Mount & Blade

[Gravehill]

So, anyone tried this one called Mount & Blade?

http://www.taleworlds.com/

This game is located on fictional medieval time and place. Fictional means that it's not based on actual known cultures or environments but loosely. There are no dragons, no orcs - only humans with deadly weapons and shiny armours. And horses to ride of course. Game's hook is it's great fighting system. You learn skills but they only make fighting little easier - right timing and techniques are essential. It's very satisfying to win the fight - or to hit opponent in eye by arrow while riding with full gallop over his fallen comrades who look like pin-pillows already. To ride along with your knights against enemy in situation where you really don't know which side rises victorious. Participate to tournaments where people fight - some mounted some not. Others wield swords, shields or lances and others might have bows. In fight you either kill your opponents or take them as prisoners - ready to sell them as war-prisoner for lords or as slaves for salt mine or galleons. There are two cultures which war against each other and player can join any of them - or stay as freelancer.

This game just feels great. It can be played for free up to level 6 where one should buy license. One can buy it cheaper (it's only something under 20 € now) because it's not ready yet. Every time they release new version price goes up little. It won't be as expensive as games usually are since it's independent game. They put new features and stuff there every now and then and there it's already playable and enjoyable for tens of hours. I played it to level 6 and bought it right after I get there. Great game to play as small bits or in bigger bits as well. I've not get bored to it even I've played it for countless hours. There are very active modding groups doing various mods for it. Medieval Japan, Middle-earth-like mod and several others.

[Lysix]

I thought nobody else had heard of that game..
I couldn't get into it.

[Torp v2.0]

I've played it. I even bought it.

Fun little game, but as it is now (or was when I played it), it gets boring with time, running around chasing after bandits and enemy war patrols on the large map.

If the makers implemented more than just running around on the big map, and then killing some people in various terrain on the battlemap, the game could turn out very very good. Because, as you said, the combat system is great. If they had added some sorts of "missions" (take and hold a position, kill off the leader of the enemy, etc) to the battles, that would be cool.

[Drakonis]

I couldn't get the game to run right for one. The text was always garbled. And back in the day when I tried it, level 6 was plenty for me to decide - without having to read said text, that i simply wasn't into the game.

[Asor]

I currently have the full version, and im somewhere around level 20. The game is getting pretty boring as the only thing to do is to run around, try to catch the enemies who most of the time run away, and sometimes are faster than you . Well, you can also do those missions, but they are just generic "Hey, I were looking at my army yesterday and I realised that they are all horrible soldiers. I need you to train me 6 Knights" missions. This game will absolutely own when they get city attacks and such implented, but at the moment the game is good for when Im bored and cant be bothered to play anything else.

Vaegir knight shock troops, GO!

[Gravehill]

Have you tried mods? Story mod have some more depth in it. They just got out version 0.8 of vanilla out and there is some improvement there as well to basic game. Not yet epic stories but little improvements there and there. It will have many of those things mentioned implemented at some point. If you play lot it might get boring but for me it suits well. I have no time for long gaming sessions, all I need is some adrenaline rush every now and then. And since I play only hour or so every now and then I don't get bored to it although total time I've been playing is quite big. I'm quite weird in that sense (too) that when I like some game I can play it for years. Like Nethack for instance. Started playing it on Amiga somewhere at 199x and still play it occasionally. And then there's Pirates! and Fallout (series). And GTA 3 and Vice City. Their replay-ability is just great. And that's what I want from my games - freedom to choose how to do things.

Sure, there are lots of work to do so Mount & Blade will be "ready". But on the other hand it's quite interesting to see how game will develop and see how different versions differ - how team interacts with fans via forums and how ideas presented end up in game. It's both game and process that interest me.

[Asor]

Sure, there are lots of work to do so Mount & Blade will be "ready". But on the other hand it's quite interesting to see how game will develop and see how different versions differ - how team interacts with fans via forums and how ideas presented end up in game. It's both game and process that interest me.

I got to agree with you, I think I should try some of the mods some day.

My gaming "sense" is kinda weird, that I usually get bored with games fast, but in the end I start thinking "Man, I would sooo love to play game x again. I think imma do that" and then I play long/a while and forget about it. This is really true with Ragnarok Online, the concept aint that great in the game, its your normal japanese/korean "smash those cute things and get levels and stuff" but still the game has kept me hooked to it. Nowadays I mostly play the game for the nostalgia and for the people around there, I have made lots of good friends playing the game.

* Asor goes check some mods

[WereVolvo]

Played demo, loved it, bought it, still love it.
Played it to level 20 and beyond, only problem is that that was on the old pc. *Le Sigh* guess I'll have to do it aaaallllll over again. 

[Ant]

Headshots ftw!

A group of dark hunters on my archery character's game has over 100 prisoners now O.o

all refugees though :<

they really need to start valuing prisoners, it's pissing me off just getting 20 gold per prisoner now

[Gravehill]

they really need to start valuing prisoners, it's pissing me off just getting 20 gold per prisoner now

But just think how fast they can row those galleons or dig salt! Seriously it would be funnier if it was not fixed sum but that there were auction or something. And of course muscular fighter would be worth more money than farmer. And just think how much those lords might pay to get sword sister as their harem slave... Those wildcats!

[Fallout]

...Or just buy prostitutes.

[Ant]

...Or buy pixels

[Bearfoot]

they really need to start valuing prisoners, it's pissing me off just getting 20 gold per prisoner now

But just think how fast they can row those galleons or dig salt! Seriously it would be funnier if it was not fixed sum but that there were auction or something. And of course muscular fighter would be worth more money than farmer. And just think how much those lords might pay to get sword sister as their harem slave... Those wildcats!

They'd likely pay less.  Think about it, who do you want for a slave, a farmer who never has raised a hand in anger in life, or a trained combntant....?

[Ant]

they really need to start valuing prisoners, it's pissing me off just getting 20 gold per prisoner now

But just think how fast they can row those galleons or dig salt! Seriously it would be funnier if it was not fixed sum but that there were auction or something. And of course muscular fighter would be worth more money than farmer. And just think how much those lords might pay to get sword sister as their harem slave... Those wildcats!

They'd likely pay less.  Think about it, who do you want for a slave, a farmer who never has raised a hand in anger in life, or a trained combntant....?

is the correct answer trained combatant?

it really should be because those retards go out with no gear and just run into bandits and hunters all the time

so the question should really be... cheap labour which will die in a few days or more expensive labour but lastly to live a week or more

[Gravehill]

What I've read from history most appreciated slaves were captured soldiers. Especially with roman victors this was true. Enslaved soldiers were great entertainers in arenas, very popular as bedroom slaves (especially if they were doomed to be gladiators, aristocrat women liked their trained bodies and certain "smell of blood" in them) and often they were just armed again and put again to fight in frontiers for their new master. They were quite useful as labour too since many armies did have special experts - engineers, accountants, carpenters and so on. Those who were lower ranked ex-soldiers were no strangers to physical work either : they build roads, temporary camps, fortifications and knew how mines worked. If they knew nothing else there always was alternative to chain them to galley and make them row. Sometimes slaves did revolt and there military background was definitely danger to his new masters.   Most slaves were often non-military origin since soldiers were less likely to be captured alive thus making them even more valuable. Sometimes it was hard to make difference between soldier and peasant since often armies were formed of peasants armed with sticks and other crude weapons. Some soldiers were forced to fight and thus were easier to surrender and accept new command. Some were doing it voluntarily or by paycheck. Even at last world wars captured prisoners of war were used as slave labour unlike captured civilians.

So that this were not going too much off-topic some news regarding M&B : it seems that since there was some bugs regarding version 0.80 (last major update) it has been updated five times to version 0.805. This version is still regarded as unstable one.