The Guild 3

I did buy this game because I suffered from a lot of connection problems with Guild2:Renaissance in local multiplayer. With Guild3 (v0.9.8.1) the game was stable but the gameplay was boring compared to Guild2. Critics: - Automation: The AI which handles you workshops got much better and produces only the best goods, but the problem is that you just activate it and you don't need to do anything afterwards. In Guild2 you had to organize your buildings until you had a lot of them, because the AI did produce only random goods. But it kept you busy, here you just wait for the money. - Market prices aren't changing much, in Guild2 prices always were very low after you sold a lot of the same things, here this doesn't seem to make a difference. You can just produce the most valuable item again and again, instead of needing to produce something different for a while. - Level system: Possibility to upgrade your buildings is now bound to skills you buy with money, instead to your people's experience. If you buy it, all of your dynasty members have it, this makes them very exchangeable. There is no need to collect exp so you can finally upgrade your buildings to next level (only used for person's stats). You also don't need different persons for different professions. - Fights: People of the same dynasty don't help each other. With two persons you win every fight, even against city guards. You don't have to wait until your enemies leave the city, just attack them at the marketplace. The AI doesn't do anything if you capture their buildings. They always just stand around. - Your people don't have to go to town hall or court -> You can't stop others voting or getting voted or kidnap the judge. - Cities too big (sounds good at first, but they just stay empty), AI is not smart, fewer buildings, court sentences (pay 30 for attacks with 20k/year income) -> Especially if you want to play it alone, buy Guild2:Renaissance and add fajeth's mod. Gameplay is much better there.

People seem to have a hard time giving InDev games a pass on flaws. If you're buying a game that is in development you're getting a discount of MSRP and the chance to potentially influence said development. The offset is that you're gonna experience instability, bugs and poor design choices as development progresses, that's something you should expect and accept. The point being: take these factors into consideration when thinking about buying this game. With all that said: I enjoy it. I'm a fan of The Guild 2 and even at this InDev stage Guild 3 plays like a natural successor: it looks better, runs a little smoother and streamlines some very tedious aspects of Guild 2. If you're a fan of the series you really can't go wrong here. If you're not familiar with the series but want to give it a try then I think you could safely start with this one at this point. Provided development continues of the path of simply taking the series, adding a bit of new stuff and smoothing out it's innumerable wrinkles; we're looking at the best medieval dynasty building a sim next to Crusader Kings 2.

I got this game last year, and played it a few hours, but it was difficult to "sink my teeth in." Last week I saw that there had been numerous updates since I uninstalled and gave it another try. While I can see that the game needs more work, I am having tremendous fun playing. There is a steep learning curve due to the bare bones tutorial, and there is no "hand holding" once your senario gets rolling. These two factors are what had me bounce off this game at the beginning. Once I found the "automated production" setting on my buildings, and learned how to manage the building storage propperly, it all clicked into place. If you have this game and uninstalled it like I did, I really recommend giving it another try! Just keep in mind that there are a lot of sub-systems interacting and none of them are explained. Take it slow (litterally run it in slo-mo), and make sure to get married and have kids right away!

I really tried, really did. I rarely post reviews, however. It has soooo much micro management. And soooo complex menus and procedures. I want to play to enjoy it, not to try to figure out the whole fantasy behind even the tiniest procedure. Most of the buildings have no inside view. And the ones that have, it's nothing compared to the previous versions. I played the Medicus. Everything is happening outside the building, production and healing. Why have a building then? I was trying to figure out why I can't put the character to work in the Pesthouse. Took me more than 10 minutes to figure out there was no more room for the character to work in the business!!! I should have used first the "assign member of family" and then hire workers. At least I think that was the case, but I'm not exactly sure. The market menus are so messed up, that you need imagination to find something. Wool, which is a raw material, is on the intermediary list! Every menu that opens up, building, carts, character, any menu, covers all the screen. You can't see anything else. A map is needed for each menu to figure out how to navigate the menu. And everything is so complex and weird that it is exhausting. Wool AND cloth to manufacture bandages. The exhausting micro management, the complexity without any logic, the buildings without interiors, the production outside buildings, production without sense regarding raw materials, the complexity of skills and attributes and functions, which have no use and no sense at all, and the reduction in graphics and design, make me regret the money I paid for it. It's exhausting. I have played all the Guild versions, with all the bugs and difficulties, and I did not complain once, even w Venice which I had to give up finally. Because, no matter what, they were enjoyable. I have tried all the mods with Guild 2, played all the classes, all the maps etc. I was pleased to hear that Guild 3 will be released. Disappointment.