Early access - Whats your comment?!

[K.A.]

Having modding tools would be nice, specially for creating scenes. But i think modding on early access would be a nigthmare with things often changing and breaking mods.

 

[Sir Bob Knightley]

Bannerlord doesn't have any Linux support, does it?

Is a 2025 release for Windows and 2030 for Linux too optimistic? Callum, what are your thoughts?

 

[Terco_Viejo]

@NPC99 - It is highly likely that we will release the modding tools alongside the full release and not before.

@SenorZorros - In this instance we would actually encourage you to hold on to your money until you feel the game is ready for you to enjoy. The game has a lot of content, there is no doubt about that, but if you want a complete experience you should wait until launch.

@Vairly -The game will not be feature complete during EA. You should definitely wait until full release if you want to play the game in its entirety with everything it has to offer.

Every thing you just said was such a **** disappointment. I mean a real stab in the chest. I appreciate the honesty but bloody hell what is happening with the dev team? The absolute **** least you can do is release modding tools so the community can get a head start on developing mods. Cause at your pace, full release could be till March 2021.

Wow. I am bummed out. I'm not even angry like I usually am. It's just a deep, deep sense of disappointment. Like what even is the point of loving this game? All you get is delay and let down. I've even been wondering, could this be because the game is being self published? If Paradox was still the publisher could they have kept TW more in line?

Well, whatever. Non feature complete EA after 10 **** years, with no explanation. TW is very **** lucky it has no real competition. Or rather, they can be this lethargic because there's no competition.

@Vairly -The game will not be feature complete during EA. You should definitely wait until full release if you want to play the game in its entirety with everything it has to offer.

So, early access isn't for 7 more months, and the game still won't be feature complete by then? Jesus H Christ... I'm not blaming you, Callum, I know you're just the messenger, but what the hell has been going on over there at TW for the past 7 years? The best explanation I can think of is that the devs have been making and remaking parts of the game time and time again, and that's why it's taken so long. The game still isn't feature complete because the devs need to finish putting everything back together again one last time, maybe squeeze in some last-minute improvements and ideas, and finish the stuff that nobody's gotten around to yet because it's been such a cluster**** up until now. It sounds like people haven't had their act together. I hope the devs learn from this before they make the next M&B game.

Totally agree.

My thoughts 100%

I'm not going to enter into a debate about the pace of work in the development of the game, on other occasions I've already positioned myself. What I do want to emphasize, in contrast to the sentence "The game will not be feature complete during EA. You should definitely wait until full release if you want to play the game in its entirety with everything it has to offer.", is that many consumers will also do their own thing and wait legitimately.

They will wait until the game has support for mods (tools), is a finished and stable product; before buying anything.

 

[IblisBane]

Honestly, a lot of fair points raised in reaction to the announcement, and many of them I agree with.  That said, I'll still be getting it EA...might be my only chance to play it in some form before I die.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

The bloody newspaper library, huh?

"As a last-ditch effort, we came up with the idea of getting funding from the players themselves," Yavuz said. "We prepared a version of the game that worked but didn’t have a lot of content. We said, 'This is the game, it's not finished, but if you purchase it now, we'll be able to complete development.' We didn't have very high hopes, really." They didn't know how it would be received by players, didn't know how to advertise, and "were a little embarrassed" by trying to sell an unfinished game.



https://www.pcgamer.com/the-mount-and-blade-empire-began-with-a-forum-post/

Apparently, this philosophy has changed completely since 2012... 

 

[Pinocchio]

That's a weight off my mind.

and finally a great ea title that offers much from start on

 

[Hancelot]

I almost cried yesterday.

 

[Piconi]

I just hope they expand into open multiplayer beta soon, and use feedback to polish the singleplayer too, as much as possible, before march 2020.

 

[KhergitLancer80]

Callum I want to play early access but I also want the boxed edition of the game(physical copy) what should I do ?

 

[SirStart]

I have been a fan o The game since first mount and blade version 0.2.8 or if it was 0.2.9 or something, i have been a member on this forum since 2005, i have had a loyalty to this game both in defending The game from taking to long and being patient meself, i know development takes time, i get tha, but why taleworlds, why The nearly complete silence around The game? This long wait would have been alot easier if ye just have played with open cards on The development, telling, showing, answering questions and so on from The beginning this crazy circus would probably been alot less worse as it is now.

Im looking forward to The EA but not as much as I want to as I see no point in it any more sadly enough mostly because o The silence from The devs, But somewhere deep down i trust The game Will be a hell o a show when full release is out, but time Will tell.

 

[Phaser Rave]

Quite possibly in the future, but for now, if you are interested in playing, you should go to beta.taleworlds.com and fill out the application form.

It said that entering the CD key was optional, so I didn't do it. After putting in my application, I've heard that we'll have a better chance of getting a beta key if we enter a CD key. If that's true, is it alright if I resubmit my application?

 

[Piconi]

Quite possibly in the future, but for now, if you are interested in playing, you should go to beta.taleworlds.com and fill out the application form.

It said that entering the CD key was optional, so I didn't do it. After putting in my application, I've heard that we'll have a better chance of getting a beta key if we enter a CD key. If that's true, is it alright if I resubmit my application?

I would like to know this too !

 

[Zmyrf]

"not feature complete at that time and there will still be a long road to go after that"

Makes it sound like it will start EA in a stripped barebones state, yet there's a multiplayer beta test happening.

If you look at this year's gamescom vids, it says version "a0.3.2" in the top right. I mean who knows how their system works or if that's specifically a gamescom build, but universally one could also assume a very early alpha build right?

To be honest I wonder if the EA was solely based on the "pressure" from the community, everyone constantly asking for a release and such.
If it's a rather short EA, all good I think. Otherwise I'd be pretty bummed out if my first impression of Bannerlord is going to be a heavy work in progress, feature lacking shell of it that goes on over a year or more. It's my decision to wait or buy EA I know, but **** off with that.

Not feature complete and long road, just to be on the safe side where no one can blame words? Or literally? 
Things rarely add up here overall due to a lack of clarity.

Something tells you they've made good progress, 1 year later it looks like 3 steps back. Then suddenly the blogs start sounding promising, but then the media looks backwards. Like this time, one blog says far from feature complete while others imply it's nearing completion. Then you get an EA in 2020, but also not feature complete and long ways to go etc etc etc.
That's what I mean nothing ever adds up, it's confusing to decipher.

Just one simple roadmap would say way more than the blogs or anything else regarding the game's development.

It's as if they're avoiding to admit or show that it's way behind schedule or something.

 

[John the Roleplayer]

When they say it won't be feature complete, I understand that to mean that there is more to come, yet the features we've seen are already in, maybe subject to balancing.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

When they say it won't be feature complete, I understand that to mean that there is more to come, yet the features we've seen are already in, maybe subject to balancing.

Like naval combat, huh? Or will that be part of a DLC to be released in 2025?

 

[vicwiz007]

Quite possibly in the future, but for now, if you are interested in playing, you should go to beta.taleworlds.com and fill out the application form.

It said that entering the CD key was optional, so I didn't do it. After putting in my application, I've heard that we'll have a better chance of getting a beta key if we enter a CD key. If that's true, is it alright if I resubmit my application?

I would like to know this too !

Well it can't hurt, right? If they didn't care about it, they wouldn't have given the option to include the keys after asking which ones you have played. It's just proof i guess. The only other "optional" entries were for when your answer was not listed in the dropdown menu.

Wish they would say something about this form. Tell us when they will pick players for it or something so we don't have to refresh our emails fervently.

 

[Maroon]

Just to jump in, sorry to burst the bubble or put a bit of a downer on it, but I think Tolga is a bit off the mark here. But it does make me happy that with his work in QA he feels that the game is a lot closer to release than is actually true. We are launching in Early Access in March 2020 and we aren't making any false assumptions or promises about that. The game will not be feature complete at that time and there will still be a long road to go after that where we work alongside our community to bring the game to the level that we all hope it will be at.

I'm glad to hear a Frank (sorry Callum) estimate of what we'll be looking at with early access. You make it sound like it's safe to assume it'll be another year or two after the Early Access build launches before we see a feature complete build.
My one question though: will you guys ever go into detail about what happened? You (TW in general, that is, not just you) have at various points in the past communicated to us that the game is "nearing completion"; I seem to recall an interview with Armagan at a previous Gamescom 2-3 years ago in which he stated that you were working on the finishing touches. What has caused the game to be moved back so much every time? Why did it take 8 years to make an early access build that is far from feature complete?

Also, please consider releasing a list of "this is what is in the EA build" and "this is what we want to finish before full release" along with the EA build. Constant vague assurances that "progress is being made" or contrary statements about the general progress of development are in no way preferable over simple and clear communication.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

[..]
My one question though: will you guys ever go into detail about what happened? You (TW in general, that is, not just you) have at various points in the past communicated to us that the game is "nearing completion"; I seem to recall an interview with Armagan at a previous Gamescom 2-3 years ago in which he stated that you were working on the finishing touches. What has caused the game to be moved back so much every time? Why did it take 8 years to make an early access build that is far from feature complete?
[...]

+10
That argument of yours (which I agree with) and the announcement of the EA raising "The game is far from feature and content complete"; collide violently as in the gif.

We'll see a list of what the game includes soon™. 

 

[Magello]

I am excited about the EA but at the same time I am really worried about it. I will be getting it day one but I am going into it not expecting anything more than a demo really. Something I can replay 100 times but only with limited time each. I never actually believe the game will be feature rich until after the mod tools are released anyways and if that isn't added till after full release then it is looking to be a couple of years as I think the EA will last until at least August 2020 at the earliest. I would love to be surprised but my faith in TW to be efficient and manage their time well is pretty low. I'm actually afraid the EA will cause a bigger headache with all of the requests and issues the community will be finding.

 

[DanAngleland]

What I do want to emphasize, in contrast to the sentence "The game will not be feature complete during EA. You should definitely wait until full release if you want to play the game in its entirety with everything it has to offer.", is that many consumers will also do their own thing and wait legitimately.

They will wait until the game has support for mods (tools), is a finished and stable product; before buying anything.

That's not in contrast to the quote, it's saying the same thing.