I find that new tournament system is very enjoyable but it is really not impacting as it is in Warband but more balanced in setup.
Warband version was very randomized and balance was not an issue in tournament yet money making was the reason behind the tournaments.
As the patches coming through tournaments are becoming more relevant yet it is still not enough to grind any tournament!
Main Issues
1-Tournament rewards are not satisfying
2-Unit types effects the armor weared by the contender
3-No real variation of tournaments: Such as it is always 32 contender and it is always on equal grounds. Or arena differences.
4-No ability to edit tournament setups ie adjustable tournaments.
5-Watching other rounds is not worth and betting is not allowed on other participants for each round.
6-Contenders are not relevant although Bannerlord contains more unique characters.
Way to Fix
1-Increase the rewards based on the number and the quality of the contenders and the difficulty percentage indicator should be the deciding factor when evaluating such problem. Renown, average troop levels or skills combination should yield high value single item or medium value multiple items even.
2-If a contender is more skilled than no matter what weapon they carry they should and will likely to win against lesser opponent. But the armor they wear will carry over the tournament yet I'm not sure if it is just a visual representation but armor values are flat for everyone!
3-I need to expand variants in this regard:
a-32 contenders are not enough and tournaments are basically identical to each other. You'd expect a more valiant tournament and less contenders in Vlandia, and more horse race and friendly contest in Khuzait(There are hipodrums in cities in world map so why not?). Or more hand to hand and rumble style tournaments in Sturgia. So "Unique Type Tournaments" is the first issue.
b-Number of contenders should be adjustable and random nobles or citizens with randomized names should be in instead of just unit names. Current factors make the tournament just boring after one or two and without a feeling. Number of contenders can be 8-16(for high risk nobility tournament) 32-64-128-256 for all-allowed tournaments.
c-By means of equal grounds, Gauntlent matches, Battle royale, FFA, 6v6, 8v8, or handicap matches even should be an option with high-risk high-reward maybe? A skilled warrior vs 5 peasant? I'd watch that simulation in any time and bet on that. or 20 v 20 nobles team deathmatch with only 2h swords available.
d-All arena are identical. If horce races are implemented then I'd like to have a hipodrum arena. Or jousting arena maybe?
4-Ability to edit and what type of tournament it will be and how many contenders there will be in it. This is related with third section so it is explained it detail.
5-Betting on individuals should be allowed for there should be a gain ratio on each of them based on their renown perhaps. Therefore, if you bet on yourself you should be getting a combined reward for betting from the pool at the end of the tournament but if you bet on other individuals you should be getting your prize at the end of each round based on whether they win or lost.
6-As mentioned previously. Contenders can be given randomized names. Make a name pool, put whatever name you can gather that's the easiest thing to do in a sandbox game I believe. Than make the game fill the contenders based on the randomized names. Unless there are certain participants such as player, companions, lords etc. thus remove the fixed character slots and fill the rest with randomizers.
Randomizers should also make some of them proficient in certain weapons and give them renown based on the randomized quality. Therefore the tournament rewards, prize pool, betting ratios all will be adjusted right after randomizer placed all the contenders. This is more realistic and true since harder the tournament is the more rewarding it should be.
Note: There could be a slider added to increase or reduce the randomness of a tournament and adjust the accuracy by making all participants stronger and weaker with a two edged slider where you can decide the range on which end the slider should stop.
Let's give an example: The slider go between negative ten to positive ten. 0 is a medium tier troop where -10 is the weakest possible troop and 10 represents a noble.
Two edged slider gives:
-8 +3 or -1 +1 or +4 +8 or -10 0, -10 +10
What is the GOAL?
My suggestions aim tournaments to be:
-Replayable
-Exciting
-Rewarding for the Risks Taken
-Worth for Investing Time
-Addicting
-Impacting
As far as I know some of those are easy to implement
Some have medium difficulty.
But none of them other than randomizer needs a considerable amount of work.
Just slight tweaks and few slider can solve 80-90% of the issues I mentioned.
What is the most important and the key thing that is so crucial that needs fixing?
To answer that I have to ask another question. To eliminate the dullness and increase the replayability, increase the impact and all the things I said above etc, what single feature have to be changed?
The answer is: Section 3.
Go to "Way to Fix" and have an understanding of my approach to Section 3 and it will make the tournaments something that I'd do until the end of the campaign.
Warband version was very randomized and balance was not an issue in tournament yet money making was the reason behind the tournaments.
As the patches coming through tournaments are becoming more relevant yet it is still not enough to grind any tournament!
Main Issues
1-Tournament rewards are not satisfying
2-Unit types effects the armor weared by the contender
3-No real variation of tournaments: Such as it is always 32 contender and it is always on equal grounds. Or arena differences.
4-No ability to edit tournament setups ie adjustable tournaments.
5-Watching other rounds is not worth and betting is not allowed on other participants for each round.
6-Contenders are not relevant although Bannerlord contains more unique characters.
Way to Fix
1-Increase the rewards based on the number and the quality of the contenders and the difficulty percentage indicator should be the deciding factor when evaluating such problem. Renown, average troop levels or skills combination should yield high value single item or medium value multiple items even.
2-If a contender is more skilled than no matter what weapon they carry they should and will likely to win against lesser opponent. But the armor they wear will carry over the tournament yet I'm not sure if it is just a visual representation but armor values are flat for everyone!
3-I need to expand variants in this regard:
a-32 contenders are not enough and tournaments are basically identical to each other. You'd expect a more valiant tournament and less contenders in Vlandia, and more horse race and friendly contest in Khuzait(There are hipodrums in cities in world map so why not?). Or more hand to hand and rumble style tournaments in Sturgia. So "Unique Type Tournaments" is the first issue.
b-Number of contenders should be adjustable and random nobles or citizens with randomized names should be in instead of just unit names. Current factors make the tournament just boring after one or two and without a feeling. Number of contenders can be 8-16(for high risk nobility tournament) 32-64-128-256 for all-allowed tournaments.
c-By means of equal grounds, Gauntlent matches, Battle royale, FFA, 6v6, 8v8, or handicap matches even should be an option with high-risk high-reward maybe? A skilled warrior vs 5 peasant? I'd watch that simulation in any time and bet on that. or 20 v 20 nobles team deathmatch with only 2h swords available.
d-All arena are identical. If horce races are implemented then I'd like to have a hipodrum arena. Or jousting arena maybe?
4-Ability to edit and what type of tournament it will be and how many contenders there will be in it. This is related with third section so it is explained it detail.
5-Betting on individuals should be allowed for there should be a gain ratio on each of them based on their renown perhaps. Therefore, if you bet on yourself you should be getting a combined reward for betting from the pool at the end of the tournament but if you bet on other individuals you should be getting your prize at the end of each round based on whether they win or lost.
6-As mentioned previously. Contenders can be given randomized names. Make a name pool, put whatever name you can gather that's the easiest thing to do in a sandbox game I believe. Than make the game fill the contenders based on the randomized names. Unless there are certain participants such as player, companions, lords etc. thus remove the fixed character slots and fill the rest with randomizers.
Randomizers should also make some of them proficient in certain weapons and give them renown based on the randomized quality. Therefore the tournament rewards, prize pool, betting ratios all will be adjusted right after randomizer placed all the contenders. This is more realistic and true since harder the tournament is the more rewarding it should be.
Note: There could be a slider added to increase or reduce the randomness of a tournament and adjust the accuracy by making all participants stronger and weaker with a two edged slider where you can decide the range on which end the slider should stop.
Let's give an example: The slider go between negative ten to positive ten. 0 is a medium tier troop where -10 is the weakest possible troop and 10 represents a noble.
Two edged slider gives:
-8 +3 or -1 +1 or +4 +8 or -10 0, -10 +10
What is the GOAL?
My suggestions aim tournaments to be:
-Replayable
-Exciting
-Rewarding for the Risks Taken
-Worth for Investing Time
-Addicting
-Impacting
As far as I know some of those are easy to implement
Some have medium difficulty.
But none of them other than randomizer needs a considerable amount of work.
Just slight tweaks and few slider can solve 80-90% of the issues I mentioned.
What is the most important and the key thing that is so crucial that needs fixing?
To answer that I have to ask another question. To eliminate the dullness and increase the replayability, increase the impact and all the things I said above etc, what single feature have to be changed?
The answer is: Section 3.
Go to "Way to Fix" and have an understanding of my approach to Section 3 and it will make the tournaments something that I'd do until the end of the campaign.
