Definitive Post: The game has gotten 'better', but not more 'enjoyable' since release

[kreamy]

It seems that there is very often a disagreement on the forum about the state of the game, so let's put it to bed.​

We are all on the same team but there is a distinction to be made about the game playing well and playing enjoyably.

Without a doubt, TW has quashed bugs, increased performance, and generally delivered a more stable game over the last year - I know, I have over 500 hours in game.

​

BUT, the game is NO MORE ENJOYABLE THAN IT WAS AT RELEASE.​

This is why I have stopped playing, this is why I am frustrated, and this is likely why many others are as well.

To clarify - the game is not enjoyable, especially not without mods (the modders have made the game bearable).

​

There is a vast difference between repetitive, shallow gameplay that 'works' and varied, deep gameplay that 'rewards'.​

Bannerlord IS NOT the latter.

Having said that, please feel free to respond - but more than anything, please keep this in mind when debating on the forum - we are stronger together, so let's compare apples to apples when we discuss the state of the game, and TW's progress.

 

[Ser Jon]

It's pretty much gotten nowhere.

 

[Mad Vader]

Nothing is "definitive" until the fat lady sings.

 

[ShakenSpeare]

While I would vote, I will not, as I have not had this game installed for about a year now. I doubt the game is much better than it was at the time, and it was unbelievably repetitive and grindy for me after the first playthrough. I'd rather not waste my time with an inadequate M&B, and would rather wait until hopefully, an overhaul mod fixes the game. I'd rather have the game fresher.

 

[EmptyPepsiCans]

I wasn't playing at release, but I enjoy it now. I skipped the poll because I don't like the questions.

 

[JustinTime49]

I suppose when looking back, Native M&B has always been barebones in terms of deep gameplay, with mods filling in the void. While I personally am not thrilled about this, it seems BL will follow this trend.

I've come to the realization that no matter how loud we are on the forums, based on how development occurred with this game, nothing drastic will change. I think we should just allow TW to finish making the game 'better' as opposed to more 'enjoyable'. At least this way we will have a multitude of barebones features that work.

If anything, it would be cool if passionate TW devs can create mods of their own visions and improvements to the game, unrelated to any official update. That way, even if bugs occur, TW as a company wouldn't be held reliable.

 

[Rbtparker13]

I stopped playing around last May/April. And last week or so I installed it again to see how far this game has gone. Performance wise, I only gotten one crash throughout the week. A few bugs, a lot of lag. Overall the game has gotten better in a purely technical standpoint.

The actual game side of things haven't changed much. It still feels like what it did at launch. Nothing has change. There's still constant war with my kingdom declaring 2 wars at the same time. When I force peace there is only a month of peace before the next fight. (If I'm generous with the time). Still nothing to do at peacetime. And no interaction between lords/clans. Not even to my brothers and sister. Although I'm glad they're available. Now I can actually use them for my devices. Armor still feels weak, although the top tier armor does seem to work. I still feel like a manger of a city and not it's owner. Getting an actual working army brings me more headache then the actual enemy.

Overall. I'm bored. Props to you guys who have 1000s of hours on this game. I couldn't do it

edit:I also really dislike how I can basically sit in my one castle/town and eventually take over the nation with my influence slowly piling up

 

[Artem1s]

The game has gotten better, yes, but there is still a definitive lack of substance and depth (I'm not talking about superficial things like new armor). I've played since release and the feeling of the game hasn't really changed much since then.

 

[Senko]

Overall. I'm bored. Props to you guys who have 1000s of hours on this game. I couldn't do it

Same here. I am sitting around 100h playtime and haven't played in months. I did enjoy most of my gameplay though and don't regret buying the game on release day one bit. I had plenty of fun enjoying the new graphics and battle animations on the battlefield, after a while though it's just the same thing over and over again. Not much fun to be had with story, companions, family, kingdoms - that part of the game is still stuck in the 2010 Warband timeline.

I don't understand the people that are still believing in some miracle that TW will drop a huge content patch that will suddenly make game a lot deeper and will entertain Mount & Blade veterans for years to come.
That's just not gonna happen. That's what mods are for (when they come out in a few years)

 

[jak1up]

 

[Rbtparker13]

Same here. I am sitting around 100h playtime and haven't played in months. I did enjoy most of my gameplay though and don't regret buying the game on release day one bit. I had plenty of fun enjoying the new graphics and battle animations on the battlefield, after a while though it's just the same thing over and over again. Not much fun to be had with story, companions, family, kingdoms - that part of the game is still stuck in the 2010 Warband timeline.

I don't understand the people that are still believing in some miracle that TW will drop a huge content patch that will suddenly make game a lot deeper and will entertain Mount & Blade veterans for years to come.
That's just not gonna happen. That's what mods are for (when they come out in a few years)

The battles when I first saw them were amazing. On my first major battle I got knocked out so I could just watch this massive battle. Jaw dropping. Nowadays it's just meh

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

I think the rebellions did ad a tiny bit of enjoyment. Yes, it's not really 'new' it's just another faction to fight the same as any other fight and siege a town.
Also after a couple games you know which towns are going to rebel so it doesn't feel like a change to the way the game goes. It's still a tiny bit of enjoyment.

 

[Rbtparker13]

I think the rebellions did ad a tiny bit of enjoyment. Yes, it's not really 'new' it's just another faction to fight the same as any other fight and siege a town.
Also after a couple games you know which towns are going to rebel so it doesn't feel like a change to the way the game goes. It's still a tiny bit of enjoyment.

Rebellions would be really cool if they were more widespread. More akin to civil wars or something

 

[Csatádi]

When we die we should be able to play a companion or a common soldier instead. Especially in large battles.
If a companion is a captain we could command that army part, otherwise just fighting.
It would certainly require a button to press and one second invulnerability until we realize what's going on.
This would be a cool feature.

 

[Dreed89]

The OP is very right.

Moreover, it won't get deeper for example when they add keep battles.

They need to add more liveliness to the world such that player has more ways to interact with it, and also make NPC lords less robotic with more character and dialogue.

So far, TW has succeeded in NOT touching these areas.

 

[Nodice83]

I wasn't playing at release, but I enjoy it now. I skipped the poll because I don't like the questions.

From my observation... Most of the people on the forum 'have been where you are today'. 'White knighting' (more or less) at the begining with slowly declining enthusiasm later on... And i am not saying the game is bad it just lacks replayability and experience diversity (vassal vs ruler vs rogue vs merchant...etc.)

I agree that it shouldn't be called 'definitive' (as this sounds so pretensional, 'are you some kind of forum god ?' ) but i find the questions to be quite accurate...

 

[lunelune2413]

It seems that there is very often a disagreement on the forum about the state of the game, so let's put it to bed.​

We are all on the same team but there is a distinction to be made about the game playing well and playing enjoyably.

Without a doubt, TW has quashed bugs, increased performance, and generally delivered a more stable game over the last year - I know, I have over 500 hours in game.

​

BUT, the game is NO MORE ENJOYABLE THAN IT WAS AT RELEASE.​

This is why I have stopped playing, this is why I am frustrated, and this is likely why many others are as well.

To clarify - the game is not enjoyable, especially not without mods (the modders have made the game bearable).

​

There is a vast difference between repetitive, shallow gameplay that 'works' and varied, deep gameplay that 'rewards'.​

Bannerlord IS NOT the latter.

Having said that, please feel free to respond - but more than anything, please keep this in mind when debating on the forum - we are stronger together, so let's compare apples to apples when we discuss the state of the game, and TW's progress.

What I've seen as a trend on these forums is that people complain more for the sake of complaining rather than actual constructive feedback.

Managing to get 100-200 especially 200+ hours on a game is an amazing feat in its own right and I think the reason why people are so upset on the forums is that after those 100-200 hours people start craving for more.

Sieges are broken, and wonky at the best of times. Stuff from Warband is missing. Patches are rather slow to come out. Combat AI even on the hardest difficulty is still wonky at times. There are a good number of issues.

But despite all that, I've still personally enjoyed my nearly 100 hours in the game and I still find myself wanting to play when I get the time. If you look at the player numbers too, they have been stable if not increasing since July.

We all want a better Bannerlord, and I think Taleworlds is slowly getting there. It's 100% better than the launch I spent 30 hours onat the very least

 

[DariusPlayer]

I hope Taleworlds will go bankrupt. If this happens then they will lose their rights to the game and have to sell it so other more talented studios can take over.

 

[Rungsted93]

TW could really use some serious competition!
But I believe the problem is, it appears even the smallest additions needs to go through an approval process covering 5 different meetings, analyzing every cost vs benefit from said features. All while they could've implemented that + 5 other features in the same amount of time. Let your senior developers go crazy and add all those "nice to have" features which Warband + mods had, and hopefully go even further than that! Obviously there needs to be some oversight and approval process but keep it simple.

 

[danEN]

I'd be interested to see how many people actually still play SP consistently without mods, I'm sure it has to be lower than 10%. If true surely at some point TW's must realize these minor tweaks and improvements are never going to be enough to make the native game actually enjoyable.