14th feb 2006 @ 15.27 was my payment confirmation. (i need to clean out my emails)

Thanks for all the replies! It looks like Warband is the way to go then.

Another question: how difficult or easy is it to complete the game? I know one of the draws is the open-ended nature of the game, but I generally like to complete my games at least one. So the question is: does the game allow itself to be beaten?

Depends how you define "beaten" for yourself, but if you for example wanted to unite the entire land under your own banner, you'd have to invest enormous amounts of time in the game, and I can't imagine doing that and not dying of boredom.

I also like completing games and enjoyed M&B tremendously, but eventually you will come to a point where the game no longer has much to offer and becomes insanely repetitive (this happened both in M&B and Warband to me). So unless you can stand / enjoy grinding, I wouldn't really say it's beatable.

There is no game over screen. For better or worse.

Well, regardless, it sounds like a great game and one I will be picking up soon. Thanks for the advice and recommendations everyone!

It does melee mounted combat better than any other game, and you will spend much of your game time enjoying the simple pleasure of riding down footmen and the way your horse and weapons combine. The other stuff it does(like the rpg stuff) is decent enough to add to the overall theme, it definately is a game worth owning and supporting with your hard earned money.

I've been playing the demo, and the horseback combat is really satisfying. Riding past someone and cutting them down with a sword is oh so fun! The only thing is that it is a bit unclear is what direction to go right after completing the first few quests for the merchant in the town you start in.

That's the thing with sandbox games. No real guide lines, you can do whatever the hell you want. Go on a raider genocide? Have fun. Go to the first lord and ask to do him favors? No problem. Trade your ass off? You betcha! In the end, it's just a grind machine where you and your soldiers/companions need to buff up until nothing can stand in your way.