I have not heard much about the MP aspect of the game so far, beside the usual rumours on MP campaign being there or not (answer is; it's not).
Without a MP campaign, I'll hope that the battle will be interesting, realistic and balanced, but that's not different from SP wishes.
There are some points which are MP specific that I'd like to get feedback on;
1/ different statistics and cost for MP and SP. Today MP cost is somehow related to initial purchase cost in SP, and that gets us into all kind of distortion in MP.
2 examples; a feudal knight in MP is a good choice because of good stats and low cost, but not such a great one in SP because of maintenance cost and building requirement. End result, I see some feudal knights in Late game... Why not, but that's odd, and it's only because the initial purchase cost in SP is attractive. 2nd example; Alan mercenary cav. Probably a very balanced unit in SP because it is rare to get one as a mercenary. Not so in MP; and then again SP initial cost makes it very attractive.
If balance is designed for SP mainly, taking into account different factors, like maintenance cost, building requirement, province requirement, etc, please remember that MP knows only one factor, and that's initial purchase cost. Therefore, I'd like the initial purchase cost of units in MP to be a specific data, and hopefully, CA will tweak it to balance the game.
2/ to help mods and modded maps being played, I'd make it possible to play with the host maps and stats. With notice to players of course... To get everyone to download maps and mods is a pain, let's the host do it...
3/ make the battle set up a little bit more intuitive. The map selection when hosting is rather difficult, the 3d view is not really helping. A 2d view from top would be better. Also the choice in deployment zone is not intuitive. Many players got no idea where they are going to be on the battlefield related to each other, and relative to the map before they actually get to the map.
A more intuitive system than the color shield one would be helpfull.
And finally, display the stat of the unit modified by upgrade; that will be very helpfull, much more than the text in the tooltip.
Thanks for your attention,
Louis,
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