While leading a band of warriors is the principal draw for Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, it’s also going to be possible to play as a merchant, traveling from town to town selling your wares. TaleWorlds Entertainment says it has built a brand new economics system into the game, which models the way villages use goods and how that affects pricing.
In a new blog post on Steam, the developers explained that the original trade system from Mount & Blade was a bit too simplistic for what they wanted to do in Bannerlord. In its old form, villages in Calradia would consume a certain percentage of all available goods each day, without taking scarcity into account. But this isn’t really how things work. As TaleWorlds says, “When faced with a shortage, people don’t tend to politely reduce their consumption to a lower level, they rush to hunt for and grab the last item on the shelf, prying it from the hands of a nice old lady if needs be!”
The development team decided to build a new trade and economy system for Bannerlord, and they began by making a table that charts the goods that a typical town uses. Towns spend their budgets on things like grain, meat, and tools, and the prices for those items fluctuate depending on whether there’s a surplus or a scarcity.
Consuming those items alters the town’s stats, for example, consuming grain increases the food stores, while using tools increases productivity. TaleWorlds says this system means pricing has a huge impact on a town and its lord, since towns with access to cheaper goods will be able to gain bonuses much faster.
That also allows the economics of the game to reflect the events going on in the world – wars will drive up prices for weapons and horses for example, and savvy merchant players will be able to spot the best opportunities based on what’s happening in Calradia.
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Naturally, players are still wondering about when the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord release date is, and unfortunately there’s still no news on that front. We’ll be eagerly awaiting that announcement from TaleWorlds along with everyone else.