What makes Bannerlord dull

Users who are viewing this thread

For those who got used and like current system, probably. TW can still add a console command to remove the "fog of war".
For fresh new players, that's just great...

😜
I have about 500 hours on singleplayer and this would be a huge improvement. As it is now it's a very mechanical experiense, you never go anywhere you dont need. Now we need reasons to actually visit the Town, castle and village scenes and the game would come to life. Well, alot more life then it is now.
 
For me the game is dull because after a certain time there is a) only more of the same and b) it's tedious and not fun to do it. That's with the assumption that all the annoying problems (e.g. bad spears, bad distancing in melee, cavalry unable to hit with thrusts, footarchers unable to hit horsearchers, bad formations, bad control in battle, bad AI campaign decisions) were solved before the appraisal.

Unlike many I don't see Warband in a better positon than BL. Warband was also dull despite some nice better mechanics which would enhance BL if implemented. Warband annoyed me because player influence was mainly connected with being marshal, so there was a long period for me in which Warband was more dull than BL. Influence in BL is problematic but I'd prefer BL to Warband.

To a certain degree all video games are repetitive and dull, so I don't feel as if I was terribly tricked by TW and my life destroyed, like seemingly some see it in some discussions. :wink:
 
Here is a list of mods i have written down for after release . The mods for me at least are going to be needed for Bannerlord in its current state , some mods i have removed from my list due to 1.80 update. The mods obviously aren't to everyone's taste but for me it will fill the gapping hole in game play sort to long campaigns. So i need most of this to make the fun. Its mostly none combat.

Forge for me - In a town where smithy exists, you can buy forged weapon and enhance your weapon
Kingdom strategies command - This module manages your troops to carry out escorts, create new armies, protect garrisons and attack castles or cities. using your game strategies, your kingdom commanded by you instead of relying solely on the game's AI
Diplomacy -
  • Messengers
  • Alliances
  • Non-Aggression Pacts
  • Grant fiefs to clans in your kingdom
  • Claiming fiefs that you led the assault on
  • Improved Diplomacy User Interface
  • Vassal Diplomacy Control
  • War Exhaustion
  • Expansionism
  • Donate Money to Lords
  • Influence Balancing[
  • Factions and Civil Wars
    • Secede from an existing kingdom.
    • Force the ruler of a kingdom to abdicate the throne.
Distinguished service - recruit your best soldiers into companions
Dismemberment plus - brutal combat lop limbs off
Serve as a soldier - as title
True relations - easier to make friends and foes
Useful companions - companions ern exp in there role
Marry anyone - as title
Banner kings - Banner Kings is a suite of features to deepen non-combat gameplay. Populations, feudal titles, village projects, settlement management overhaul & more.
True noble opinions - All npc's have the own opinion
Ludas - Ludus adds a completely new business opportunity for you.
Intrigues - Enabling everyone to create their own dirty strategies. Actions include, assassination, kidnapping, torture, spreading rumours, sabotaging parties and starting civil unrest.
Train your troops - as title
 
I feel like people forget how Native was like. The hell you people mean "Warband had charm and tried but Bannerlord doesn't"? Oh man I sure loved taking time away from playing the game to check tavern by tavern for the one bard who gave me the one poem to court the one lady. Ohhhh damn the lords were soooooo interesting, they had one trait that affected their behaviour and that's that, popular mods like Pendor, Floris and Perisno added a feature where it would literally tell you their personality because it was very interesting to know them and hang out.
Also I fell like whoever is saying that armour is useless needs to play the latest version.
 
I think you will like the next iteration of the encyclopedia "fog of war" - even if it doesn't completely resolve what you are describing.
That actually would solve quite a few problems if done correctly, the most important being immersion.

Hopefully some discussion options will be added to improve the descriptions in the encyclopedia.

For example: if you introduce yourself respectfully to an npc, they will give you a more detailed description of themselves, "I am Rolf, son of Rolf, of the house of Rolf, lord of Jamiche and Jamiche Castle, glad to make your acquaintance". -> You now know who they are, who their father is, their clan and fiefs.
While if you interact poorly, they cut the talk short -> you have fewer informations, like no knowledge of who their family is, what their fiefs are.

Knowledge could be unlocked through tavern discussions, talking to militia/guards, etc.

Heck, it could be interesting to have the banner showcased for a fief you have had in your range of vision, but not the holder until you get info for that. Though that's probably needlessly complicated, I'll admit that much.

Still though, this encyclopedia Fog of War holds a lot of potential, especially if you are planning to improve relationships and interactions with npcs, and especially their dialog (that includes guards, militia, peasants, etc).
 
The top three reasons I find it dull when I load it up:
  • NPC/World feels uninspired/boring. Everyone feels like a copy-pasta and act basically the same way. In Warband, the lords etc actually felt/read off as individual characters with their own "quirks".
  • AI still a mess. It's much worse in my opinion on a new engine, with all of these new half-baked features plaguing the AI further. I can't control my troops as much, so when sieging comes around, the stupidity of the AI is even more apparent than it was in Warband. Watching them fumble to figure out how to get up a damn ladder when it took 10+ years to make this AI, makes me shut the game off almost every single time. Nothing is worse than feeling the game fight against me using my own forces.
  • Uninspired features or incomplete use of others. Banner system is half-baked, criminal system is half-baked, clan system is tedious and feels restricting at times, blacksmithing is just an annoying distraction, no Warband features that we ALL loved like feasts etc.
Overall, all of that combines into this really overwhelming feeling that's hard to ignore. The game doesn't feel charming, it doesn't work well, none of the world pulls me in, the battles are tedious because of formation and AI, etc etc. I'm left thinking, "Why aren't I just playing Warband?". Because Bannerlord is just a prettier, more annoying, boring, featureless mess. It has all of Warband's problems plus a whole slew of its own that becomes way too difficult to ignore.

It just doesn't make sense to me to torture myself playing an inferior product just because it looks better.... :cautious:
 
Lack of quest/goal, lack of interesting conversation with companions/spouse/follower, too limited of skill due cap leveling system, leveling slow as snail at same time couple quest required certain skill, but player can't because skill spent are limited, (30 level, and you can't unlock everything to keep going, it's go home(can't take quest or can't do this due skill allowed) or go big,

You are had to choice great warrior but can't lead man good, or be great leader, but as warrior painful to fight that can lead dull game because you can't do or had fun as great warrior and great leader at same time, for example. auto trade would be nice since some player want world peace, and making united whole faction without war goal but it's painful slow to level up trade and gain gold and do this routes while combat is more fun, faster leveling, so go on. That's what bannerlord in long term become dull, I think, Correct me wrong or add to feedback, I guess.
 
Do you mean the official novel< dev blog>? Maybe all we need right now is a TV series from the original book created by TW for Netflix. It would be great if Henry Cavill starred in it.
 
In short, it's nothing more than a battle generator. After you've fought a few battles, it gets dull, not surprisingly. Warband was a bit thin on the non-combat aspects, but Bannerlord has managed to remove most of what little was there. In exchange, we got the ability to raise a successor, it you've got the patience to stick with a long, boring campaign long enough for that to matter.
This is really a good point and huge miss by the developer. I wonder what percentage of players actually finish a multi generation game or if the developers ran any test during the alpha stages? I couldnt manage to play that long if i was hyped up on adderall and redbull. The game just simply doesnt have the content to engage an audience on this level.
 
Even battle-wise. I don't like the new point-and-shoot arcade-y archery. I liked when I had to compensate gravity and bad stats, getting a feel for the potential arc, last time I tried it felt like a shotgun. After so many hours playing the original engine and how it was tuned I just have a very uncanny valley feel when playing the sequel. Like the inconsistent familiarity makes it worse when something deviates from what you'd normally expect. But maybe it's just me, I'll probably give it another go once the game is more ironed out.

PS: The waxy faces, robotic blinking speed and exaggerated body shapes and sudden expressions still kind of creep me out a bit. Hope some of this can be tweaked or ameliorated. The shaders are good, I think it's a combination of art direction and geometry.
Lol, i have to disagree on the "uncanny valley" feel. Coming from 3d art this isnt even close to touching the uncanny valley. Its just bad artwork plain and simple. You can make far better characters using free software these days. And the paid ones.... (ex. character creator 4) can make some really next level stuff in no time at all. Pretty sure most this was made back when we still had to texture everthing by hand.
 
Here is a list of mods i have written down for after release . The mods for me at least are going to be needed for Bannerlord in its current state , some mods i have removed from my list due to 1.80 update. The mods obviously aren't to everyone's taste but for me it will fill the gapping hole in game play sort to long campaigns. So i need most of this to make the fun. Its mostly none combat.

Forge for me - In a town where smithy exists, you can buy forged weapon and enhance your weapon
Kingdom strategies command - This module manages your troops to carry out escorts, create new armies, protect garrisons and attack castles or cities. using your game strategies, your kingdom commanded by you instead of relying solely on the game's AI
Diplomacy -
  • Messengers
  • Alliances
  • Non-Aggression Pacts
  • Grant fiefs to clans in your kingdom
  • Claiming fiefs that you led the assault on
  • Improved Diplomacy User Interface
  • Vassal Diplomacy Control
  • War Exhaustion
  • Expansionism
  • Donate Money to Lords
  • Influence Balancing[
  • Factions and Civil Wars
    • Secede from an existing kingdom.
    • Force the ruler of a kingdom to abdicate the throne.
Distinguished service - recruit your best soldiers into companions
Dismemberment plus - brutal combat lop limbs off
Serve as a soldier - as title
True relations - easier to make friends and foes
Useful companions - companions ern exp in there role
Marry anyone - as title
Banner kings - Banner Kings is a suite of features to deepen non-combat gameplay. Populations, feudal titles, village projects, settlement management overhaul & more.
True noble opinions - All npc's have the own opinion
Ludas - Ludus adds a completely new business opportunity for you.
Intrigues - Enabling everyone to create their own dirty strategies. Actions include, assassination, kidnapping, torture, spreading rumours, sabotaging parties and starting civil unrest.
Train your troops - as title
Great list.
I would add:
1. Improved Garrisons, which is a must have for me - makes castle and settlement garrisons useful (patrol, join army, defend fief, etc), allows you to train garrison, send recruiter to specific lands to recruit recruits, etc. Fantastic intuitive interface as well.
2. Party AI Overhaul and Commands Rebuild - allows you control over your clan parties (give specific instructions about recruitment, send on patrols, get to follow you like mini army, maintain control over their gear and supplies, etc.)
 
NPC/World feels uninspired/boring. Everyone feels like a copy-pasta and act basically the same way. In Warband, the lords etc actually felt/read off as individual characters with their own "quirks".
Pretty sure your own imagination is doing most of the job there. Oh damn, I wish I could hang out with Count Delinard, what a cool person he was. But who could forget Boyar Karak! Ahah, that ol' rascal!
 
Pretty sure your own imagination is doing most of the job there. Oh damn, I wish I could hang out with Count Delinard, what a cool person he was. But who could forget Boyar Karak! Ahah, that ol' rascal!
Sometimes it's rose tinted glasses, sometimes I forget how bad diplomacy was in Vanilla Warband. But you have to admit that damn near every lord in this game is completely forgettable, while memes about King Harlaus's feasts or Jeremus getting knocked out are still a thing. Those kinds of unintentional quirky things are what many like myself remember about npcs. I bet if you listed 10 lords in Warband I could tell you what faction 90% of them were in but in Bannerlord outside of a few Rulers Idk anyone nor do I care because there's no reason to, and why should you when you don't have a relationship with any individual lord just a clan.
 
Pretty sure your own imagination is doing most of the job there. Oh damn, I wish I could hang out with Count Delinard, what a cool person he was. But who could forget Boyar Karak! Ahah, that ol' rascal!

Nah, Bannerlord NPCs are just lifeless husks. I'm not saying Warband had god-levels of writing for NPCs, they were just more engaging and fun, because they had traits that actually reflected in who they were or were unintentionally (it seems) written very quirky, so they stood out against each other. That is absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, missing in Bannerlord.
 
@black_bulldog @Ser Jon How about this: both games have paper thin characters, but while in WB you were willing to paint over that with your own immersion (the "quirkyness"), BL's Lords and Rulers are rendered disposable or lesser in your eyes because of mortality. Derthert and the Northern Emperor Prick Whom I hate kick the bucket too early for some people to care about their lives.
 
@black_bulldog @Ser Jon How about this: both games have paper thin characters, but while in WB you were willing to paint over that with your own immersion (the "quirkyness"), BL's Lords and Rulers are rendered disposable or lesser in your eyes because of mortality. Derthert and the Northern Emperor Prick Whom I hate kick the bucket too early for some people to care about their lives.
My point wasn't that Warband was better I never meant to imply that, maybe because I enjoyed Warband more I found the npcs better idk. But imho there is nothing to Bannerlord npcs worth remembering. Does that mean that Warband npcs > Bannerlord npcs no. But Taleworlds had the time and staff to really make some good npcs and make them worth interacting with but they didn't. They could've and should've made this game far better than Warband but they didn't.
 
My point wasn't that Warband was better I never meant to imply that, maybe because I enjoyed Warband more I found the npcs better idk. But imho there is nothing to Bannerlord npcs worth remembering. Does that mean that Warband npcs > Bannerlord npcs no. But Taleworlds had the time and staff to really make some good npcs and make them worth interacting with but they didn't. They could've and should've made this game far better than Warband but they didn't.
A lot of people say this is because of fixed personalities. While that is party true, the same can be done in BL using trait weights. But still, the quality of writing is a big difference. In WB when you were defeated honourable lords would tell you something like "I heard you were defeated by count Montewar. Worry not, defeats may happen to anyone" while a dishonourable lord would insult you by saying "I heard Jarl Turiya crushed you on the field of battle and whipped you like a dog. Maybe rightfully so". And THAT made quick connections to characters. Both dishonourable and honourable characters in BL just say "I heard you took Quyaz." Again, infinitely more mechanical potential ALREADY IN PLACE in BL, but absolutely terrible in actual performance (Lazily written dialogue, or lack thereof). So I would argue against people who claim this is due to character mortality and generational play. The system is in place but is terribly done. Also menuisation made talking to characters futile, so even if there was dialogue like this you would see it exclusively from enemies. Have you EVER interacted with a friendly lord in BL???
 
My point wasn't that Warband was better I never meant to imply that, maybe because I enjoyed Warband more I found the npcs better idk. But imho there is nothing to Bannerlord npcs worth remembering. Does that mean that Warband npcs > Bannerlord npcs no. But Taleworlds had the time and staff to really make some good npcs and make them worth interacting with but they didn't. They could've and should've made this game far better than Warband but they didn't.
Let's just say that Warband set an extremely low bar in terms of characters, which Bannerlord proceeded to trip over and hard faceplant in the mud.
 
A lot of people say this is because of fixed personalities. While that is party true, the same can be done in BL using trait weights. But still, the quality of writing is a big difference. In WB when you were defeated honourable lords would tell you something like "I heard you were defeated by count Montewar. Worry not, defeats may happen to anyone" while a dishonourable lord would insult you by saying "I heard Jarl Turiya crushed you on the field of battle and whipped you like a dog. Maybe rightfully so". And THAT made quick connections to characters. Both dishonourable and honourable characters in BL just say "I heard you took Quyaz." Again, infinitely more mechanical potential ALREADY IN PLACE in BL, but absolutely terrible in actual performance (Lazily written dialogue, or lack thereof). So I would argue against people who claim this is due to character mortality and generational play. The system is in place but is terribly done
That's true. There's definitely a ton of potential with this system that hasn't been taken advantage of at all. There's lots they could do with it if they wanted to.

One example I always thought was interesting but not developed any further is how in that quest where you're supposed to find the spy among the tournament people, the quest recognizes the clothes someone's wearing and even cosmetic choices like facial hair. That's something that could be built on. It would be interesting if certain lords commented on what you're wearing and maybe got pissed off at you if you're dressed like the enemy. Or maybe they mock you for being a beardless youth. They could have real disguise missions where you actually have to dress like a native to pass. Maybe npcs treat you differently if you've got high tier armor compared to when you were in bandit rags. There's all kinds of stuff that could be done if there was a will to do it.
 
@black_bulldog @Ser Jon How about this: both games have paper thin characters, but while in WB you were willing to paint over that with your own immersion (the "quirkyness"), BL's Lords and Rulers are rendered disposable or lesser in your eyes because of mortality. Derthert and the Northern Emperor Prick Whom I hate kick the bucket too early for some people to care about their lives.

No, it's definitely not that. Warband NPCs weren't some award winning characters, but they certainly had more to them than the husks in Bannerlord.It has nothing to do because of mortality, nothing at all. They're just boring.
 
Back
Top Bottom