Hey there!
Quite frankly, we do not necessarily see it as selling the game at this point, it's more about getting people on board early. We'd like to reward those who stick around with us for the majority of development, after all :)
We certainly are inspired by Mount&Blade! Funnily enough, we met on the game's forums and also modded that game. We have also clocked in dozens of hours in Exanima and are following its development with great interest as well.