The game is clearly stated to be in early access, with a warning on what that means on the storefront.
Except that they are not conducting this like any other Early Access I've been a part of. Which included constant back-and-forth between the participants and developers on Steam boards. We can't even get basic information on "official forum," much less silly things like responses to "Feedback and Ideas."
This isn't Early Access, this is the very "pre-purchase" that Steam's own EA guidelines warn against abusing EA for (not like Steam is going to do anything about it, though, heh).
That being said, I can see very little evidence of deception by Taleworlds.
You forgot one major and very important part:
In the game's description advertised on Steam (you know, the store page which content, at least here in the US, is considered a legally binding agreement) they state this:
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
“We intend to use a range of different methods to gather player feedback and data throughout the early access period. These include engaging with users directly on our official forum and our Steam forum
Do you see them engaging directly here to the point where it would validate the claim of "involving the Community in development of" this game? I don't.
DO you see the "engaging direct" in ANY way on Steam's forum?
It makes that part of the game's description a fradulent statement, because, again - at least in the US - if you claim something in advertisement and don't do it (much less in advertisement affecting purchase decisions of your customers), it's straight up fraudulent advertisement and illegal.
I tried to refund with Steam. Twice. Precisely because I bought this to participate in Early Access, not just throw money at Taleworlds and be fed tidbits of blogs or occasional "official announcement" when they feel like it, that left me feel cheated. Especially in light of their own description of what the process was supposed to entail, much less my own expectation coming from multiple previous EA projects that included direct communication with the developers.
Steam didn't even bother explaining to me why their general rules of "time played" are more important than what customer protection laws we still have, or why they disagree with my claim that the game ended up being fradulently advertised. Steam being Steam - "Customer support? Ain't nobody got time for that!" Theres no way to get any kind of information beyond the "select from the list" response on refund attempts, either, but that's Steam - never mind.
Considering THIS "official" Taleworlds staff post (
https://forums.taleworlds.com/index...-deserves-a-server.426714/page-2#post-9480854), with its "Players are free to refund. Did we state on anywhere that we decline the refund requests? If we do please let me know where and when." claim, I e-mailed Taleworlds directly asking for assistance with Steam and its refund process. Not that I expected much, but did not even receive a response to the polite tune of "sod off."
Well, I tried to resolve this amicably, but have no intention of continuing quietly participating in this charade. The courts are pretty swamped right now (they just opened in limited capacity due after COVID shutdown), but that gives me more time to contact some folks I want to run this experience though - our state's Attorney General for starters. The current one really does not take kindly to corporations leveraging their legal power to effectively ignore our laws.
Taleworlds had plenty of time to implement some form of direct communication, not just as they falsely advertised on their page, but even to address the many concerns about it voiced on these boards. It appears they think they don't have to adhere to such basic laws as truth in advertisement, for some reason. This experience, instead of leaving me happily playing (and I certainly don't need "finished game" to do that when I'm part of a genuine Early Access project - and Bannerlord is, once again, anything but that) and throwing feedback and ideas at them, were they a professional developer with professional understanding of what Early Access (or even their own sodding advertisement) claims entails, I'm going to turn all that energy into something else now.
At least it'll be a learning experinece, and they have had plenty of time to address the issue.