Mods like PW and CRPG will be their own thing with their own playerbase just like they were in warband.

Pretty much this. However, the question is whether there is still a sufficient MP community around by the time the mod sdk releases and even further whether mods like crpg2 even get developed. Time flies by and since the MP community and their feedback gets pretty much ignored at all costs, I wouldn't be suprised if we find ourselves in completely new games by then.

 

[brotherbernie]

One of the things I believe will hapenn is several modded servers using each one their own combat tweaks, game balance settings, skins, lore etc. That could split the community more (I believe it's worse to flat it out with systems such as the current one). So it'd be up to establishing a consistency in combat in all the mp playable mods. Something wich warband already gave by itself, but I invision Bannerlord will fail at providing. Meaning, rather than having each custom server its unique settings, establishing a "mother combat tweak settings" to adapt from.

What you are proposing here is mostly banning mods. Indeed in that case mods won't save a thing. There is no use to allowing dedicated servers and mods if they would try to enforce "mother combat tweak settings" tied to their ridiculous leveling system.

In many games it's proven that mods can fix all the problems you enumerate. Instead of splitting the playerbase, it might actually get players to come back. I'm quite sure many communities and players that played for years in warband are just waiting until TW allows them to make the game good. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the only good long term strategy for TW for multiplayer.

Unfortunately some marketeers seem to have TW dead set on some E-sports/Microtransaction madness that will destroy their reputation built by the mod-ability of warband in the first place.

 

[Kentucky 『 ＨＥＩＧＵＩ 』 James]

Multiplayer mods also tend to get everyone playing one or two mods while the rest die. People want to play popular MP mods even if there's something else they'd rather play, because even in warband anything below the top 3 MP mods is usually dead outside of clan events. So long as combat can be effectively modified, there is probably only going to be one MP overhaul mod left standing after a few months.

 

[Electre]

What you are proposing here is mostly banning mods

I'm hardly proposing banning mods. I've been a modder myself for years and I want to get my hands on certain tools once they're shared for Bannerlord.

I'm simply tossing the idea of mods passing out fast or dividing the playerbase by tweaking the combat in several directions, not proposing it, so as to discuss or open that area of interest if anybody wants to comment, develop, or share their experiences. Perhaps the word "all" within the phrase "a consistency in combat in all the mp playable mods " might be taken far enough to believe I would propose a ban on mods, but that's not at all my goal, and if it looks like I meant that, I surely explained myself wrongly. As long as the combat is solid enough and enjoyable, I welcome it.

 

[Marko͘]

Multiplayer mods also tend to get everyone playing one or two mods while the rest die. People want to play popular MP mods even if there's something else they'd rather play, because even in warband anything below the top 3 MP mods is usually dead outside of clan events. So long as combat can be effectively modified, there is probably only going to be one MP overhaul mod left standing after a few months.

This may be the case now, but it certainly wasn't so during the prime years for MP(2012-2015). Native, NW, PW, PF, Mercs, cRPG, FI2, NordInvasion, BFII, Deluge and a bunch of other mods I'm missing had their own scenes and 'pub play' during times of day and outside of events or scrims. Once the population started tanking pretty much only Native, NW, FI2, PW and Mercs managed to consistently have players outside of events.

 

[brotherbernie]

I'm hardly proposing banning mods. I've been a modder myself for years and I want to get my hands on certain tools once they're shared for Bannerlord.

I'm simply tossing the idea of mods passing out fast or dividing the playerbase by tweaking the combat in several directions, not proposing it, so as to discuss or open that area of interest if anybody wants to comment, develop, or share their experiences. Perhaps the word "all" within the phrase "a consistency in combat in all the mp playable mods " might be taken far enough to believe I would propose a ban on mods, but that's not at all my goal, and if it looks like I meant that, I surely explained myself wrongly. As long as the combat is solid enough and enjoyable, I welcome it.

I understand especially with this reply that you don't want to ban mods. It is my idea that the kind of uniformity you were proposing, risks as I've seen in a situation that is nearly the same as banning mods. As often it has the effect of marginalising mods, or hiding them in a separate server list etc.

It is a matter of design philosophy; A tightly controlled system of MP, or a very open system (good for mods) are very much in opposition to each other in my opinion.

So if the devs choose one, they will have to kind of butcher the other. I have seen this in many games, and I've never seen development rise above this conundrum.

I want the devs to choose the open route like in warband. I supposed they would do this as they did in Warband. However I am more and more worried that it was a mistake to buy this game as TW seem bent on the eternal hell of tweaking auto-matching based on player skill. I just want to pick a server and have fun, without any stupid algorithms making me wait and choosing the map etc.