Reading the latest devlog, it's striking how similar it is to previous ones that were about multiplayer: Emphasis on strict balance, competitive viability, small player numbers, and so on. Basically, the entire blog post is about how this flagship gamemode for MP is an incredibly curated experience.
I think this design philosophy is a complete 180 from the mindset that gave Warband MP its success.
I don't have anything against the inclusion of such a mode. If TW wants to build a healthy esports scene, that's great. However, I worry that this mindset is also going to harm Bannerlord MP by having it seep into places where it just doesn't belong, places where I think the majority of multiplayer will happen. In addition, overemphasising 6v6 competitive multiplayer in a world saturated with 10-12 player competitive games might make people watching from the outside overlook the far more unique and attractive aspects of multiplayer, which I think are mostly embodied in the more casual side of M&B.
My greatest concern is the class system. You pick a class and a perk. That's that. No more exact gear customisation. The idea of course is to give the developers more control over how players equip themselves to create a more balanced experience.
However, if we look at fan favourite, more casual modes like Siege, DM, TDM, and so on, choosing balance over customisation seems like a total misstep. It's far from uncommon to see people deliberately choose loadouts that are suboptimal in such modes, because they're just hopping on to have some fun. It's not necessarily about winning, kdr, or anything like that.
To me it would therefore stand to reason that if anything, customisation should be heavily emphasised outside of competitive gameplay, to a degree that should totally outdo Native Warband.
For example:
Provided technical limitations don't get in the way, bringing custom weapons into multiplayer would be absolutely awesome. Have it be a menu alongside the face customisation or so. You would of course have different weapon parts for each faction, so that you aren't running around with a very Vlandian looking weapon when playing as the Khuzaits, for example.
Whether you're designing weapons to be the most optimal, to be the most suited to your individual playstyle, to look cool, or just to be silly and humiliating to get killed by, all reasons are equally valid. I normally don't like corny phrases like "self-expression", but I think it's part of what makes Warband so fun, and something that should be pushed further in Bannerlord.
This carries over into the gameplay itself. I hope that testing will not only be about competitive modes and making everything wonderfully balanced and whatnot. Casual modes are probably gonna be as frequently played as, if not more frequently played than competitive, and so getting them right is at least as important. Of course in this case, testing would be more about other aspects: Raw fun, balancing clear-cut vs chaotic gameplay, variety, sense of scale/"epicness", etc.
Mount & Blade is known for the scale of its battles, this capability should be taken advantage of. Siege is obviously good at this, but a mode for big field battles is just as important because castles and cities impose limitations on how you play. A balance would have to be struck here between keeping downtimes low enough without going respawn-crazy.
Well, those are one guy's thoughts at least.
I think this design philosophy is a complete 180 from the mindset that gave Warband MP its success.
I don't have anything against the inclusion of such a mode. If TW wants to build a healthy esports scene, that's great. However, I worry that this mindset is also going to harm Bannerlord MP by having it seep into places where it just doesn't belong, places where I think the majority of multiplayer will happen. In addition, overemphasising 6v6 competitive multiplayer in a world saturated with 10-12 player competitive games might make people watching from the outside overlook the far more unique and attractive aspects of multiplayer, which I think are mostly embodied in the more casual side of M&B.
My greatest concern is the class system. You pick a class and a perk. That's that. No more exact gear customisation. The idea of course is to give the developers more control over how players equip themselves to create a more balanced experience.
However, if we look at fan favourite, more casual modes like Siege, DM, TDM, and so on, choosing balance over customisation seems like a total misstep. It's far from uncommon to see people deliberately choose loadouts that are suboptimal in such modes, because they're just hopping on to have some fun. It's not necessarily about winning, kdr, or anything like that.
To me it would therefore stand to reason that if anything, customisation should be heavily emphasised outside of competitive gameplay, to a degree that should totally outdo Native Warband.
For example:
Provided technical limitations don't get in the way, bringing custom weapons into multiplayer would be absolutely awesome. Have it be a menu alongside the face customisation or so. You would of course have different weapon parts for each faction, so that you aren't running around with a very Vlandian looking weapon when playing as the Khuzaits, for example.
Whether you're designing weapons to be the most optimal, to be the most suited to your individual playstyle, to look cool, or just to be silly and humiliating to get killed by, all reasons are equally valid. I normally don't like corny phrases like "self-expression", but I think it's part of what makes Warband so fun, and something that should be pushed further in Bannerlord.
This carries over into the gameplay itself. I hope that testing will not only be about competitive modes and making everything wonderfully balanced and whatnot. Casual modes are probably gonna be as frequently played as, if not more frequently played than competitive, and so getting them right is at least as important. Of course in this case, testing would be more about other aspects: Raw fun, balancing clear-cut vs chaotic gameplay, variety, sense of scale/"epicness", etc.
Mount & Blade is known for the scale of its battles, this capability should be taken advantage of. Siege is obviously good at this, but a mode for big field battles is just as important because castles and cities impose limitations on how you play. A balance would have to be struck here between keeping downtimes low enough without going respawn-crazy.
Well, those are one guy's thoughts at least.
