Nimbostratus
Recruit
Hi, everyone. To me, Mount & Blade is one of those games that has a very good core to work from, but also has a lot of details that take it down a few notches from where it could be. I could make quite a list of suggestions, but I'm going to focus only on this one for now:
Never block access to a menu without good reason. Below are some particularly annoying lockouts.
1. Talking to heroes
Any time I get new equipment for my companions or one of them levels up, I have to keep checking the party screen to see if it will let me actually interact with them. I can't talk during battle results. I can't talk in town. I can't talk in the tavern. I can't talk in the castle. I can't talk in the garrison. Does talking to heroes really have to be limited to the map only?
2. Party screen and inventory at battle intro
I've lost count of how many times I forgot to rearrange my party so huscarls are the first ones in line for a siege, or how often I forgot to swap my light crossbow and siege crossbow. My only option is to abandon the siege to make my changes and then build the ladders or towers all over again.
Field battles at least let you access your party before the fighting starts, but inventory changes can only be made at the field baggage. The field baggage which does not save your changes between rounds.
"Cannot reload this weapon on horseback!"
"@#$%"
3. I cannot exit during a battle
When this affects me, it is by far the most aggravating thing in the entirety of Warband.
Maybe I held Ctrl-Space and ran into an enemy I wasn't prepared to fight. Maybe I decided to take a stand at poorly defended fortress. Either way, I've entered into a battle that I now realize I have no hope of winning. So I hit Esc, and I... just get the control and graphics options. I can't quit and load my last save. In a field battle, I can retreat and hopefully try something else. In a siege, I don't have that luxury. I just get thrown right back into the battle, even more outnumbered than before. My only option is to stand there and watch the enemy kill my soldiers and knock out my character. Then... I still can't exit. I have to sit through a thousand different screens basically telling me how my men all died, my heroes ran away, my character was thrown in prison, and that some of my gear was stolen. Then the map goes into fast-forward until somebody finally decides to let me free. Only THEN am I allowed to exit and load an earlier save. Must you really salt the wound so heavily?
Alternatively, maybe I entered a lopsided battle that I can win, but somebody called me away from the computer for something that will take a while. I'd much prefer exiting the game and losing a minute or two of progress over leaving it paused for hours on end. I realize that I could Ctrl-Alt-Delete to get out of the game, but that feels more like a workaround for something broken, rather than an actual solution.
Never block access to a menu without good reason. Below are some particularly annoying lockouts.
1. Talking to heroes
Any time I get new equipment for my companions or one of them levels up, I have to keep checking the party screen to see if it will let me actually interact with them. I can't talk during battle results. I can't talk in town. I can't talk in the tavern. I can't talk in the castle. I can't talk in the garrison. Does talking to heroes really have to be limited to the map only?
2. Party screen and inventory at battle intro
I've lost count of how many times I forgot to rearrange my party so huscarls are the first ones in line for a siege, or how often I forgot to swap my light crossbow and siege crossbow. My only option is to abandon the siege to make my changes and then build the ladders or towers all over again.
Field battles at least let you access your party before the fighting starts, but inventory changes can only be made at the field baggage. The field baggage which does not save your changes between rounds.
"Cannot reload this weapon on horseback!"
"@#$%"
3. I cannot exit during a battle
When this affects me, it is by far the most aggravating thing in the entirety of Warband.
Maybe I held Ctrl-Space and ran into an enemy I wasn't prepared to fight. Maybe I decided to take a stand at poorly defended fortress. Either way, I've entered into a battle that I now realize I have no hope of winning. So I hit Esc, and I... just get the control and graphics options. I can't quit and load my last save. In a field battle, I can retreat and hopefully try something else. In a siege, I don't have that luxury. I just get thrown right back into the battle, even more outnumbered than before. My only option is to stand there and watch the enemy kill my soldiers and knock out my character. Then... I still can't exit. I have to sit through a thousand different screens basically telling me how my men all died, my heroes ran away, my character was thrown in prison, and that some of my gear was stolen. Then the map goes into fast-forward until somebody finally decides to let me free. Only THEN am I allowed to exit and load an earlier save. Must you really salt the wound so heavily?
Alternatively, maybe I entered a lopsided battle that I can win, but somebody called me away from the computer for something that will take a while. I'd much prefer exiting the game and losing a minute or two of progress over leaving it paused for hours on end. I realize that I could Ctrl-Alt-Delete to get out of the game, but that feels more like a workaround for something broken, rather than an actual solution.
