Official Discussion: Beta Tester Impressions of Riders of Rohan

[Sapience]

Today we have officially released Riders of Rohan beta testers from their NDA. Beta testing will contiune as we move towards our new release date of October 15th. In the meantime, those Beta testers who wish to share their thoughts and experiences thus far with the general community are encouraged to do so here.

Feel free to ask them questions and Beta testers should feel free to answer.

[site400]

Yes...1st!

You guys will like RoR...especially with an extra month of fine tuning. That is all.

[Thranthir]

Woot no more lies, we can talk again!!

Oh and I second the you will like RoR comment, for me this expansion is better then all that's been released after Moria ^^

[Fredelas]

This has been one of my favorite beta testing experiences so far, not just compared to previous LOTRO expansions, but in testing software in general.

The developers and QA team have been working hard (sometimes around the clock it seems like) to give us the tools we need to find bugs and give feedback. Testers have been helpful to share workarounds when we get frustrated. We even had a grand old time at the end of stress test events getting smashed to pieces by Sapience outside of Bree.

Those of you who aren't beta testers will never know how lucky you are not to have to do timed jousting down two narrow lanes during the mounted combat tutorial. You can thank the beta testers for getting that particular part changed to something more straightforward.

My favorite part of the expansion so far is Volume III, Book 7 of the epic quest. I won't spoil anything for you, but I'll just say that this is the closest we've come to the Fellowship in a long, long time, and MadeOfLions and his team have done a great job of really bringing the story to life. It is probably the most immersive experience I've encountered so far in LOTRO.

[Deorwyn]

Rohan already looks and feels FANTASTIC, but delaying its release is a very wise decision in my opinion. There are a few very annoying bugs around (I'm looking at you mounted combat instances!!) that I would rater not see going live. Giving the Devs more time to finish up Rohan is a very good decision.

[Jadzi]

Sapience? Should we keep all such information in this thread, or are we free to post various topics in RoR discussion?

[Brandon_Blackbird]

Despite the annoying bugs, Rohan is by far the most fun expansion I've had the pleasure of testing. I can't WAIT for everything to get smoothed out. It's awesome!

[Cithryth]

*waves* Hi! Long-time beta tester here and beta tester for RoR too. I actually came out of my year-long hiatus/break from the game to beta test and I'm not disappointed.

I haven't been this excited about an expansion release since Mines of Moria. It may be buggy still, but I absolutely am addicted to Mounted Combat. Rohan is an amazing, expansive region.

That said, I'm very glad they pushed back the release. I thought it odd that they were starting beta so close to release this time around but didn't put too much thought into it. They've made tremendous leaps and bounds with the three beta builds we've seen so far. That said, work definitely still needs to be done. However I definitely agree with what Kate P said in her letter: this is probably one of the most focused betas I've seen. Usually in betas there's a whole slew of people being very entitled thinking they would get to keep their test characters or demanding some huge kind of reward for testing, but I've seen comparatively very little. In-game chat on Bullroarer is very helpful with a slew of people (and I'll give specific props to Crell_1, the man with the helpful macros!) reminding everyone to bug everything and letting people know what are known issues, etc.

Come October 15, I don't think people will be disappointed.

[Thunidir]

Although it was a hard pill to swallow right when I got to work, I think the delay will make this expansion even better. There has been already many wonderful improvements between the 1st and 2nd beta (I missed the 3rd as it occurred while I was at work). Any extra time will allow for this wonderful concept of combat riding to be developed further. I look forward to riding as a fellowship down the plains to attack the mobs with everyone's cries and screams (and hopefully someone on the side recording it for any cool wipeouts -dismounts- ).

"Ride forth and fear no darkness!"
-Theoden (from the movie)

[Caerylwyn]

The decision to delay is a Very Good Thing! Bravo for making the hard choice!

[cossieuk]

How much of the expansion is based around mounted combat?

How much of a disadvantage is it if you are not mounted and trying to fight something that is mounted?

If you do like mounted combat is there much to do in the expansion?

Can you tell us more about the daily quests to rebuild the town? Are the kill some mobs to get materials or go and collects wood and rocks to rebuild the town?

Does the town remain built or does it get destroyed and you have to rebuild it again and again?

[Thurinor_EU]

I would like to echo what I said in the other thread.

I am a beta tester.

RoR from what I have experienced so far is excellent. Really excellent.

They have captured Rohan perfectly. The art and the music is incredible. It is all greens and browns, rolling hills, crystal streams.

They have implemented phasing heavily which really makes the region grow with you, however there have been some "teething" issues with it. I think this is the largest sacale phasing deployment they have done so that would be expected and will be a factor for the delay.

When you see Argonath for the first time it is awe inspiring. This expansion really reminds you you are playing Lord of the Rings. It is lore central. Which leads me to the incredible job @MadeOfLions has done with the epic Book 7, which for me is the best book of them all. +Rep to @MadeOfLions

Mounted Combat I feel is the area that needs the most work and is probably the main reason for the delay. In a nutshell once you "get" how to do it, it is really good. Very powerful and fun. The on-ramp to learning to do it, as it is vastly different to your normal horse, is where the issues are. As it is just now it would cause frustration due to the learning curve. This has been improved consistently, from my point of view, through the last 2 clients I have played.

One thing I would say is the Devs have been very active with the testers, a great many of ideas have been put directly into game. They are listening and I think they know they could have a superb expansion on their hands. it just needs some more polish.

Loads of other stuff -

Remote Looting I miss not having on live. Love it. Excellent feature.

Remote quest bestowal is also an excellent feature.

Rohan, in my opinion, will be worth the wait.

[Ayrolen]

Due to time constraints I haven't been able to spend as much time in-game as I have in previous betas, but what I've seen so far is absolutely gorgeous. The world builders have done a fine job!

[Jonin]

Now that we can talk. I can say that definately it's a good expansion and the mounted combat is really fun, but it does take a bit of getting used to. Those horses do not turn on a dime and expect to take an hour or so before you really get the hang of it. But once you do, you'll be getting around in no time! I spent most of my time on the medium horse, which is a good compromise between speed and durability IMO.

[Caralir]

Hard to know where to start, there is so much to the expansion.

Rohan visually is stunning, it just seems to go on forever and the music is amazing. Epic book 7 really does feel epic in places, so much work has been done by MadeOfLions (and team) to tweak it from the many player requests - really excellent.

Mounted combat is strange at first but you soon get used to it, then it's definitely a lot of fun. Be glad you don't have to do the hideous timed jousting training, lol !

From my point of view, it's a superb expansion and pushing it back to October will make it even better.

[Sapience]

Sapience? Should we keep all such information in this thread, or are we free to post various topics in RoR discussion?

Feel free to reply to threads in the RoR forum. We just made this area in the event players wanted to ask direct questions and get their info all in one place.

[Moneydie]

Some parts of the beta are, for me at least, really unfun! But it's still in beta so subject to alteration.

HOWEVER before people jump on me for hating those are thankfully not the vast majority of the RoR experience. Mounted combat in lotro is far better than whats been attempted in other mmo's and giving only a year to get it up, working and playable to the current standard is a great achievement. After another 6 weeks or so it should be riding high.

While the news about the delay might be disappointing it's a welcome sight rather than something thats not quite there and needs x number of patches to fix.

[Mithaming]

How much of the expansion is based around mounted combat?

How much of a disadvantage is it if you are not mounted and trying to fight something that is mounted?

If you do like mounted combat is there much to do in the expansion?

Can you tell us more about the daily quests to rebuild the town? Are the kill some mobs to get materials or go and collects wood and rocks to rebuild the town?

Does the town remain built or does it get destroyed and you have to rebuild it again and again?

rebuilding Hytbold has not been tested yet by most, one of the reasons of the delay.

[Daeross]

How much of a disadvantage is it if you are not mounted and trying to fight something that is mounted?

Depends on your class and previous game experience how well you take to mounted combat...

[Deorwyn]

How much of the expansion is based around mounted combat?

How much of a disadvantage is it if you are not mounted and trying to fight something that is mounted?

If you do like mounted combat is there much to do in the expansion?

Can you tell us more about the daily quests to rebuild the town? Are the kill some mobs to get materials or go and collects wood and rocks to rebuild the town?

Does the town remain built or does it get destroyed and you have to rebuild it again and again?

- Nothing if you do not like mounted combat. Everything can be done without it.
- Not much really, esxept mobility and movement speed
- Yes, but that's true if you do not like MC, too.
- I have not been able to do any quests in Hytbold yet, sorry.
- It seems to remain rebuilt.

[DobbelB_EU]

I've been testing since build 1. And I must say, things certainly have improved since. Those early quests in the expansion are getting in a good condition. Mounted combat on a guardian works well, but I still have a bit trouble not to run in too many other mobs besides the one I'm fighting.

But so far not many beta testers have reached the higher levels. We have had many wipes of the server, and few occasions to autolevel. When I went up to the higher leveled areas, there were still a lot more bugs. There was a thread in the beta forums asking for a delay, but nobody really thought they would do that, because of another game launching soon after. In my opinion they were right to delay everything. While there is a lot of potential, not everything is finished yet. And two weeks is not enough time.

[Gambald]

Another beta tester here (Since build 1)

Folks, you won't be dissapointed. Even if you need to wait 40 more days for it, it will be worth every penny and every hour.
The content is great, mounted combat is great, history is great , the scenery is extraordinary and the music.... E-P-I-C.

Turbine did really a great job here and this (necessary) delay will provide us all with a great playing experience once Rohan hits!

[Belnavar]

How much of the expansion is based around mounted combat?

This is hard to quantify, but about half to two thirds. There are six regions, three of which are very mounted combat orientated, one of which is a bit of both, and two of which are orientated for normal combat.

The Wold: Bit of both
The East Wall: Foot
Eaves of Fangorn: Foot
Norcrofts: Mounted
Sutcrofts: Mounted
Entwash Vale: Mounted

Of course, each area is not strictly limited to one or the other. There are plenty of on foot quests even in the mounted areas.

How much of a disadvantage is it if you are not mounted and trying to fight something that is mounted?

A bit, but it is definitely possible to fight form foot. The biggest issue is if you are a melee class and the mob keeps running away. You then need to slow them in order to finish them off.

Warbands are extremely difficult when not mounted, however.

If you do like mounted combat is there much to do in the expansion?

Plenty. There is a lot of variety.

Can you tell us more about the daily quests to rebuild the town? Are the kill some mobs to get materials or go and collects wood and rocks to rebuild the town?

This is probably one area that Turbine wants more time on. I don't know the exact nature of the quests here.

Does the town remain built or does it get destroyed and you have to rebuild it again and again?

Don't know yet.

-Bel

[gildhur]

How is the new rebuilding system? Does it really substitute for endgame content until a cluster is added?

Is it possible to beat mounted enemies on foot? Only for the best players, or not at all possible? How group-oriented are the mounted areas?

Jadzi, I'm going to expect screenshots of all the new cosmetics by noon!

[Fredelas]

How much of the expansion is based around mounted combat?

Four areas in Eastern Rohan are geared toward mounted combat. Two areas are not. For general questing in any of these areas, you can get along just fine without your war-steed if you choose.

How much of a disadvantage is it if you are not mounted and trying to fight something that is mounted?

Some mounted foes are easy to dispatch even if you're not mounted yourself. However, a few larger groups of opponents will be extremely difficult to manage unless you're on your war-steed. In particular, enemy war-bands

If you do like mounted combat is there much to do in the expansion?

I'm guessing you meant to ask, "If you don't like mounted combat." There will still be plenty for you to do.

Can you tell us more about the daily quests to rebuild the town? Are the kill some mobs to get materials or go and collects wood and rocks to rebuild the town?

This is one of the features we haven't had much time to test yet. Because Hytbold an important part of the ongoing play in Eastemnet, I'm glad we'll have more time to test it.

Does the town remain built or does it get destroyed and you have to rebuild it again and again?

We haven't seen this in action yet, but I'd guess it will stay built. There are resource instances similar to Moria's that you can do, too.