Yondershire feedback

[Elhiril]

Absolutely love this area.

However:

- The inns are incredibly crowded with NPCs. This is a tad disappointing for roleplayers who are organising events in them. There isn’t much space inside for a group of players.
- Lack of stages or gazebos at/outside said inns. Would be great to have a spot to perform with space enough for players to gather.

Otherwise it’s my favourite area yet.

[Firthelthir]

Absolutely love this area.

However:

- The inns are incredibly crowded with NPCs. This is a tad disappointing for roleplayers who are organising events in them. There isn’t much space inside for a group of players

I, and others in world chat, think that this is a good thing! It Makes the world seem alive!. I think they should duplicate this idea in other taverns! If you need roleplay, every other inn or tavern in this game is boring enough for your purposes.

[DavidmeetHal]

Oh no, on the contrary, I like the taverns being full. It adds life. It makes the Shire taverns feel dead. I’d love to see them populated too.

[Trixie_Me]

Absolutely love this area.

- The inns are incredibly crowded with NPCs. This is a tad disappointing for roleplayers who are organising events in them. There isn’t much space inside for a group of players.

I *LOVE* that there are a lot of npcs here! I'm thrilled to see an area that's actually populated. It makes for a much more immersive experience.

[Laurelinarien]

I was gonna start my own thread but figured I'd just pour my feedback here:

Things I loved:

• The contrast between the very busy hamlets/villages and the open, emptier landscape.
• The taverns! It certainly looks like they are heart of each hub.
• The Housing Decorations! My bakery wouldn't have been finished without them!
• The following quests were my favorites:

• Potato Mystery/Justice
• The Horrible Goose
• A Hint of Tampering (involving the Quick Post)
• Delated Response/Cabin Fever (involving Lassa & Clotild)
• Hubo Clayhanger (and his books!)

And ofc the Boffins! 8 & 9 Honeymead Lane are beautifully done, hobbity & wholesome.

I wanna also highlight the tech that allows for populating the towns with so many randomly generated NPCs without creating a graphic lag comparable to MT. Idk if it's the same tech as the one behind all those corpses in Azanulbizar, but it's clearly working. I'd love to know more about the NPCs tho (do you have to design whole models or does the engine feed off separate clothes, hair, body models to RNG a complete NPC?)

[Pontin_Finnberry]

I like that the Inns feel more lively and full of NPCs its quite nice, however I'd have would have slightly less NPCs, keep it crowded still yes but just enough that that players can fill the rest perhaps.

[Nebless]

- The inns are incredibly crowded with NPCs. This is a tad disappointing for roleplayers who are organising events in them. There isn’t much space inside for a group of players.

I'd have would have slightly less NPCs, keep it crowded still yes but just enough that that players can fill the rest perhaps.

All they'd need to do is add on an instanced room behind one of the doors in the Inn's for the Roleplayers to use.

Age of Conan has this feature at the Serpent's Head Inn in Khemi. You talk to the Inn manager and rent the room which activates it for use. They have 1 large room on the first floor and smaller rooms upstairs.

Alternate would be to remove one of the doors and just add on an open room with tables and benches. That way the inn's stay crowded which looks good and the Role Players have a spot.

[Phantion]

All they'd need to do is add on an instanced room behind one of the doors in the Inn's for the Roleplayers to use.

Age of Conan has this feature at the Serpent's Head Inn in Khemi. You talk to the Inn manager and rent the room which activates it for use. They have 1 large room on the first floor and smaller rooms upstairs.

Alternate would be to remove one of the doors and just add on an open room with tables and benches. That way the inn's stay crowded which looks good and the Role Players have a spot.

Yeah, I agree with this. The taverns also create a paradox with a lot of regular Shire taverns, including the Green Dragon, feeling far less "lived in" and almost impoverished. So I would like for them to update the other taverns.

I'm an avid roleplayer, so, I totally get it. But we have to remember that this is "Story World" - the world of LOTR proper. I wish roleplayers would take more advantage of housing areas and the like for some fun stuff, especially with decorating creativity! But I think immersion needs to be the priority more than "X band needs a stage," because...... if you're imagining yourself in the Shire or Yondershire - in Tolkien's universe - it would make less sense to find a crowd of Elves, Dwarves, Beornings, and sundry in a Shire pub and far more sense to find a crowd of local Hobbits there.

So, I think the compromise is to have "an empty room" per tavern that players could use if they'd like to; but game-world immersion definitely could use the priority for these places in their actual settings in Middle-earth.

I think the interior of the Prancing Pony could also use an "upgrade" as some point. Tolkien described it as a very crowded Common Room, and now, post-Yondershire, even the Pony feels emptier. They just did "too good" of a job and outdid themselves!

Cheers!

[Foxmaiden14]

The problem for RPers with the inns being full and lively isn't the npcs themselves, it's that the say-spam from the NPCs can't be turned off in /say without turning off say itself. If there was a chat fiter for turning off the NPCs that would fix the issue for the most part. It's been an annoyance since original Beta.

[maartena]

I LOVE the new Inns.

I was actually going to suggest to re-work the interiors of the existing Shire Inns, and give them more hobbitses! The ones in Yondershire look like proper pubs and bars on a Friday night, packed with people having fun! I absolutely love it!

[LBaldric2]

Hobbits gonna booze it up.

[Boraxxe]

Yeah, full, busy Taverns...very satisfying.

Concerning Yondershire in general:

YeeHaw!

I started a character on Shadowfax, playing at Deadly (0)...
It is very satisfying.
It feels like the old days when we didn't know s###. And mobs were actually dangerous.
They have managed to make even Postal Delivery somewhat dangerous. Well, maybe not dangerous, but frustrating.
We once again have puzzles to solve.

I always try to keep myself at a level where most of the mobs are Yellow/Orange.
On the standard servers, there is not really any danger.
On SF or TB its a completely different experience.

I highly recommend everyone try it.

[Kirchenmaus]

I have spent the last few days completely in Yondershire and am sad to say that I have already completed all the quests. The area has become simply gorgeous and I also love the abundance of NPCs that make the area feel so alive.
Like some of the previous speakers, I would also like to see an adaptation of the Shire. Please bring a little more life into the taverns there too! <3

What bothered me a bit is that you have the background noise from the taverns even in private smials. A nearly empty smial should not be filled with laughter, chatter and other typical sounds of a tavern. Please correct that!

As for the private smials; they are stunning! I already found Bingo Boffin's smial totally brilliant, but 8 & 9 Honeymead Lane top it all. And I wish you guys would finally adjust the old housing accordingly. The rooms of the Smials are just too few and the main room is way too big. And finally delete the permanently installed fireplaces, so that you can also integrate corresponding fireplaces in smials (not additionally, but instead). In a Smial belongs no fireplace of the men.

And while we're on the subject of housing; I'd like to see a new hobbit housing - possibly in Yondershire? There's certainly enough space there.

I don't have any other criticism for the new region. It is very coherent and beautiful and makes fun and good mood! Thank you very much for the effort you have put into it. And thanks also for the many great housing items. Now we just need a premium hobbit housing and it's perfect.

[Bamfu]

Noob returning player here. Started over in Ered Luin as a stout-axe. Following epic quest line, I got told to head to Bree. At level 12 everything in Yondershire is purple! Quite intimidating. Made the run though. Nothing attacked me, though a few were definitely thinking about it. Fun stuff.

[Daguest]

Tavern are ridiculously big and crowded compared to the Shire and elsewhere. Which is weird since Yondershire is less populated.

You'd guess well known tavern like the Green Dragon or even the Prancing Poney in Bree would be bigger and more crowded, but no, it's actually some random tavern in Yondershire. You have a 4 burrow village and a inn twice the size

Sound like those Hobbits have a real alcohol problem.



The area was pretty and all, the quests nice (including future Pippin wife and early Fredegar rebels^^). However the leveling process is kinda a mess, and it's all over the place. Quest are 1-2lvl higher than the next one, despite being in the same place. Mobs are orange amongst white mobs. You are sent pretty much all over the map and if you don't do it in some arbitrary order, you are bound to do some back and forth because another quest was unlocked in a place you already were.
It was no big issue to me, a veteran with horse (technically a boar) and all the stuff, but it might be confusing and downright difficult for a new player.

Also, the interaction with Bingo is really weird. See, the quests are apparently AFTER his adventure we help him do. Him and his family already know us, and one of them is even moving (while they all live in the Shire during his quest serie). However, Yondershire is lvl 20, way below the level you are to complete Bingo adventure. At this level, you are in the process of completing the Shire side of his quest line.

As such this entire quest line only make sense if you are a veteran who goes through Yondershire with Bingo knowledge. For someone else like a new player, it's basically out of order.

[OldMadeOfLions]

Also, the interaction with Bingo is really weird. See, the quests are apparently AFTER his adventure we help him do. Him and his family already know us, and one of them is even moving (while they all live in the Shire during his quest serie). However, Yondershire is lvl 20, way below the level you are to complete Bingo adventure.

It seemed ill-advised to put a requirement that you complete the Ballad before you do Housewarming, so much like The Curse of Eerie Acres I chose to err on the side of fewer restrictions instead of more. If your immersion is really bothered by the sequence, you'd probably want to do them in this order:

The Ballad of Bingo Boffin -> Frightful Tales To Curl The Hair On Your Toes -> The Curse of Eerie Acres -> The Last Friendship (in the Angle... for maximum context; not strictly necessary) -> A Visit to Yondershire

...but I don't force you to do them in that order.

MoL

[Firthelthir]

I know....that everyone will groan, but i need to say this:


#1 MAKE PREMIUM HOBBIT HOUSING (self evident)

#2 MAKE THE HOUSING EXACTLY LIKE BILBO/FRODO/BINGO et. al, HOBBIT HOLE EXCEPT :WITHOUT FURNITURE. (maybe with more rooms and a butt-load of yard hooks)

I'm so tired of wanting my own Hobbit hole (LIKE THE MOVIES) decorated to my tastes. Instead we get housing with square rooms and very few furniture and wall hooks.


I WOULD PAY FOR THIS , HENCE: PREMIUM INSPIRED. (Also new players would love this.)

Flame away.

[Elhiril]

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that the inns are lively now. The old ones feel sparse compared. But there are more than solo players playing the game, an active roleplay and event community that wants to take advantage of these lovely spaces. I just wish that both solo and roleplaying players could be kept in mind. A few less NPCs maybe, or one of the rooms without NPCs. I really like the above mentioned suggestion to have instanced areas behind doors for this too.

Going to the homestead is not always a good solution, given the homestead bug that makes things not appear and the closed off nature where you’re less likely to encounter random players which can be great.

[Sito_Origami]

The problem for RPers with the inns being full and lively isn't the npcs themselves, it's that the say-spam from the NPCs can't be turned off in /say without turning off say itself. If there was a chat fiter for turning off the NPCs that would fix the issue for the most part. It's been an annoyance since original Beta.

You mean you have to fight to be heard in a crowded bar?

Sounds about right to me.

[CloudCastle]

I was gonna start my own thread but figured I'd just pour my feedback here:

Things I loved:

• Delated Response/Cabin Fever (involving Lassa & Clotild)

If this is the quest I think it is, I loved the way this quest updated in the world. When I first met the quest giver, she was standing outside her house next to an (empty?) table, and she asked me to find her friend who was late for tea. When I finished, I left with a promise from the friend that she would get in touch and not to worry. I happened to pass by the original quest giver a day or so later and I stopped dead in my tracks because there she was, sitting at the table now, which was laid out with two tea cups and some pie, and there was her friend opposite her and they were chatting away. That was a very nice touch!

I was also pleased to see that I got what looked like some stout axe specific dialog for one of the quests as well, where a quest giver acted like he recognized me (I assume from the starter area zone) and talked about our past together. I didn't recognize his exact name but I think he was talking about a story point that only happens to stout axes in their intro after they arrive at Thorin's Hall.

If your immersion is really bothered by the sequence, you'd probably want to do them in this order:

The Ballad of Bingo Boffin -> Frightful Tales To Curl The Hair On Your Toes -> The Curse of Eerie Acres -> The Last Friendship (in the Angle... for maximum context; not strictly necessary) -> A Visit to Yondershire

...but I don't force you to do them in that order.

MoL

So this brings up another question I had...it seemed like way too much of a coincidence that I bumped into someone who knew an elf who had a back story very similar to another elf I had met in the Angle. Given your quest list and the order you list them in, it sounds like it is indeed the same elf! I thought that was a very nice touch. I was confused though because the time sequence of events will be backwards for any character doing this area going forward. The elf in question was headed west and should only have arrived in Yondershire after the events in the Angle, but if you were to do the quests in proper leveling order, you would hear about the elf first in the Yondershire, and then meet him at a previous point in time, when he was still farther east and was still in the Angle.

Edited to add: I thought I had done every quest in Yondershire, but I apparently missed one, because last night when cleaning up an explorer deed, I discovered a hobbit locked in a cage in a ruin occupied by brigands. I ran around to each town searching for rings, but I couldn't find any quest to free him.

[OldMadeOfLions]

I was confused though because the time sequence of events will be backwards for any character doing this area going forward. The elf in question was headed west and should only have arrived in Yondershire after the events in the Angle, but if you were to do the quests in proper leveling order, you would hear about the elf first in the Yondershire, and then meet him at a previous point in time, when he was still farther east and was still in the Angle.

It's true: Yondershire is a curious sort of region, since it connects to the Hithershire but is very clearly time-locked to a later date (we know that Fredegar has already had his run-in at Crickhollow, for instance, and has had time to make his way up here). So while I appreciate that Yondershire fleshes out the early twenties, I do know that I'll be bringing my subsequent characters through at a higher level -- probably between Volumes I and II, where I think it'll serve as a fun 'what's going on back home?' side story for my hobbits.

As for new players who run Yondershire on level, I think the mention of Ravaedron (not by name, you'll notice - that's intentional, to keep the chronological dissonance to a minimum) is subtle enough that it won't prove to be too confusing. It only becomes knotty when you've become familiar with all the connections between the various quests, and by then I think a player has enough experience with the way we bend time on occasion to not be too befuddled by the whole thing.

Here's my own theory of game design: we might be setting the meals and courses in front of you, but you choose which ones to eat (and when!), and so together we're crafting the story of your character. There are quests I skip on some of my characters, and part of the fun is figuring out a different course for each one -- I find that to be a pretty creative and fulfilling experience.

MoL

[Phantion]

It's true: Yondershire is a curious sort of region, since it connects to the Hithershire but is very clearly time-locked to a later date (we know that Fredegar has already had his run-in at Crickhollow, for instance, and has had time to make his way up here). So while I appreciate that Yondershire fleshes out the early twenties, I do know that I'll be bringing my subsequent characters through at a higher level -- probably between Volumes I and II, where I think it'll serve as a fun 'what's going on back home?' side story for my hobbits.

As for new players who run Yondershire on level, I think the mention of Ravaedron (not by name, you'll notice - that's intentional, to keep the chronological dissonance to a minimum) is subtle enough that it won't prove to be too confusing. It only becomes knotty when you've become familiar with all the connections between the various quests, and by then I think a player has enough experience with the way we bend time on occasion to not be too befuddled by the whole thing.

Here's my own theory of game design: we might be setting the meals and courses in front of you, but you choose which ones to eat (and when!), and so together we're crafting the story of your character. There are quests I skip on some of my characters, and part of the fun is figuring out a different course for each one -- I find that to be a pretty creative and fulfilling experience.

MoL

Yes, I noticed that I thought it was clever, and I found those tales delightful! I love Bingo Boffin! It's true though that the "chronological dissonance" was in the back of my mind; I was like, "Hey! This only makes sense if I'm on a higher level alt whose played the Angle first!" Hehehehe

If I was a new player........... and I encountered Ravaedron far later, I probably would've thought: "Hmmm..... then that must have been a different Elven painter! Those Elves sure enjoy painting!" Perhaps Ravaedron had a painter friend in Imladris who went West before he did, prompting his own difficult decision; and of that, "this tale does not tell." I like it! It helps emphasize the mysteriousness of the Elves, *laughs!*

Cheers!

[CloudCastle]

It's true: Yondershire is a curious sort of region, since it connects to the Hithershire but is very clearly time-locked to a later date (we know that Fredegar has already had his run-in at Crickhollow, for instance, and has had time to make his way up here). So while I appreciate that Yondershire fleshes out the early twenties, I do know that I'll be bringing my subsequent characters through at a higher level -- probably between Volumes I and II, where I think it'll serve as a fun 'what's going on back home?' side story for my hobbits.

As for new players who run Yondershire on level, I think the mention of Ravaedron (not by name, you'll notice - that's intentional, to keep the chronological dissonance to a minimum) is subtle enough that it won't prove to be too confusing. It only becomes knotty when you've become familiar with all the connections between the various quests, and by then I think a player has enough experience with the way we bend time on occasion to not be too befuddled by the whole thing.

Here's my own theory of game design: we might be setting the meals and courses in front of you, but you choose which ones to eat (and when!), and so together we're crafting the story of your character. There are quests I skip on some of my characters, and part of the fun is figuring out a different course for each one -- I find that to be a pretty creative and fulfilling experience.

MoL

I do love all the connections between quests for players to discover, and the level of detail in Yondershire really went above and beyond as far as regions go! Real depth and feeling to the characters. Even better than the Angle I thought. It was fun recognizing Ravaedron in Dinodas's description and thinking, "hey wait, I think I've met that elf too!" I really appreciate the idea of giving players options for leveling and allowing us to craft our own story trail for our characters. The early parts of the game do really well at this, but the later parts become very linear, which makes me miss the freedom of the early levels.

[Nebless]

What bothered me a bit is that you have the background noise from the taverns even in private smials. A nearly empty smial should not be filled with laughter, chatter and other typical sounds of a tavern. Please correct that!

It's even worse up in the Ruins with the Goblins when you go into the Hunter's Hall. You have a Ranger sleeping and 1 awake, yet you have the standard tavern background sound going on.

[Nebless]

Yondershire's a great addition to the game. I went in 10 levels over, but have enjoyed seeing Shire stuff again.

I'm with Daguest concerning the questing being all over the place. Yes it's a smallish area and once you know them using the stable routes to zip around is good. Plus getting one of the quick ports from the Bounder Quartermaster for Nobottle helps, but you do end up going back and forth a bit too much.

I think for anyone starting it, entering it via Needlehole so the first NPC you meet is Bingo is the best route. You'll still have the questing all over the place, but he's out in the middle of no where and if you come in via Little Delving you end up having to do a special run out to where he's at.

I also seem to have found a bug. I was doing the Deliver Bounder Supplies to Nobottle and when I got to the bridge into town it failed the quest saying I was spotted, yet there were no 'eye icon' on the radar, nor were there any NPC's around at all. While being spotted and having to do the quest again is normal. This time it just totally dumped the quest from my quest log so I didn't get to redo it, nor do the follow on quests in that chain.