That is so sad, actually. On the console you got all those honorable guys, bowing and drinking all estus before the fight. Those who don't are usually just new to PvP part - you can see it coz of low skill. There are some assholes to be sure, but not very often that I see them. And no cheaters, of course.
There was almost no standards in PC PvP. I met some Japanese and Russians who would always bow, but they were so rare it depressed me. Mostly the behavior was predatory and dishonorable. Hackers would drop items for noobs and then kill them when they tried to pick them up. I mean, really...
That is exactly why I keep my console handy. I hate playing online on PC, that's true to any game. The community is so large and anonymous - it spawns all kind of bastards. The only bad online experience I had on PS3 is GTA 5. But that's another thing - the game itself supports asshole behavior among players. Looks very childish and outright dumb. Other than that, it's always enjoyable to play with cool guys, like Demon/Dark Souls PS3 community.
I have the mod, installed it once but then got into something else. PoP is widely regarded as being the most difficult Warband mod, but after some teething problems it became facerollish. I also tried Gekokujo, but that's still under dev. Supposed to be a Napoleonic mod coming out, can't recall the name. Saw the trailer, looks polished.
Yeah, I know the opinion about PoP among MB fans. I think it's bullshit. PoP is the most popular mod, maybe along with ANNO, and it certainly harder than vanilla. Well, I guess ANY mod out there is harder than vanilla. PoP can be hard to start, hard to get around, but once you get the grip - there is NO CHALLENGE in it. Whatsoever.
Just a few Brytenwalda features that really make me happy:
1. All forts, castles, towns are made from scratch. As the global map, of coz. Nuff said.
2. Morale system - that's basically the cornerstone of combat. Some battles can be won or lost without any bloodshed. You've gotta keep your warriors well fed, well paid, choose your enemies wisely and behave like a leader. That includes making some hard choices.
3. For example, you've just defeated your enemies. But you know that reinforcements are on their way, you gotta do something. Want to loot the fallen? It takes time. Want to use that time to bury them instead? Or maybe loot&bury? Then you will certainly get attacked by coming reinforcements. Just leave the battlefield as is? Take an honour penalty then. If you play pagan, then you'll burn the bodies instead of burying, btw. Oh, you can also entrench your camp before doing anything if you know you'll face your enemies soon.
4. Sieges are working right. You'll get a hard time sieging anything. You'll have to deal with supplies, deseases, building siege machinery, defending your camp, keeping high morale among the troops, making negotiations, deciding when and how to attack, etc. Same goes for defending part.
5. Random events are random.
6. Officers have much more complex relationships with each other.
7. Very easy to loose it all making one small mistake, even when you're doing very good. Even in lategame. Especially if you playing without saving. As you should.
8. Over time you tend to become ruthless. Take whatever opportunities you got and never playing a hero. Coz while the combat is fun, hard and engaging, the major difficulty is about making the right decisions rather than facerolling through ur enemies.
And the atmosphere of that game. With historical names and language, with all that music and gory combat sounds. And the WARCRIES! God, fucking Skyrim should have took the warcries from Brytenwalda. It's triggerd by "U" button, if memory serves me - shit, I love those. When your saxon shieldwall charges on those pictish barbarians, and you cry smth like "DDAAAAMN YOUUUU" and ALL of the 120 soldiers of yours simultaiously cry out AAARRRGGHGHG after you, the enemy then shit their loincloth and run - MAN, that feels good!