Mainly, renown is harder to get, and you will not be offered anything. i.e. You have to ask to become a vassal and no one wants you to become one (kind of like when you try to make one of your plebeian companions a lord), and even once you've become a vassal, it's unofficial at first, so you don't get a fief. On the flip side, you can marry a lord and use him politically instead of having to marry a lady, all of whom seem to have submitted to being powerless. Oh and with the new interactions, after a lord says something chauvinistic, you can insult him and taunt him into battle.
There are advantages. I just wouldn't try it as a new player.
I think the game looks great, and although I've never fought a medieval battle, it feels realistic to me. Apart from being able to fight too many people by yourself later in the game.
I mean, those points pretty much support my argument against the walk-in villages and towns. Think of all the time they put into making each unique place just to have us use it to find quest givers and to do those bad quests you mentioned. I would much rather just use the world view (which is 3D, by the way) + 2D menus. Very manageable.
Oh and to add to the contention, while each place is unique in structure setup, they aren't
unique-looking at all. I get them all totally confused. I think there's just about one variant look for each kingdom's towns and villages, and there are six kingdoms.
