after being away for a while, i guess i got some perspective on crpg
so here are some of my subjective opinions what still can be improved
discrimination of lvl 30+ characters, they don't get
- to heirloom stuff anymore
- smithing skills
- to test and change their build anymore
- heirlooms from sacrificed alt characters
and as you normally have all your gear loomed at the time you go for max lvl ,
so you wear it mostly, therefor you have in average higher upkeep costs.
And before i forget about it because it is so basic, leveling after lvl 30 is a bitch.
I for myself can live with higher upkeep costs and that it takes like forever to reach 34, 35 and perhaps in my lifetime get to 36, but the other things just suck.
Discrimination ? It's your own choice if you decide NOT to retire. Face the consequences. Thoses "consequences" were made to insure that we always have some peasants. If you decide to always stay a "knight", and never have to go through al the peasant leveling, and since it's not what the devs want, then of course they'll make it so that you have to actually THINK before deciding not to retire. Is it worth it ? Won't it be boring ? etc...
I'm sick of people starting threads : "Please give X heirlooms to level 32 or above, based on their level", "Please give a permanent health bonus if retiring at level 33 or above", etc...
YOU decided not to retire, YOU decide if you want thoses smith skills, heirlooms, etc... No one is forcing you not to retire. Stop whining.Special Attacks:
polestagger/chrushtrhough
In the combat system of M&B you can't hit twice without the fear to be attacked yourself.
So i would suggest do it equally for these very powerful Special Attacks.
Either that you need to make another attack without the the chance of a Special Attack or that you have a cooldown of a few seconds 3-4 seconds. Crushthrough has i believe a relation to str of the dude trying to block it, is there a relation or what do you think about one between polestagger and agi? The higher the agi the more likely you can evade that effect. So Str builds can get lucky against Crushthrough and Agi builds can get lucky against polestagger.
That's an interesting idea. But it seems really complicated too.
If you have the agi, then you can backpedal to really evade the pole-users attack.
If you have the str, then you shouldn't be facing a mauler, since you lack athletics, and even if he'll need 4 overhead hits for you, you'll still be crushed.
That's one of the interesting advantages of an AGI build, with no shield. Quickness. If you're a STR build, then expect hard times when facing a good mauler user. Or not, if you know how to deal with them. Not an issue, imo.
Cavalry:
wow so many ...
so when do we get a sheatable bamboo spear/awlpike?(not that sheatable was at anytime a reason to call these weapons OP, most people would say it is the high piercing+polestagger)
Is it only me who now gets like oneshoted all the time by "not even couched" lances? must be the changes to armor soaking i guess. Because of this i often go out now in very light gear as i feel not that big of a difference in armor values when facing cav. 9 generations spent on looming gear ... puff.
[EDIT: remove ability to still be able to hit while the horses was stopped, to stop a horse should count equally like been hit themselves in terms of being crippled to react for a second, so they do need to block]
I agree that the fact you sometimes rear the horse succesfully, but are still being stabbed by the lancer is kinda irritating. Add to this the strange "blocking force field" coming from the cavman ("omg, he protected his horse's head by downblocking while mounted ? o_O"), and it's indeed a pain.
A group of cavalry, playing together, are really powerfull. And to face them, you need an heavy teamplay from the other team, pikeman protecting themselves AND ranged. Ranged shooting down horses. Other team staying near a wall or trees, downblocking.
At the moment, cavs are powerful because infantry is...
stupid. And prefer to mindlessly charge the other infantry. If real teamwork was in place, i assure you cavs won't be that deadly.
Ranged:
didn't you nerf them like in any patch and they are still growing in numbers.
lately when i was on battle servers, i had been in teams consisting 10-15 cavalary 20-40 ranged and ranged hybrids, 10-20 inf.
Going out in the flanks was sometimes just a pain. You face 5-7 archers in a group and you get bumped(at least) by cav better even by HA ^^. Bump&Shot, effective true but very annoying.
So as a dedicated shielder, where in his job description stands "hunt ranged because you have a shield", there is no way getting near them on open field and if there is cover you find to sneak up on them, you can get lucky with 1-2 and then get shot to pieces 
now imagine guys who don't even have a shield.
They were nerfed. Definitely.
As such, to be effective, archers need to "regroup", and play together. And, since they always die when playing alone, they've realised this pretty quickly, and are now staying together, even when not knowing each other.
There's more than one way to deal with them :
-Use your own range.
-Attack with 2 shielders, and when the range start running away, call one of your cavalry to help kill them. Teamwork.
Seriously, it's not because you have a shield, that you can go and kill
alone, 5 archers. You're doing it wrong.
What happened to their special attack? wasn't there something on the brink? like volleys?
Also if i remember correctly there was something about 3-5+ ranged in one group getting a malus?
Nope. Never was. The volley was for strategus only, and hasn't being implemented.
teamplay & grouping effects & counters:
I very much like the concept of getting bonus for good teamplay.
The best example here atm is the shieldwall bonus.
How about:
- cavalary charge: 5+ cav in close proximity charging at the same target. They are getting resistance against the effect which would stop their horses.
- pikewall: 5+ pikes increase the possibility to stop horses or even oneshot them
- raining arrows: archery volleys(only in strategus?)
and some others which maybe a bit more arguable:
- flanking dmg: if you outnumber someone 2+:1 you deal additional damage
- last stand: if you are outflanked, your adrenaline kicks in and you get a speed bonus weapon speed and athletics.
- throwers menace: having 5+ throwers in a group increases their throwing speed
- whirlwind: 5+ 2h getting athletics bonus
Nope. No strange bonus when playing in team.
At the moment, if you
don't play with teamwork, then you'll be useless. That's how it is already, and that forces people to play smart.
The "i'm flanking alone because i'm so good" is not a valid tactic anymore.
Only valid tactic is sticking with 4-5 other teammates.
All in all, a little conclusion :-Disadvantages for lv31+ : Yes, cause that's what wants the devs, mainly lv1-30 players.
-Polestagger and crushthrough issue : No. Don't try to bite something bigger than you. If there's pikemens or maulers, remember that range can shoot thoses down. So maybe... protect the range ? Or use infantry teamwork too.
-Range, cav nerf : No, teamwork is necessary to counter a "team" of them. That's how it's supposed to be.
-Shielder buff, cause can't kill a group of archer alone : No, you're doing it wrong.
-Special "moves" : No. Just... no.
