My Bannerlord Feedback

[Dejan]

Thanks for your feedback @-Caesar , appreciate it!

Villages and towns should each have little coloured icons next to their names which indicate the primary good they produce (for villages), if any notable quests are available, if any higher-tier retinue troops are available, if the town is under siege, and lastly if the village is being raided with a different icon for when a village has been raided and is abandoned (one that fades the closer the village gets to coming 'back online' as it were).

I find it very difficult to see what villages produce what at a glance, particularly at night time. Icons would help immensely, they'd also help in being able to see at a glance if villages have quests or retinue troops available without having to manually go and check every single one.

The indications above towns and villages for available issues and tournaments will be implemented with e1.5.6. This has been a long-requested community suggestion and we liked it very much. I don't believe this includes the icon that displays the resource a village is producing though - good suggestion, I'll bring it up.

 

[Akka]

The indications above towns and villages for available issues and tournaments will be implemented with e1.5.6. This has been a long-requested community suggestion and we liked it very much. I don't believe this includes the icon that displays the resource a village is producing though - good suggestion, I'll bring it up.

I'd suggest to only display the resources icons if the character has already asked people in the village about it, though. So it gives some reasons to visit places and speak to people and increases interaction with the world rather than having all informations available from thin air.

(in fact, I think there should be more "down to earth" interaction like that, the character is more and more removed from the game world it seems)

 

[-Caesar]

I'd suggest to only display the resources icons if the character has already asked people in the village about it, though. So it gives some reasons to visit places and speak to people and increases interaction with the world rather than having all informations available from thin air.

(in fact, I think there should be more "down to earth" interaction like that, the character is more and more removed from the game world it seems)

That's not a bad idea! You're right the player character should probably have to discover what resources the village produces (whether visiting the village directly, or asking people at the local town, or raiding the village, etc.).

 

[Medivhtratos]

I'd suggest to only display the resources icons if the character has already asked people in the village about it, though. So it gives some reasons to visit places and speak to people and increases interaction with the world rather than having all informations available from thin air.

(in fact, I think there should be more "down to earth" interaction like that, the character is more and more removed from the game world it seems)

+1 Agree, maybe add some fist fights or boardgames to villages

 

[-Caesar]

+1 Agree, maybe add some fist fights or boardgames to villages

Village fight clubs would be cool! I think they have board-games at the taverns in the towns, but I guess there's no reason why villages can't have some too.

 

[AndrewArt]

I agree with mostly everything but the "reset companions perks". I believe it's better to have some variety and randomness in your companions. If you give the player this option then it would be tempting to reset everyone's perks to make them the same carbon copy of each other, which simply doesn't make sense and defeats the purpose the devs thought for companions I feel (they would be pretty unbalanced this way, too). For me, choosing my companion's perks seems a bit immersion-breaking since I prefer the randomness factor because we, people, don't really choose our own traits or our children's traits when we raise them. That's just how human beings work and it makes sense for more unique companions. As for the perk system, definitely needs improvement, I love the idea with 3 rows of perks instead of 2 (that's how you can put an option for governor, one for captain, one for party leader for example!!!). And the leveling progression, I have always been saying this!!! It needs to be a more consistent progression, PLEASE!

 

[Andrei[beast]]

Village fight clubs would be cool! I think they have board-games at the taverns in the towns, but I guess there's no reason why villages can't have some too.

Maybe some "illegal" fights held at the bandit houses that are in every scene. Like wandering in the village at night, everyone asleep but there's some weird fires in the forest or smth.
We need a good use for these bandit places because there's no reason for them to be everywhere other than for the notable wants daughter found or the family feud quests.

 

[Mizza]

Good points, although I never have many problems with looters. The one thing where I totally disagree is the wish to be able to craft more stuff. I don't want to craft in a game about becoming a kind of clan and kingdom leader, that's ridiculous. But that's not the problem. The problem is that the crafting system makes controlling crafted weapons damage and behavior very difficult. As I see mods as essential for further game success, expanding the crafting system to ranged weapons or armor would be extremely frustrating for me.

I would like to be able to repair armor. Rusty cracked. and repair swords.
Perisno has armor crafting I never even tried it. or has any streamers I watched play Perisno.

 

[black_bulldog]

I would like to be able to repair armor. Rusty cracked. and repair swords.
Perisno has armor crafting I never even tried it. or has any streamers I watched play Perisno.

VC and quite a few mod conversions had armorers you could visit in towns that would upgrade weapons and armor. It could get expensive but if you found a really great weapon or armor piece it was totally worth it.

 

[Cabell]

The smithing and crafting system needs a total overhaul, it's really bad and unenjoyable right now. I think it should be redesigned from the ground up. Not sure exactly how but yeah just my 2 cents on it. It's also odd that you can craft melee weapons but not ranged weapons, and also no armour. I think smithing overall needs to be made more useful too and should have more noticeable/noteworthy effects on your character/your party.

At this point, I'd rather they just remove the skill altogether and replace it with artisan NPCs along the lines of how VC did it. Or they could just keep the existing UI for crafting and let you hire an artisan NPC to do it for you. Instead of worrying about mats, you'd just pay the artisan and your trade perk level would control the perk. This could set up some interesting dynamics when deciding whether to side with the artisans or the merchants in a town.

I'll also say that Trade probably needs to be looked at, it's really easy to make money through trade (particularly early-game) and I find that all of my games I inevitably start out by doing lots of trade. Maybe the other forms of revenue earning should be made more competitive/viable versus trade, like quests, tourneys, trade and fighting looters/bandits and selling prisoners.

I wish you could have more control over your caravans and workshops. I've got no ideas about how to make workshops more interesting, but I wish I could control my trade routes to A) move resources (i.e. iron, wood, leather, etc) to specific towns and B) to keep them out of enemy territory.

Tourneys in particular need to scale better as you level, I suggest having different tourneys for different tiers of renown.

I love this idea! I hope they become more viable in the mid- and late-game.

Good points, although I never have many problems with looters. The one thing where I totally disagree is the wish to be able to craft more stuff. I don't want to craft in a game about becoming a kind of clan and kingdom leader, that's ridiculous.

Completely agree. I'll admit that I'm just not a fan of crafting in RPGs. With the exception of the way Witcher 3 handled it, it's never made sense to me that your glorified vagrant character is able to just walk into any town and start using someone else's workshop. Not to mention that the current Bannderlord smithing skill lets you become a more talented hobby smith than the full-timers in the workshops.

 

[cyresdog]

I wish you could have more control over your caravans and workshops. I've got no ideas about how to make workshops more interesting, but I wish I could control my trade routes to A) move resources (i.e. iron, wood, leather, etc) to specific towns and B) to keep them out of enemy territory.

AFAIK when a city is surrounded by a lot of villages that produce Hardwood, then the best you can do is a wood workshop or w/e its called.
Something like that, but the entire system is more RNG based i feel.

 

[Cabell]

AFAIK when a city is surrounded by a lot of villages that produce Hardwood, then the best you can do is a wood workshop or w/e its called.
Something like that, but the entire system is more RNG based i feel.

I think that's the case as well, but if item quality and quantity are tied to workshops (bows/shields - woodworkers; weapons/armor - smithy; etc.) then some areas are going to be at substantial advantages and disadvantages. For instance, I don't think the Aserai have a single iron source at the start, while Battania has several.

Now, of course, this is what you'd expect from this kind of village-resource system and the current trade system basically depends on you buying from the haves and selling to the have-nots which is fine. However, I think there could be an added layer to this once you start getting into the clan/kingdom management. Using my example before, you could set up smithies in Aserai lands and then supply them with iron by somehow telling your caravans to buy from Battanian lands. Setting up and keeping such caravans profitable could then increase your quartermaster skill. (I know they'll likely implement your caravans giving you trade xp, but I think that would lead to double-dipping as both you and your companion would then be getting xp from the same source.)

 

[cyresdog]

I think that's the case as well, but if item quality and quantity are tied to workshops (bows/shields - woodworkers; weapons/armor - smithy; etc.) then some areas are going to be at substantial advantages and disadvantages. For instance, I don't think the Aserai have a single iron source at the start, while Battania has several.

Now, of course, this is what you'd expect from this kind of village-resource system and the current trade system basically depends on you buying from the haves and selling to the have-nots which is fine. However, I think there could be an added layer to this once you start getting into the clan/kingdom management. Using my example before, you could set up smithies in Aserai lands and then supply them with iron by somehow telling your caravans to buy from Battanian lands. Setting up and keeping such caravans profitable could then increase your quartermaster skill. (I know they'll likely implement your caravans giving you trade xp, but I think that would lead to double-dipping as both you and your companion would then be getting xp from the same source.)

The game has too many flaws for the trading system work well and in a good way.

They should really need to work on the Diplomacy, what bothers me is that you are either at war with another faction or you are not. No allies, no trading allies, nothing.
You can't really screw up an enemy faction by stopping their trades with you to put them in a spot where their cities start to crumble because something they rely on from your supplies isn't coming in anymore.
No Trading Penalties. No Alliances.
Like many other stated, everything is just barebone.
I never thougt i would ever say this, but Total War Warhammer has more diplomacy than Bannerlord.

 

[Cabell]

You can't really screw up an enemy faction by stopping their trades with you to put them in a spot where their cities start to crumble because something they rely on from your supplies isn't coming in anymore.

The game is barebones but I'm beginning to see how TW could fill in the gaps. They've said rebellions are coming and that they're working on making town attributes more meaningful:

Greetings warriors of Calradia, we have been working on balancing Security and Loyalty parameters of settlements for past 3-4 weeks.
Loyalty value is one of the most important values for the well-being and health of the settlement. There are lots of other parameters, such as Security, that effects Loyalty in a good or bad way. While balancing the values our aim was making them a bit realistic and can be effected by other actions. New terms "Security drift" and "Loyalty drift" have been implemented, so loyalty and security became more dynamic, they fit into significant variables between 0-100 according to environmental effects.

With a rebellions mechanic and prosperity tied to trade (I'm assuming this latter point without any evidence to offer you), embargos and blockades would likely have some real consequences and become viable strategies - though I imagine this is going to be a real pain to balance. The separatism mod allowed for rebellions pre-modding tools. Not to discount the abilities and dedication of the modding community, but if a modder could do it then I've got to think that official implementation will be relatively straightforward - just, again, it will probably be a pain to balance.

I never thought I would ever say this, but Total War Warhammer has more diplomacy than Bannerlord.

In all fairness to both Taleworlds and Creative Assembly, the latter got there after 14 games - not counting DLC - worth of experimentation over the course of 20 years. And most of those games were published by SEGA which I think probably counts for something. And in most of those games, diplomacy could be ignored for the most part.

 

[cyresdog]

In all fairness to both Taleworlds and Creative Assembly, the latter got there after 14 games - not counting DLC - worth of experimentation over the course of 20 years. And most of those games were published by SEGA which I think probably counts for something. And in most of those games, diplomacy could be ignored for the most part.

All fairness aside, the later we get into the TW (Total War in this post) series the less important Diplomacy becomes, Total War Warhammer being the one with nearly no diplomacy whatsoever (compared to the others) and yet it has so much more to offer.
But even their oldest titles showed how important diplomacy in games with a setting like these, Ruler of a Kingdom that is, can be.

 

[MostBlunted]

I think diplomancy in TTW is quite good, as good as it can be in a Warhammer game. You have to keep in mind, Warhammer is all about constant wars.

But I have no issues to get and keep allies in TTW. Sure, you won´t be able to ally with Chaos as the Empire

Also Dark Elves > all!

CA did a really good job with TTW 1 + 2, TTW 3 will also be a day one purchase for me. But I´m also a huge Warhammer Fantasy fanboy.

 

[Cabell]

All fairness aside, the later we get into the TW (Total War in this post) series the less important Diplomacy becomes, Total War Warhammer being the one with nearly no diplomacy whatsoever (compared to the others) and yet it has so much more to offer.
But even their oldest titles showed how important diplomacy in games with a setting like these, Ruler of a Kingdom that is, can be.

I think diplomacy in TTW is quite good, as good as it can be in a Warhammer game. You have to keep in mind, Warhammer is all about constant wars.

Warhammer is the one I've barely played but my understanding is that it's one of the best in terms of gameplay elements. And CA by now has (or should have) the expertise to know what features work in what combinations. Of course, there is no shortage of seasoned total war fans who gripe about how bad the diplomacy mechanics are in any given total war title.

Taleworlds doesn't have as extensive a portfolio or the same kind of resources, but of course, there's no reason they can't learn from CA. That said - and admittedly I'm not a game designer - it's probably a lot easier to observe and enjoy what works in other games on other engines than it is to implement them in your own game.

 

[cyresdog]

I think diplomancy in TTW is quite good, as good as it can be in a Warhammer game. You have to keep in mind, Warhammer is all about constant wars.

But I have no issues to get and keep allies in TTW. Sure, you won´t be able to ally with Chaos as the Empire

Also Dark Elves > all!

CA did a really good job with TTW 1 + 2, TTW 3 will also be a day one purchase for me. But I´m also a huge Warhammer Fantasy fanboy.

Same, one of the reasons why i have over 1000 hours clocked in into Warhammer 1 and 2, and they have a special place in my heart for doing the trilogy.
And as far as i am concerned, the second they announce a DLC i press F5 on the steamshop every 2 seconds till i can throw my money at them. And i hope they never stop selling me more.

But my point is, that even in a game, that is all about War, in a setting that is even more about War, damn they even have Wars within Wars, is more diplomacy than in Bannerlord.
And that is a damn shame. Because Bannerlord wants me to be a Ruler over my Kingdom, but why is my only option to be a good ruler via War?
All the things they could have done, imagine there would be archetypes when it comes to other Lords, some prefer War, others love Trading, and some other just want Peace.

And if you don't do enough War then those Archetypes Lords will be less and less happy with you, while others who enjoy Peace treaties and trading with allies will love you more and more.
No instead we have to feed them with castles and gold and basically bribe our very own Loyal Lords, who don't want anything else but riches. They have no personality.

Warhammer is the one I've barely played but my understanding is that it's one of the best in terms of gameplay elements. And CA by now has (or should have) the expertise to know what features work in what combinations. Of course, there is no shortage of seasoned total war fans who gripe about how bad the diplomacy mechanics are in any given total war title.

Total War Warhammer is the worst Total War title, when it comes to veterans, and yet the best because it is finally something completely new. And they took the risk, even tho there wasn't really one because as long as you put Warhammer into the title the Fanboys just run towards you... like me.
Not hard considering they could charge me 200 bucks for a Videogame and it would still be cheaper than most Minitiatures they sell.

But there are a lot of things gone from the Diplomacy system in Total War Warhammer that others had, for example you can't trade regions anymore, so when your ally owns one settlement within a region that you own 3 out of 4 settlements of then you are screwed, unless you are willing to go to war with your ally to own the entire region.
But just like here with Bannerlords, Modders are the one who can literally fix anything for you. Gods given present to us.

Ooooh also @MostBlunted Dawi > DE

 

[MostBlunted]

Ooooh also @MostBlunted Dawi > DE

For the witch king!

I just sold my whole collection two months ago for 250€, was worth (new) about 500€. Only 2 armies, Warhammer (Games Workshop in general) is damn expensive.

I might buy a Blood Bowl team though, that´s not that expensive. Also BB3 will be released in 2021.

 

[cyresdog]

I will have shot every single hydra and dragon of yours long before they reached my main frontline.
All that while half naked dwarves slay every single one of you.