The game could really use a "messenger" service in the baseline game

[Zoogielord]

I don't know what the policy of this game is re mods & achievements(don't use mods) but this game's combat and basic formula is great. There was a huge amount of work done on the game and it shows. The problem is sometimes just very small details get left out and get in the way of that formula. One of those things is contacting other lords and mercenaries. It makes sense that you'd need to speak to the leader of a clan or mercenary company on whether they'd like to join your faction, but not that you'd have to personally track them down for a two minute chat on whether they'd like to join you that might span 100s of Kilometers in distance. It becomes insanely tedious considering they usually move faster than you do due to party size etc.

A "Send a message" service with a certain amount of time/cost based on distance or something before you get a 'popup' for a conversation would do wonders for singleplayer. In warband, prospective vassals would join your faction and sit in your castle. This game doesn't do that, and i've got a faction(not mine, another one, Northern Empire) that literally has zero fiefs but i have to personally find their members on the map to see whether they'd defect to mine. It just doesn't make sense and it becomes really tedious when i'd much rather be playing the core of the game - leading armies, fighting battles, recruiting troops, expanding or defending. Having to speak to a SPECIFIC member of that clan makes this problem way worse, since i can't just find any member, it has to the be the leader.

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

Agreed and I think this idea had been brought up by Devs, but I don't know if we got an update about if it gets added or not. It's really needed because the time spend to find clan leaders really undermines the use of recruiting them at all. Sure, it would be nice to have more clans or mercs but really, if your goal is to paint the map it's always better to spend time going after the next target and just raise wanderer clans when you can, then on a goose chase for a clan leader. A messenger system would make it much more useful, especially for mercs who are just temporary anyways.

 

[Zoogielord]

Agreed and I think this idea had been brought up by Devs, but I don't know if we got an update about if it gets added or not. It's really needed because the time spend to find clan leaders really undermines the use of recruiting them at all. Sure, it would be nice to have more clans or mercs but really, if your goal is to paint the map it's always better to spend time going after the next target and just raise wanderer clans when you can, then on a goose chase for a clan leader. A messenger system would make it much more useful, especially for mercs who are just temporary anyways.

It just increases how tedious the game is. I don't want to play hide and seek with clan leader NPCs. Yes, you probably need to talk to the leader of a clan if you want them to defect. That's realistic. The problem is that writing is also a realistic thing. You think that someone who has a million dinars, several castle and towns directly under their control is going to chase this single person across the map and not use some sort of messenger? Even if you had to meet a clan leader at an agreed spot and an agreed time to talk to them after writing to them, it would make this game better. But you could just cut that part and just make a "meeting popup" after your messenger reaches them.

Its little things like this that detract from the core gameplay. I get that they did alot with the game and put in a huge amount of effort into generating content, but some refinement to make that content actually enjoyable would go a huge way. As it is right now it becomes a chore.

 

[Adryl]

I wish they would do this messenger thing. Just started another playthrough and god this part is so annoying. It's a small thing that ruins the game. I have to mod it or I just can't take it. It's so frustrating because I love the battles so much. But little things like this just make the game tedious.

 

[Zoogielord]

I wish they would do this messenger thing. Just started another playthrough and god this part is so annoying. It's a small thing that ruins the game. I have to mod it or I just can't take it. It's so frustrating because I love the battles so much. But little things like this just make the game tedious.

I actually quit because of all the tedium. Not this just this thing, but all of it. I can't be bothered to finish my first playthrough because i reaized its just not worth it. All of these types of decisions just get in the way of the core gameplay - a medieval battle simulator with paint the map aspect to it. They tried to make things realistic, but people in real life invented systems to avoid the kind of things they produced for precisely those reasons.


If they wanted REALISM, they thought they'd produce it by rightfully having to talk to a clan leader(Who should make the decision) but ignored all the real life 'systems' that people invented to avoid the tedium in real life they created. Do they really think that people who own towns and castles personally trek across the map to ask someone to join them, without any ability to find them, or arrange a meeting? Someone who has inordinate amount of wealth, somehow has time for this? No. Writing is a thing, and it predates feudalism that this game is based in.

This really should be apart of the base game in some form, whether you want the player to have to meet the lord in particular at an agreed place and time OR just make the meeting pop up after a certain amount of days once the messenger "Finds" the lord. Either is preferable.
This wouldn't be such a huge issue if the map was the size of warband, but its gigantic. These people are almost impossible to find.