Need for change

[xFirestormx]

I'd like to start off by saying i have been trying to find a way to say this without sounding like too much of a dick because i respect what the devs do and their work on this mod, but i'm just going to be blunt.

Nord Invasion used to be challenging and fun, but slowly it seems to be getting stale. As the maps get smaller and the enemies get harder, the game has definitely become more challenging but the fun seems to be leaving a little at a time. No longer can you sally forth and take the fight to the nords without being horribly massacred. Instead, every game follows the exact same pattern: Find a place to hole up, have someone shield, and then 3 or 4 people slash while everyone else can do nothing but leech or die, unless they are an archer. Before, you could at least move around the maps and stand a (small) chance of taking the enemy out without having to turtle every game. Sure, watching an archer kite the last 20 enemies in a wave wasn't always fun, but at least it was different every game. What i'm suggesting is put some of the older maps back in, or at least somewhat larger maps. Not necessarily replace them, but add them to the map rotation, maybe have some variations of the same map, such as the current hidden village and the old hidden village? Maybe i'm the only one but it just seems like a lot of the fun has been taken out of the game because you huddle behind a shieldwall every single game just to get past the first boss wave on hard mode.

I'd like to finish up by saying that this mod is the reason i have so many hours clocked on mount and blade and i don't want that to change. This mod just needs more..... variety in terms of how to play. That doesn't mean make it easier :p just give us more viable options than just holing up somewhere! I miss the days i could run out and charge the enemy with friends and feel like it was a real war instead of a tower defense.

PS. Love what you did with Great Hall 

[Kwal]

I was thinking about this myself and I wholeheartedly agree with your complaint. The way the maps are being edited lately, it seems the mod has taken a definite turn to the (incredibly boring but effective) shieldwall tactic. I don't think just propping the larger maps back in would solve this problem though, as they would become unpopular and impossible, but it is worth thinking about decent solutions (if the developers recognize this as a problem, that is).

[Hande]

Who says you need to hole up in some place in each map ? You can try to do something different. It is up to you but you also need to get your mates to do same.

What comes for maps.. Playerbase is never happy what changes I do to them so,, fuck them.
Old maps can stay in our memorys, them are not coming back to mod.

[Kwal]

Who says you need to hole up in some place in each map ? You can try to do something different. It is up to you but you also need to get your mates to do same.

Point being that at the moment you can do whatever the fuck you want, but the only thing that will actually work is to hole up in some place each map.

What comes for maps.. Playerbase is never happy what changes I do to them so,, fuck them.
Old maps can stay in our memorys, them are not coming back to mod.

At the moment the playerbase seems to be happy with it, and this isn't criticism towards your work but towards the way the game is played.

[clickeverywhere]

It's not necessarily the case that the game has changed. The fact is, shielding and huddling in corners has always been the most effective strategy -- we just didn't know it before. We've pretty much figured out the game at this point so that might be why it seems so stale. Also,  most of the old players have reached max level at this point. Aside from getting new items (crafting and legendary drops) there isn't much else to do. The things that keep me playing this game are the community (the house), trying to find better items, and helping players within my house.

I suppose if you want some more challenging or perhaps fun things, you could put some restrictions on yourself. The alternative event idea by Huscarlton_Banks is pretty interesting.

Perhaps the devs could add in a all cavalry mode where everyone and  their mother spawns with horses -- that sounds like fun =P

[Kwal]

Well the reason I played was because I wanted that Tome, and now I play because I have to pay a debt

But it wasn't just that people didn't know back then, the fun was that there kept being new ways in which you had to shield against the Nords. But basically I'd agree the style hasn't changed, and now we've reached a point where the system has been worked out to a much higher level and the mod isn't continuously changing anymore. The thing with a mod, especially one with mmorpg elements, is that it should stay interesting for people to play. And I'm wondering if it is possible to make changes to Nord Invasion to make it more diverse in the way that it is played. Of course you can wait a few patches to see what is different, but I'm talking about the specific way you're meant to play the mod. Well I'll think about it some more anyway.

By the way, no offense to Hande or any developer, I love the way the mod looks and it's still awesome, otherwise I wouldn't still be playing. I hope you understand where we're coming from.

[Jalau]

agree

[Holo Steel]

Well the reason I played was because I wanted that Tome, and now I play because I have to pay a debt

Same, same...

They do have a point, but I do honestly love the work you put in the maps. I find them fun in many ways. I also enjoying the mod because all I really do it trade, it's kinda my hobby. 
I wish thought there maybe could be some sort of server with larger and more open maps, one for kiting and scrambling, one for holding up. Then again, a lot of the mod has been changed, and I don't think Kiting can get you far anymore.

[Jarold]

As I distinctly remember, sallying forth was a good tactic to get wiped on skirmishers up, back in the day. So I dunno if running out was ever meant to bea choice. Because running out leads to the more armored players to live and get kills, while red shirts just get slaughtered in two seconds. So maybe running out doesn't promote teamwork. Thats just my two cents of course.

[Swadius]

Instead, every game follows the exact same pattern: Find a place to hole up, have someone shield, and then 3 or 4 people slash while everyone else can do nothing but leech or die, unless they are an archer. Before, you could at least move around the maps and stand a (small) chance of taking the enemy out without having to turtle every game.

There's the new hidden cave map with the two openings inside the village though. With the spawn points are far away as they are, the team could conceivably use one side to take out one half of the wave and if they're quick enough switch to the other half before the second wave from the cave reaches the team.

On the subject of maps that lead to different strategies, I always enjoyed those random error maps. Most memorable from those were the times when the players would build a fort in the middle of no where, and that time where a giant hill was spawned. Even without any barricades in the last scenario, fighting nord waves on a giant, plain incline was surprisingly fun for some reason.