What Do You Guys Play For?

[froggyluv]

Not a sarcastic question - im just genuinely curious as what is the overall motive to play this game as it seemingly has no end screen or any sense of completion to it. I think if I knew that after I either painted the map or retired my Crown -if there was like a spreadsheet with some background music with things ive done, accomplished, major wars won and lost, Great Wonders built etc...it would all feel well worth it even after a grindfest.

What actually does wait at the end of an entire playthru -anything??

 

[Gnjus]

I don't even own a copy of this game yet.....how can I role-play anything if I can't even get my haircut right......

 

[Lord Grindelvald]

Not a sarcastic question - im just genuinely curious as what is the overall motive to play this game as it seemingly has no end screen or any sense of completion to it. I think if I knew that after I either painted the map or retired my Crown -if there was like a spreadsheet with some background music with things ive done, accomplished, major wars won and lost, Great Wonders built etc...it would all feel well worth it even after a grindfest.

What actually does wait at the end of an entire playthru -anything??

I like climbing the ladder, befriending monarchs, getting strong companions and becoming obscenely wealthy.
So peak game for me is when I am ready to recruit lords into my freshly started kingdom.
After absorbing a dozen or so towns and castles into my kingdom I mostly give up the game for a couple of months till I start a new playthrough.

Because I know that continueing is pointless. Once I defeat a kingdom their leader would just run and endlessly recruit mercenaries to loot my villages and pester me. Other kings would wage war with me all the time, my lords would instigate dumb wars and forfeit others all the while forming useless armies that do absolutely nothing to defend the kingdom.

So the game, for me, is fun when I am in the developing phase. When I am putting my kingdom on the map, creating something.

But I have never finished a playthrough to completion and I will most likely never will.

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

What actually does wait at the end of an entire playthru -anything??

Nothing. If you pass policies I don't think you'll even have any rebellions either and if you made enough clans the AI can't really fight back anymore.
There's no "You are the only remaining faction" or whatever the nifty message you get in warband is.

 

[AxiosXiphos]

Not a sarcastic question - im just genuinely curious as what is the overall motive to play this game as it seemingly has no end screen or any sense of completion to it. I think if I knew that after I either painted the map or retired my Crown -if there was like a spreadsheet with some background music with things ive done, accomplished, major wars won and lost, Great Wonders built etc...it would all feel well worth it even after a grindfest.

What actually does wait at the end of an entire playthru -anything??

M&B has always been in a similar place as say Crusader Kings. Afterall what do you do in Crusader Kings really? Paint the map? Make a Dynasty? None of these things are strictly too difficult nor offer any real reward at the end.

These games are very much toy-boxs. What you do with them is kind of up to you; and what way you seek enjoyment is also in your hands. That said - like toys- it is okay to accept you may have grown out of love with something. As I get older and have less time for gaming - it is much harder for me to get into games without clear goals. I still love both those titles - but it's not a simple for me anymore.

Nothing. If you pass policies I don't think you'll even have any rebellions either and if you made enough clans the AI can't really fight back anymore.
There's no "You are the only remaining faction" or whatever the nifty message you get in warband is.

A closing cinematic that matches the opening one would be nice.

 

[MostBlunted]

M&B has always been in a similar place as say Crusader Kings. Afterall what do you do in Crusader Kings really? Paint the map? Make a Dynasty? None of these things are strictly too difficult nor offer any real reward at the end.

But CK offer hundreds of option to paint the map with different playstyles while Bannerlord offers exactly two at the moment:

1. Conquer everything
2. Buy everything

I don´t need a strict goal in those kind of games but different ways to achieve whatever I want to achieve.

 

[Askorti]

For me M&B was always, and I mean since the days of the first M&B, about the process, and not the finish line. I don't think I have done even a single world conquest campaign in the *checks his account*.... too many years that I played M&B games.

For me M&B has always been about those little moments of fun, and never any sort of accomplishment, because this game is by its very design not "difficult" in any way. There's never a real obstacle to overcome, and any sort of challenge that you might face will eventually be overcome with enough time spent and some grind.

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

But CK offer hundreds of option to paint the map with different playstyles while Bannerlord offers exactly two at the moment:

1. Conquer everything
2. Buy everything

I don´t need a strict goal in those kind of games but different ways to achieve whatever I want to achieve.

You can also kill everyone.

 

[Spinozart1]

You can also kill everyone.

I was going to post the same one...

 

[Makaveli23]

I am not play. I'm just waiting for major mods to be released.

 

[Goyyyio]

But CK offer hundreds of option to paint the map with different playstyles while Bannerlord offers exactly two at the moment:

1. Conquer everything
2. Buy everything

I don´t need a strict goal in those kind of games but different ways to achieve whatever I want to achieve.

Not to mention the amount of stupid, fun **** that happens in the run, your son falling in love with HER SIBLING WHAT THE **** DUDE??? Getting killed by your own physician who was a actually A SPY **** you, the amount of politics and negotiations you can do, the amount of characters that even without having a word it feels like so much is going on the world, all of this accomplished without you doing any fighting. Bannerlord has so much to learn, I always say it needs so much interaction, and a more living world, diseases going around, annoying religions getting in your way (or helping you accomplish stuff), lords with actual personality, kingdoms falling because of their own weight, civil wars being actually interesting (not just a town rebeling and then it goes puff, to nothing) POLITICS, the amount of politics that were done in medieval times, the amount of wars happening because of stupid bull**** fights and then extending for 100 years, you know, the fun stuff, not just fighting over and over and over and over and over and over and over

 

[Lord Grindelvald]

your son falling in love with HER SIBLING WHAT THE **** DUDE???

Incest is wincest .

But yeah, that's why late stage Bannerlord is just fighting and fighting and fighting. I like early to mid game because there is still some decisionmaking going on. What kingdom do I rally behind, whose castles will I absorb, what corner of the world do I want my settlement in, etc.
Once you've done all that its just endless fights.

 

[MostBlunted]

Alliances, non aggresions pacts...stuff like this is needed.....

 

[Csatádi]

im just genuinely curious as what is the overall motive to play this game as it seemingly has no end screen or any sense of completion to it.

the action, the fight

 

[Hans 77]

Mount&Blade games in general are more about the overall experience than whatever awaits at the "finish line" -because there is no finish line.

The franchise has always had one of the most unique and intuitive combat systems out there, and it's probably the most enjoyable part of the game. It's endlessly fun to fight in tournaments and battles (from small-scale bandit skirmishes to massive field battles and sieges). Plus, the sheer variety of ways you can do combat -from cavalry with lance, cavalry with sabre/2H weapons, horse archer, infantry with sword and board, infantry with 2H/polearm, a skirmisher light inf with throwing weapons, archer, and crossbowman, means there's almost endless replayability.

The roleplay aspect of the game is another big draw. The whole journey from complete nobody to lord/ruler plays out like an adventure narrative in and unto itself, and takes a unique path almost every different playthrough. Because the world is so fluid and dynamic (and a little random at times) you never play the same game twice. Your character directly meets many of the NPCs they interact with while roaming around in settlements: taverns (companions and mercs), the streets (people of interest/business opportunities/notables), and the great halls/keeps (lords), making for a personalized and immersive experience.

Alternative approaches to the traditional warlord playthrough also exist, like being a merchant or notorious bandit outlaw. This, much like the many options you have for combat, adds a lot of variety and replayability to the game. This is why when Taleworlds announced Bannerlord was going to have an organized crime element inside of settlements with black markets, street gangs, and gang wars, I got very excited, because it would have meant even more options for unique and alternative playthroughs, but alas...

 

[Terco_Viejo]

Mount&Blade games in general are more about the overall experience than whatever awaits at the "finish line" -because there is no finish line.

The franchise has always had one of the most unique and intuitive combat systems out there, and it's probably the most enjoyable part of the game. It's endlessly fun to fight in tournaments and battles (from small-scale bandit skirmishes to massive field battles and sieges). Plus, the sheer variety of ways you can do combat -from cavalry with lance, cavalry with sabre/2H weapons, horse archer, infantry with sword and board, infantry with 2H/polearm, a skirmisher light inf with throwing weapons, archer, and crossbowman, means there's almost endless replayability.

The roleplay aspect of the game is another big draw. The whole journey from complete nobody to lord/ruler plays out like an adventure narrative in and unto itself, and takes a unique path almost every different playthrough. Because the world is so fluid and dynamic (and a little random at times) you never play the same game twice. Your character directly meets many of the NPCs they interact with while roaming around in settlements: taverns (companions and mercs), the streets (people of interest/business opportunities/notables), and the great halls/keeps (lords), making for a personalized and immersive experience.

Alternative approaches to the traditional warlord playthrough also exist, like being a merchant or notorious bandit outlaw. This, much like the many options you have for combat, adds a lot of variety and replayability to the game. This is why when Taleworlds announced Bannerlord was going to have an organized crime element inside of settlements with black markets, street gangs, and gang wars, I got very excited, because it would have meant even more options for unique and alternative playthroughs, but alas...

AMEN! my thoughts; well said.
Unfortunately at the moment the basics for Bannerlord are compromised without being robust enough...

 

[Benjamin Bones]

Because there is no other game quite like it... Though it's been a while since I've last walked the hills and jaunted through the plains of Calradia...

For Calradia feels as if a plague has swept through the land - killing almost all role playing possibilities, robbing NPCs of their vigor, and destroying the varying cultures of Calradia and reducing them to homogenous monochromatic nations where kings and queens will gladly SELL their daughters for 5 coppers and a bag of flour...

Spoiler

 

[phatman]

I play to have fun, just like I would for any other vidya

 

[Tazuk]

Like the sandbox aspect. Would love it if they could do procedural maps.

 

[AngryPanCake]

Mount&Blade games in general are more about the overall experience than whatever awaits at the "finish line" -because there is no finish line.

The franchise has always had one of the most unique and intuitive combat systems out there, and it's probably the most enjoyable part of the game. It's endlessly fun to fight in tournaments and battles (from small-scale bandit skirmishes to massive field battles and sieges). Plus, the sheer variety of ways you can do combat -from cavalry with lance, cavalry with sabre/2H weapons, horse archer, infantry with sword and board, infantry with 2H/polearm, a skirmisher light inf with throwing weapons, archer, and crossbowman, means there's almost endless replayability.

The roleplay aspect of the game is another big draw. The whole journey from complete nobody to lord/ruler plays out like an adventure narrative in and unto itself, and takes a unique path almost every different playthrough. Because the world is so fluid and dynamic (and a little random at times) you never play the same game twice. Your character directly meets many of the NPCs they interact with while roaming around in settlements: taverns (companions and mercs), the streets (people of interest/business opportunities/notables), and the great halls/keeps (lords), making for a personalized and immersive experience.

Alternative approaches to the traditional warlord playthrough also exist, like being a merchant or notorious bandit outlaw. This, much like the many options you have for combat, adds a lot of variety and replayability to the game. This is why when Taleworlds announced Bannerlord was going to have an organized crime element inside of settlements with black markets, street gangs, and gang wars, I got very excited, because it would have meant even more options for unique and alternative playthroughs, but alas...

I second @Terco_Viejo , I feel the same way!

Even though the game is NOT nearly as polished as it should be, still has so much potential that the current state of it is barely scratching the surface!
I like all the things you mentioned and most of all, I love the sandbox aspect. I've really never thought about the "END" result or a specific goal playing M&B. To me it's more like sailing a sailboat: it's not about the destination, but more about the journey itself.