With the release of 1.3 Beta I can finally say this game holds water to native Warband, the stealth and diplomacy systems have been fleshed out, the economy has been balanced with towns providing more tax and tons more tariff income, despite the increased bandits. I've found they only spawn a lot in low security or when a war is going on in the area, which makes sense and adds a limiting factor to being away from your lands for too long, it feels much more like playing as a feudal lord protecting your peasants from consistent manageable threats, the bandits are also great fodder for grinding troop xp and scouting quickly. Because of bandits clogging things up when lords are away AI Kingdoms are more likely to remain at peace so they can get stronger and boost their economies and then go to war, the war logic has changed so Khuzaits aren't at war with Vlandia for no good reason. The result is the AI wont declare war the moment they finish another and will use peace to get stronger. Marriages and diplomacy can be a very strong deterrent for AI to go to war with you.

I took Quyaz and Tublius Castle from Uniqid and beat and freed him until I had 100 relation, made peace, married his daughter or sister, made a trade agreement, and i played another few years killing the empire and the Aserai never declared on me again, they just gobbled Southern Empire land, so it felt much more like a feudal lord roleplay experience.

As far as mods go, most Armor and Weapon mods were working with the beta and I expect them to continue working when Warsails drops, overhauls like Shukohu and Old Realms will obviously need updating. That said, with the current framework, and the addition of navies in Warsails DLC, I expect the modding community to have a much easier time moddifying and expanding already existing systems like diplomacy, stealth, navies and naval trade instead of building them from scratch.

With the release of 1.3 Beta I can finally say this game holds water to native Warband, the stealth and diplomacy systems have been fleshed out, the economy has been balanced with towns providing more tax and tons more tariff income, despite the increased bandits. I've found they only spawn a lot in low security or when a war is going on in the area, which makes sense and adds a limiting factor to being away from your lands for too long, it feels much more like playing as a feudal lord protecting your peasants from consistent manageable threats, the bandits are also great fodder for grinding troop xp and scouting quickly. Because of bandits clogging things up when lords are away AI Kingdoms are more likely to remain at peace so they can get stronger and boost their economies and then go to war, the war logic has changed so Khuzaits aren't at war with Vlandia for no good reason. The result is the AI wont declare war the moment they finish another and will use peace to get stronger. Marriages and diplomacy can be a very strong deterrent for AI to go to war with you. I took Quyaz and Tublius Castle from Uniqid and beat and freed him until I had 100 relation, made peace, married his daughter or sister, made a trade agreement, and i played another few years killing the empire and the Aserai never declared on me again, they just gobbled Southern Empire land, so it felt much more like a feudal lord roleplay experience. As far as mods go, most Armor and Weapon mods were working with the beta and I expect them to continue working when Warsails drops, overhauls like Shukohu and Old Realms will obviously need updating. That said, with the current framework, and the addition of navies in Warsails DLC, I expect the modding community to have a much easier time moddifying and expanding already existing systems like diplomacy, stealth, navies and naval trade instead of building them from scratch.