***Community Feedback ROADMAP - What Taleworlds still needs to fix!***

[WhyAmIHere]

No procedurally generated NPC can ever replace a unique one that's been lovingly hand-crafted and dialoged up, and you summed up the crucial RPG reason well.

Exactly. This above all else makes me think that despite everything Duh is saying about TW listening to feedback, they really aren't. Does *anyone* like the random faceless companions? Outside of maybe smithing stamina I don't think I've seen anything introduced in Bannerlord more universally panned by the community.

On that note I remember some dataminer early on found that at least at some point they had plans for unique companions: https://www.reddit.com/r/mountandbl...and_legacy_content_a_list_of_all_cut_content/

So they actively chose to not use them. It wasn't a matter of "never got around to it" or something.

 

[Karl V.]

Completely agree with OP.

 

[D0c1]

Does *anyone* like the random faceless companions?

i don't care about hand crafted companions. anno domini 1257 had random faceless companions and it worked fine.
if you're seeking them telling you not to raid/keep food/win battles, the faceless ones can do that/already do at least some of it.
if you want lore conversations when coming across a landmark, this can be added to the random faceless companions too.

but i'm not against adding them for people that do like them. i don't think it requires much resources to add a persistent companion for each culture in the game.

 

[WhyAmIHere]

but i'm not against adding them for people that do like them. i don't think it requires much resources to add a persistent companion for each culture in the game.

I mean, that plus the datamining thing I posted is basically my point. It's *not* hard at all and they clearly had a significant portion of the work done already, so why in the world did they drop it for something that is a sidegrade *at best* and IMO a significant downgrade?

 

[D0c1]

so why in the world did they drop it

maybe they have a vision as the dev stated. maybe they don't feel persistent companions are worth it with the probability of death in battles.
maybe they feel it will make the samdbox less dynamic.
maybe they just hate lezalit for whipping the troops.

 

[WhyAmIHere]

maybe they have a vision as the dev stated.

I sure hope so.

 

[Mad Vader]

maybe they have a vision as the dev stated. maybe they don't feel persistent companions are worth it with the probability of death in battles.
maybe they feel it will make the samdbox less dynamic.
maybe they just hate lezalit for whipping the troops.

That makes little sense. The (hopefully low) possibility of death only makes the uniques emotionally more valuable. Ideally their deaths would only be scripted in very special battles. Or they could be made immortal and even more valuable.

This is not a vision:

For companions, I think we will explore avenues to improve the existing system, but not build a separate system for "unique" companions as some have suggested.

They'll simply fix the existing problems with the randoms (templates...) and call it a day.

This is very hard to understand as unique companions are such a low-effort feature with huge payoff among the RPG crowd.
The non-RPG people that can't read won't be affected at all by this and they can sandbox all they want.

Spoiler

 

[Duh_TaleWorlds]

I completely understand if there is nothing you can say on this subject because you may not be able to say and expectations need to be managed due to possible unforeseen circumstances. But I hope this provided a little of an explanation for perhaps some of the animosity being felt in the forums. I come read and post here because I love what Warband is and I have a lot of fond memories leading to probably an unhealthy level of excitement for Bannerlord.

I think the confusion here is that, to me, what's written there and what people associate with the M&B franchise does work as a general vision statement - which tend to typically be even more abstract. What you seem to be asking for is a detailed description / feature list of the final product, which isn't something we are currently intending to share. Naturally, that isn't to say that some further clarification isn't possible. (F.e. like noting in the SP priority thread that the alley owning mechanics are something on the edge. There are more urgent priorities, it is still on the list, but I can't yet promise that it will make it.)

I was asking for an example of a vision statement from another title / company to get clarification on what exactly you were looking for. (Maybe you could still share one.)

Thank you and sorry it took so long to respond. I had to wait until I had a break during my day job.

No worries, everyone's got a life.

I don't know that there is a ticket for the collision problems, because it's not something that can be ascribed to a single bug like, say, the sound bug of doom or the fuzzy armors. However there are threads on this topic in the suggestion forum.

https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/the-big-problem-with-combat-unit-collision-and-mass-fix-suggestion.410721/ https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/the-tactical-way-beyond-the-melee-cluster.387173/

This isn't my area so I don't know if it is working as intended or if there is some sort of problem. I do know that combat in general continues to be improved upon, but there may be more urgent priorities than this. I can forward the threads to folks, but that's about the extent of what I can tell you on this matter atm.

As far as mounted units go, I wasn't even talking about horse archers. I am talking about melee units with swords and other weapons with a relatively short reach, that just can not hit units on foot consistently.

Fair enough. If there is no support ticket for it, you may want to open one. (I can and will mention it separately, but this ensures that it is in the system.) Attaching media alongside the report and any details such as sample units / weapons that consistently experience the issue would also help with the process.

As far as the progression goes, leveling is part of it, but another part of it is gear. I has been observed that armors are not as effective as they should be, and some suggestions were posted on how to address that.

https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/armour-why-it-doesnt-work-and-how-to-make-it-work.426296/

This is a nice topic and I will forward it to the relevant people.

Then I'll remove the uniqueness part from the OP.

Your OP is a summary of what you think (at least a portion of) the community wants. My thoughts hardly invalidate that. Nor are they decisions / commitments for the company (we have the properly processed SP / MP statements and video updates for that).

Is this an internal TW list, or are you talking about the line in your Statement that says "captivity balance & player choice"? Anyway thanks, I will change that in the OP to indicate that it is a current priority.

The latter.

Obviously TW needs to avoid overextending themselves. But at the same time in what world can a company of ~100 people not be able to commit to offering the same features a company of ~10 people managed 10 years ago? Bannerlord being Warband + graphics + sieges was my absolute lowest expectation for the game, and yet after all these years of development, it's not even that.

I don't share the opinion that all features from warband must necessarily be in Bannerlord nor do I think that we should make promises that may be broken or, alternatively, force us to drop or underprioritize more important work. (F.e., for me, improving [organic] skill progression comes before any feature that allows players to exchange money for skill points.)

 

[PGtips2012]

While I applaud the OP and all the work that went into this tread I hate to say it but I think this is just wasted effort. People on these forums need to realize TW either doesn't really care or doesn't want to communicate with forum users. We've been begging for more info for a long time and they won't change now why should they, they have our money there's no need to change the status quo, and 1 or 100 posts isn't going to change how they operate.

They may have my money for this game but if things carry on the way they've been going they'll never see another penny from me

 

[PGtips2012]

I don't share the opinion that all features from warband must necessarily be in Bannerlord nor do I think that we should make promises that may be broken or, alternatively, force us to drop or underprioritize more important work. (F.e., for me, improving [organic] skill progression comes before any feature that allows players to exchange money for skill points.)

no offense but if skill progression has been the priority that's not a good sign because the level up system is the worst one I've seen in any game.

 

[black_bulldog]

no offense but if skill progression has been the priority that's not a good sign because the level up system is the worst one I've seen in any game.

It's certainly one of the most punishing and grindy of any game I've seen.

 

[e222143]

o offense but if skill progression has been the priority that's not a good sign because the level up system is the worst one I've seen in any game.

That's why it is a top priority. They failed to make a pleasant skill progression system. It is good to hear that it has been working on, but I do not put too much hope into it. I try to reduce all of my expectations about this game. However, I still have some faith. We will see.

 

[Apocal]

Does *anyone* like the random faceless companions?

I play with death enabled, which pretty much requires dynamic companion generation.

 

[Rungsted93]

I'm sorry but making a devblog/video about a feature is kind of a promise, it's actually borderline false marketing. Now I do get that sometimes things can be more complicated than originally anticipated, but then take the extra time needed. (Talking about the gang alley mechanics btw)

 

[eddiemccandless]

I was asking for an example of a vision statement from another title / company to get clarification on what exactly you were looking for. (Maybe you could still share one.)

I can't talk for him but I personally think that this is a really good way to go about doing things.

Steam Community :: :: Roadmap stage 1

Steam Community: Gedonia. Current roadmap as of 20.01.2021

steamcommunity.com

It doesn't get much in the details, however it shows what the developer is working on and has deadlines that keep him accountable (and as far as I can tell he hasn't missed one yet). Also makes it very clear what the priorities are.

Another example is Valheim.

Valheim developer reveals new roadmap details, says mini-bosses may be added

Here's everything Iron Gate told us about the updates coming to Valheim.

www.pcgamer.com

Or Everspace 2 (not really my cup of tea but they seem to have a proper roadmap)

EVERSPACE™ 2 - Roadmap 2021 | New Ship Classes | New Missions | Space Critters - Steam News

Early Access roadmap for 2021 reveals update schedule, upcoming star systems, player ship classes, companions and more.

store.steampowered.com

They all specifically share what they are going to publish with each update, and that gives us an idea of where the game is going to go. It's honestly pretty common for Early Access games, and I don't really understand why Talewords isn't putting down a structured plan like that.

The statements that you post in the forum are appreciated, but they aren't really the same thing. To begin with there is no timeline. And second, they come off as vague and broadly read like "we are doing stuff". We don't really understand what your long term vision is from those, at least I don't. The impression that many of us get is that that y'all are running in circles, putting a lot of work in without actually having much to show for it.

I appreciate you taking the time to answer my points, I don't think that the mounted combat issue was reported in a ticket but I will see if I can put together a video to show the problem myself (although honestly that is something that is more noticeable while you are actually playing and I don't know that a video will really deliver).

Edit: just because it targets a somewhat similar audience, Medieval Dynasty is also worth mentioning.

Medieval Dynasty - The Medieval Dynasty Roadmap - Steam News

Hello everyone! For better visibility we're re-posting the Medieval Dynasty roadmap. During this Early Access we have planned a few things for you! Fourth quarter of 2020 we plan to add: Events, challenges and Fishing Riding and Farming First quarter of 2021 we plan to add: Pottery, beekeping...

store.steampowered.com

Their roadmap is very, very barebones. But they promise something specific and concrete, with an approximate deadline, and they deliver it. I was actually skeptical about this game but so far it's been a pretty smooth Early Access experience.

 

[Stromming]

Please don't remove the unique companions. Just color code for "TW said no because they are unreasonable and can't think of two things at the same time".
No procedurally generated NPC can ever replace a unique one that's been lovingly hand-crafted and dialoged up, and you summed up the crucial RPG reason well.
And most importantly, it takes very little effort to create them and make them work alongside the random paper dolls.

 

[TheBerserk]

I think the confusion here is that, to me, what's written there and what people associate with the M&B franchise does work as a general vision statement - which tend to typically be even more abstract. What you seem to be asking for is a detailed description / feature list of the final product, which isn't something we are currently intending to share. Naturally, that isn't to say that some further clarification isn't possible. (F.e. like noting in the SP priority thread that the alley owning mechanics are something on the edge. There are more urgent priorities, it is still on the list, but I can't yet promise that it will make it.)


I don't share the opinion that all features from warband must necessarily be in Bannerlord nor do I think that we should make promises that may be broken or, alternatively, force us to drop or underprioritize more important work. (F.e., for me, improving [organic] skill progression comes before any feature that allows players to exchange money for skill points.)

the fact that you don't want to make broken promises could be a good point, but many promises were already made by the dev blog that Taleworlds published as well as everything that we had with the E3.


I would also say that after 1 year we have had almost nothing of the requested features, that's when the community wonders if you plan to do it later or if you have as a direction to never do it and move on to a next game, and there it is problematic.

 

[Mad Vader]

That's some great Jeremus memery and the other videos are fun as well. Thanks for the ride.

 

[Lucius Confucius]

Exactly. This above all else makes me think that despite everything Duh is saying about TW listening to feedback, they really aren't. Does *anyone* like the random faceless companions? Outside of maybe smithing stamina I don't think I've seen anything introduced in Bannerlord more universally panned by the community.

On that note I remember some dataminer early on found that at least at some point they had plans for unique companions: https://www.reddit.com/r/mountandbl...and_legacy_content_a_list_of_all_cut_content/

So they actively chose to not use them. It wasn't a matter of "never got around to it" or something.

I like the randomly generated companions. Besides, if you have a game where death is all around, you kinda need them or you would eventually run out of the unique ones. That said, I don't mind the implementation of unique companions alongside the random ones.

 

[vonbalt]

I like the randomly generated companions. Besides, if you have a game where death is all around, you kinda need them or you would eventually run out of the unique ones. That said, I don't mind the implementation of unique companions alongside the random ones.

exactly my thoughts, i like the random companions alot just think they could be improved with more interactions/conversations based on traits and things going on around the world etc, also a bit more variety would be nice like the mod interesting companions that adds 52 new random companion types.

Would like if we got unique companions maybe tied to the mainquest aswell, they really lost the chance to make Instiana/Azargos into unique interesting companions for example, they even have the part where you have to support one or the other so it would be perfect for this, that bandit guy that kills your family could also be one if you spared his life too