What part of the possible career of your character matter *most* to you?

[ldgarrett]

Hi, All. I'm not one for starting threads, or even posting comments unless there is something asked that I have the answer for... but...

I need a bit of help from you all to size up what matters most to our forum-community before I try to present some things that I've noticed in play that I'd pitch to being priority additional tasks at this late stage of Early Access for Developers (or, in their disinterest, Modders). The key problem I face is: When I talk to people playing and especially returning to play after months away, I get very different answers as to what part of the career of their character matters to them. How far in do they play, to say "This is what I play Bannerlord for"? So, I'm risking the forums and posting a poll. Your help, by answering, would be greatly appreciated.

and, in fair play, I'll even tell you what my personal answer is: I actively dislike the first ~200 game days of play needed to get a character started. But I'm a happy adventurer as soon as I've got about 16-20 levels on the main character, focus points out in skills I want to see grow to great rank, and have all the basics of Clan Rank 2 (or more!) to play as Merc, Vassal, or Independent as I see fit. I'll then play on into the long future of "seeing your children grow up" and "making a difference in the (game) world". But that's my jam; Yours may be something different.

Poll open for seven days.
(and yes, there's a typo in the Title and question. Should be "matters".)

 

[Akka]

I want to experience the "rag to riches", the "from nobody to the Emperor of the known world", so every part if important.
And it means every part should feel like a proper adventure. I feel the game jump-start us far too much, we are immediately awarded a false noble background (from where does the banner of my house comes from, my parents were trappers in the woods...), we should have to work our way to gather men and become recognized as a troop captain. But that doesn't mean only the "adventures of a 3rd level fighter" interests me, just that it should be deepened a lot.

 

[Moton]

It's only fun from day 1 unitll I got 2-3 towns and then I quit. It's something about the late game that dosen't feel like an actual challange but rather a long chore.

 

[MostBlunted]

I really enjoy the early and midgame. But the game get´s boring for me as soon as I start "winning", like having an army that can beat everyone else. At this point I´m slowly taking towns/castles and it´s repetetive as ****. I mostly get bored after I own my 3rd town because there is nothing new to come. It´s just an endless war (sometimes against faction X, sometimes against Y and of course sometimes against all) and there is no stuff that I can do but fighting and running from point A to point B on the map.

The game is lacking depth...but that´s nothing new...

 

[Sweynforkbeard]

What I really enjoyed in Warband was the early stage of the game focussing on gearing and levelling up.

This part just doesnt work in Bannerlord, in no small part of course due to the disparity between gear cost and what you can make from hunting bandits. In my current campaign (1.7) I started the merc stage/army hunting part of the game as early as day 52. What I truely want is for this early pre merc stage to be more worthwhile-extended.

I occationally reach the king stage but even then I will end a campaign when I reach a point where I start to heavily outmatch everone else. I have no illusion that I will ever fully conquer the map and I simply doubt that TW or anyone else would be able to make the endgame engaging enough for that to happen.

 

[Grank]

Early to mid for sure. You actually have options, like being a smith, tactician, merchant, etc. Once you get big enough, you're pretty much forced to be a martial lord. Money and troops become mere numbers. The main gameplay loop is just taking down armies after armies within short-lived peace and war. We can't play as a politician or what I'd call an "economic lord". You're forced to be a martial lord. You have to fight a lot to even sustain yourself. Pretty boring.

 

[Julio-Claudian]

Early to mid is most fun. I always start a campaign with the intention of making it to the second generation and using my first character's son to conquer the world but I nearly always get bored by that point.

 

[Antaeus]

Sometimes I wish I could skip my children's annoying teen years.

 

[MostBlunted]

Is there anyone here who enjoys the late game?

 

[Danny5]

Is there anyone here who enjoys the late game?

The devs do

 

[archaicwarrior]

It's all about the Legions .. First the Hastati attack, hurling pilum then retiring .. then the Princeps do the same .. if the enemy is still in good order ,then the Triarii phalanx moves forward.

.

 

[Antaeus]

Is there anyone here who enjoys the late game?

I've been quite enjoying it lately...

I do find that my cities max out in development long before my children inherit. So the late game could benefit from more developmenty type things to invest in.

 

[ldgarrett]

Encouragement to those who look in here, but haven't voted in the poll:

This is thread is more useful the higher the vote count.
So, vote if you haven't, please. Encourage others if that's something you'd be willing to do.

 

[Spinozart1]

Early and mid for sure.
I did not really try a long campaign so I'm quite biased here.
And recently I'm mainly modding-testing so...
I will go for a long campaign once the game is more "mature" and has all the confirmed features implemented (banners, cut scenes, voice, etc...)...

 

[MostBlunted]

The devs do

They don´t play their own game otherwise I can´t explain all of those wrong design decisions.

 

[xGreedo]

Early to mid is most fun. I always start a campaign with the intention of making it to the second generation and using my first character's son to conquer the world but I nearly always get bored by that point.

Dude... I do the exact same thing... It's the same for me I get bored. So sad

 

[Honved]

To me, the initial steps of lifting yourself by your own bootstraps from next to nothing becomes just one boring fight after another against assorted bandit parties until you can recruit and arm a decent party of companions and a few trainees. It's fun for a while, then gets boring and tedious without something deeper and more meaningful behind it.

Then you join a faction and get a fief, which SHOULD be about when it gets interesting. You should be able to build up that fief, begin increasing relations with Lords both within the faction and outside of it, and positioning yourself for future greatness. Your renown grows, and you're awarded a castle, allowing you to garrison troops beyond what you can drag around with you. Your relations with other Lords begin to bloom into friendships, and you should start having a say in faction affairs. Unfortunately, these parts are precisely where the game fails to deliver. There is almost no point in politics or relations, as war and peace are random, and there's only a limited set of things you can do with a fief.

Even if you become a King, you're still just a small step up from a bandit-lord at the head of a small pack of ill-disciplined conscripts, with virtually no control over the other bandit-lords that make up your sorry faction and every other. Trying to juggle the loyalties and direct the efforts of your Lords is akin to herding cats. I don't consider it "fun".

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

Early and middle. I like getting going and trying to do it more efficiently each game. I like the middle game too *IF* I skip being a vassal and just go strait into kingdom at rank4, then it's a challenge of getting a fledgling faction rolling all on my own. After that, once the faction is on it's feet the game becomes very repetitive and exactly like any other game of bannerlord at that point.
And I don't like being a vassal and doing so kills the run for me, because it's too easy. You can just pile up an army and siege a fief and just stomp out every army that comes to stop you, waddle over and cash it all in for several towns worth of cash and then repeat. The faction just piles fiefs on you until you have just about a factions worth. It's too easy and too soon IMO. Rank 2 happens very fast and a faction will often dump a town on you as soon as you join, it's very silly.

 

[Ask]

The early and middle game are the more fun parts because there's definitely more things and more varied things to do.

I started a new playthrough with the full intention of joining the khuzaits, making a horse archer army and executing all the enemy lords. After joining and starting executing lords, I realised it's pretty much the same thing as any other playthrough while being a vassal, since the relations hits barely matters. Maybe it'll get more fun if I execute more lords but honestly, meh. Too much work.

There's just not much to do. Once you start a new kingdom and get past the first hurdle of getting vassals and stabilizing your fiefs the game essentially plays itself. You don't need to do anything, your lords start making their own armies and conquering everything, all you have to do is manage fiefs, recruit lords and declare war and peace.

Being a vassal is the same thing, except easier because not only does the game also play itself, but you already got a huge head start since your kingdom already has a bunch of lords and you usually start getting fiefs as soon as they are captured. All you have to do is save up influence to declare peace and war and that's it.

I didn't think I was going to get bored of Bannerlord so quickly but I've only run like... 7 campaigns and all except for one have gotten incredibly dull as soon as you become a vassal/king and the game decides to play itself.

The only one that has kept some magic is one that I'm playing exclusively as a bandit/raider, do my best to only field bandit troops, raid caravans and villages, that kind of stuff. There's something fun about having a crappy ragtag army, having to flee from lords that get annoyed by your pesky antics, and see kings try to declare peace with you paying you tribute because you keep ****ing with their little villages. The mental roleplay for owning workshops is that they are for money laundering, but I really wish you could have the actual criminal enterprises. That and to establish hideouts and stuff for fun, you know? Like making my own little village of bandits that lives outside the law tucked away in some corner that most lords aren't gona waste their time checking.

Eitherway, yeah. Early to mid game is fun, then at some point every single playthrough devolves into pretty much the same thing. Gonna have to wait until more content is added.

 

[Danny5]

They don´t play their own game otherwise I can´t explain all of those wrong design decisions.

I guess some do, but seems to be by forced