[Poll] Should TW release a roadmap?

[SlyFox]

In the past week, I've been seeing more and more people request or demand TaleWorlds to release a development roadmap of the future of Bannerlord. So I decided to create a poll to see what the community feels about this. I'll share my opinions on this first, mostly to get your minds rolling before you vote. Otherwise it'll be too instinctual which would serve no purpose other than teach us a bit about human nature.

In my personal opinion I feel releasing a roadmap would utterly ruin the suspense of waiting for new updates. For me, half of the fun of Bannerlord is seeing how it improves and progresses as new patches are released. If they release a roadmap, it'll spoil the fun of that entire process.
Also, as being in EA is a process involving feedback loops between the community and the developers, who's to say if having a roadmap is even viable? Sure you can fill a roadmap with things like Feasts, Rebellions, Ships, etc. But those things could all change as the development process continues. Having a roadmap would set some expectations in stone. That means that if the developers - or the community - get different ideas about where they want to see Bannerlord when it's out of EA, we'll end up with unfulfilled promises and angry mobs.

What do you think? Is a roadmap the necessary transparency we need? Would a roadmap put some much needed structure into the Bannerlord vision? Should they wait until the volatility of the development is lower? Or is a roadmap the ultimate spoiler of a fun feedback loop and should never see the light of day?
Vote and share your opinions in this thread!

 

[Wolfsblut]

Looks like i am for once with the mainstream here (edit: just saw there was only 6 votes by the time of this post )
Not yet, its too much stuff there that they can fix atm and as one can tell with the daily patches, they are working hard on it.
A Roadmap would be nice once the dust has settled, even without fixed timemarks.
I don't need a "XY is planned in Septemer, XY1 in Oktober", i would be fine with XY is next, XY1 will be done after that, and so on.

 

[Askorti]

A roadmap would force TW to focus on finalizing whatever they put in it, to the detriment to other features and issues that might be there. I think it's better that they work on things as they go, and react flexibly to issues that the community brings up, instead of just railroading themselves with a roadmap.

 

[VikingBALL]

A roadmap would force TW to focus on finalizing whatever they put in it, to the detriment to other features and issues that might be there. I think it's better that they work on things as they go, and react flexibly to issues that the community brings up, instead of just railroading themselves with a roadmap.

Exactly my thinking. Better to be adaptive and implement things as soon as they are in working condition

 

[GermanWall]

I don't care about time and dates. But i would really like to know, what they want to implement in the future.
Early Access is a great chance to take as much help from the community as they can get.

 

[enemy_man]

Right now I think their focus is on making the game stable and fixing the features that already exist. Still, it would be interesting to get a glimpse of what they intend to add after that. I don't think it would be a good idea for them to make a detailed roadmap though, but maybe something similar to the devblogs they had before.

 

[Jiet]

I'd say give it a month so they completely focus on fixing the critical, short-term problems. What would be nice/helpful would be someone [doesn't necessarily have to be a Dev] who can answer questions with regards to game mechanics.

 

[Svenn]

A road map is better suited to after full release, for upcoming DLC/expansion and such. Doing it earlier just restricts the developers.

 

[Aelender]

I think a roadmap is needed sooner then later. It lets us provide feedback on things they will actually be focusing on rather than things that are ultimately low priority. When we know what they want to focus on we can give better feedback, rather then just spewing feedback on absolutely everything and having them trying to fix things in scattershot fashion. I.E. If kingdom management/creation is high on the roadmap, we can provide specific feedback to let them concentrate on and perfect the many interactions needed. Without a roadmap its just 'uh, this is why kingdoms suck now, we getting fixes anytime soon? or are they working on crafting right now? or still working on the snowball problem? or is the priority on battle mechanics?, etc...'.

Ultimately a roadmap give us a general idea on where they want to focus, which in turn lets us provide better feedback on what is soon to be worked on. It does not have to be restrictive, just a guideline on where their current priorities are.

 

[Tukata]

I think they should do like the guy developping Dwarf Fortress : a list of features they're planning to include in the game, each having a current status (planned but not started/started/done) with no date.

 

[Shrugging Khan]

I'd like a very short-term roadmap; just what we can expect to see within the next weeks. And I'm fine with things just being named as they are; things that are uncertain should be tagged as such. No need for promises.

 

[Memoefe]

I would like a planned, wip, minor tweats needed, finished features list. If we knew what is already planned at least we would know what to suggest and what to worry. Of course telling the road map might create some minor angry people saying "hıw could you not add this" or "how is this feature is called finished" etc. But im sure by communication in this process these would be easier task.

 

[DLW khan]

whats the point? TW are making the game. not you. let them get on with it. what is to gain by having a roadmap? do you want to influence or change it? trust TW that they have a plan and just enjoy EA

 

[razgon]

In the past week, I've been seeing more and more people request or demand TaleWorlds to release a development roadmap of the future of Bannerlord. So I decided to create a poll to see what the community feels about this. I'll share my opinions on this first, mostly to get your minds rolling before you vote. Otherwise it'll be too instinctual which would serve no purpose other than teach us a bit about human nature.

In my personal opinion I feel releasing a roadmap would utterly ruin the suspense of waiting for new updates. For me, half of the fun of Bannerlord is seeing how it improves and progresses as new patches are released. If they release a roadmap, it'll spoil the fun of that entire process.
Also, as being in EA is a process involving feedback loops between the community and the developers, who's to say if having a roadmap is even viable? Sure you can fill a roadmap with things like Feasts, Rebellions, Ships, etc. But those things could all change as the development process continues. Having a roadmap would set some expectations in stone. That means that if the developers - or the community - get different ideas about where they want to see Bannerlord when it's out of EA, we'll end up with unfulfilled promises and angry mobs.

What do you think? Is a roadmap the necessary transparency we need? Would a roadmap put some much needed structure into the Bannerlord vision? Should they wait until the volatility of the development is lower? Or is a roadmap the ultimate spoiler of a fun feedback loop and should never see the light of day?
Vote and share your opinions in this thread!

Why on earth do we "need" a roadmap, and why is "structure much needed"? Do you base this on anything put faint notions and dreams?
Fans should learn to trust those who develop games, instead of try to force them to be run by committee - nothing good ever comes of that.

Most people in games development often tell of how many features were cut, changed, added or revised during development - its would serve little purpose to lock developers into certain things - especially since most fans are not capable of being flexible in understanding something like a roadmap.

 

[Aelender]

Why on earth do we "need" a roadmap, and why is "structure much needed"? Do you base this on anything put faint notions and dreams?
Fans should learn to trust those who develop games, instead of try to force them to be run by committee - nothing good ever comes of that.

Most people in games development often tell of how many features were cut, changed, added or revised during development - its would serve little purpose to lock developers into certain things - especially since most fans are not capable of being flexible in understanding something like a roadmap.

Its not a question of trying to force or lock them into anything, it simply allows us to better help them make a great game by providing feedback on systems they are actually planning on working on rather then feedback on systems that they ultimately feel are not very important (or not working on at the moment). A road map lets us help them better. I do have great faith in the company and its ability to create a great game, I just want to help in the best way!

 

[Horatius]

Coming week(s) is just going to be bug fixing and balancing already ready features. They bring out a new update about every day. If they release a roadmap now there is no way they will be able to stay on track of that roadmap because they first are going to fix the 1001 bugs that exist and will pop up.

 

[crazyinternaut]

I am for a flexible roadmap because I think that it is important that they share their vision of their game. Thus we know what may stay as it is and what may be implemented in the future. The short-term roadmap will be likely more accurate than the long-term one. This would also help the modders thus they can build project around what is not plan in the native game.

 

[SlyFox]

Why on earth do we "need" a roadmap?

Did you read my post? We agree on most points and voted the same, lol.

and why is "structure much needed"? Do you base this on anything put faint notions and dreams?

I base it on this.
I love TaleWorlds but nobody's perfect.

 

[Nordmann]

Did you read my post? We agree on most points and voted the same, lol.


I base it on this.
I love TaleWorlds but nobody's perfect.

Ouch! Some of those reviews are pretty damning. ?

 

[Shrugging Khan]

Spaghetti code and a lack of design focus? Sounds about right.

Still, let's hope they get it done.