Tracking an Old Goat

[Ronus]

3. actually I was not aware it made a reference to any quest I had open. But since it said that the NPC would go bye bye once I finish this quest I made sure I had accepted everything.

As did most of the other people here with the unfinished deed.

He didn't offer any other quests, and the ones that he offered previously were completed. No where did it say that ANDREG has other quests to offer IF you move him to a particular spot in the landscape.

I assumed (say what you want) that the remaining quests for the deed would be offered elsewhere down the quest line by another NPC.

Call me lazy, stupid, impatient, unable to read or some combination of the above, but the deed itself was not self explanatory.

[macdadg]

I think the part that messes people up the most, is that accepting the quest that ends the chain is what gets rid of Andreg and the whistle and kills any quests you haven't finished or found. We're somewhat used to having to be careful when finishing a quest that has red text that tells us that any unfinished quests will be removed (Starter area, Walls of Moria), but this is the first time I can remember that accepting a quest kills other quests. And you can't not accept it, there is no decline button.

The mechanic was dumb when introduced in Annuminas, but was implemented better, and explained better in the original quest. Get rid of the whistle, give the quests to either the ranger at the camp at the edge of Gravenwood, or a ranger in the Rohirrim camp, and don't use this poorly designed mechanic again.

[ararax2]

I think the mechanic works well as a "shortcut".

Where it is faster to just follow the trail and summon as needed.

But I think the quests should be offered by someone else at camp after you turn in if you missed any. But now your forced to go back and take longer because you missed some.

But rather like the Hobbits in the Shire that all offer the bounder quest, this style of quests needs a backup quest giver.

[Hurin]

While I agree the circumstances are confusing and chances of screwing the whole thing are pretty high, you DO get a warning about the quests, and you DO know there is a deed involved with ALL THE QUESTS LISTED. So yes it's slightly misleading, but you DO know if you are not stupid or clicking through windows and rushing through content as fast as possible. Sorry, it's mostly your own fault.

As usual, people have a problem putting themselves in the shoes of someone with no prior knowledge.

In a nutshell, the problem is this. . .

Even if someone finds the deed. . . there is no indication that all the quests in that deed must be obtained from the mobile Andreg. As usual, people who made this assumption/guess find it difficult to understand that others did not even though there is no indication (and no precedent) that this deed contains only quests that will be given by the mobile Andreg.

This, of course, is compounded by the fact that Andreg's final warning makes no reference to the deed, and only warns the player that quests "underway" will be cancelled. So, again, people who have no reason to believe that Andreg had any other quests to offer (because, of course, they didn't stay on the "magic invisible path" so Andreg never offered them) think "Okay, I have no quests underway" and dismiss him forever. Because, again, they have no reason to think that the rest of "Tracking an Old Goat" won't be given out by other quest-givers at a later time. So they see no valid reason to keep Andreg around even after heeding his warning as written.

So, again, people need to try a little harder to put themselves in the shoes of someone who has no prior knowledge of this questline, haven't seen this thread, haven't googled it, and who should be under no obligation to have somehow gone back and revisited Annuminas just so that they can experience one other similar piece of content that might have given them the prior knowledge and context they would need to guess correctly and make sense of the otherwise wholly inadequate and misleading deed description and non-warnings.

Then again, we should know better than to take discussions seriously that come up during patching/downtime. It's just people looking to amuse themselves.

--H

[Matheios]

Sorry to hear about what happened, OP. I guess I'm lucky because with my playstyle, I was able to find all quests and finish the deed. But as a sort of completist myself, I feel your pain.

I haven't gone through the whole thread but I could see that the Annuminas set of quest was mentioned. The Gravenwood set at least has a deed tied to it which gives you a checklist to see what you're missing. With the former, without Google and such, you are pretty much relying on luck to be at the right place to trigger Orchalwe to show his quest. I believe I finished 15 of those hidden quests plus the original two. Don't know if I'm still missing anything. (added to that the difficulty that with Annuminas, you need to barrel your way through signature mobs in groups of 3 too).

I don't know if anyone has suggested it already, but I think a nice solution would be for the summoned NPC to offer ALL his quests the first time you summon him.

My two cents.

[Hurin]

I played the quest line 2 days ago with my girlfriend and ... come on! It's there in red letters ... A big warning that you can't call the guy again if you complete this quest. Doesn't that make you at least THINK?

That red text warns you about not being able to complete quests underway. Nobody here had any problem understanding that warning. As directed, they made sure they completed any "underway" quests.

And yes, it did make some people "THINK". . . it made some people "THINK" and say to themselves, "Okay, I have completed all the quests I had underway from him. I can move on now."

Once I saw that I double checked the collection which activated earlier and I made sure that I did get everything.

Ah, but you see, you made a leap there in assuming that all those quests in that deed were to come from Andreg. You made a connection between a warning about "underway quests" and merely a list of quests in a deed. Others saw that deed and thought: "Okay, Andreg gave me some of them, and I completed them. And now he wants to go away after sending me to the Rohirrim camp. It makes perfect sense that the rest of the deed (which mentions that Saeredan is involved as well) quests will be given by others. . ." Which is a completely rational and reasonable conclusion to make given that Turbine has not been in the habit prior of giving deeds that become impossible to complete.

After playing in Evendim I knew how the system worked and the only difference was, that there was a collection tied to it.

Having players go back to previously completed content to experience mechanics that have been newly grafted onto the game since the player was orginally there should not be a prerequisite for understanding and completing other, newer content. Or to put it another way, going back to Annuminas should not be necessary to understand what is going on in the Gravenwood.

--H

[Mark_J]

You know a lot of people did the quest on opening day or opening week... you know before it was "on google" People have to do it before those people put it on google. There was no Guide for most people to follow.

I'm almost convinced that your behavior in this thread is designed to get the thread closed.

I agree....

I also did this with the first group of players when it was extremely easy to miss the mobs and such because with so many people in that area they simply weren't easy to run across.

After I got through it with my Main I discovered the rest of it but my Main is the one where I am OCD with deeds. Now I have one I likely won't ever be able to finish...

[Lythia]

Okay, I am have not read the whole 40 pages of posts. I just stumbled upon this, want to give my two cents, so not entirely sure if it is covered.

But...

If you turned in the quest, which results with the whistle destoryed, and kept going in the chain at the camp, you would of done an instance. In that instance, you're buddy who you summoned...(spoiler) doesn't make it.

So I ask you, how is Turbine going to add him in a stationary place for people who finished it all if the guy is dead? Unless you are suggesting they do away with the guy following you, but I kinda liked the extra help. Especially with the signature hound that popped up on me, offering me yet another quest. If I didn't have the extra help, I doubt I would of made it because I had already had two other hounds biting my heels.

That is just my two cents. Sorry that you can't complete the deed, and I understand it is frustrating. But...reading helps. :-/

[ChromiteSwiftpaw]

Okay, I am have not read the whole 40 pages of posts. I just stumbled upon this, want to give my two cents, so not entirely sure if it is covered.

You should take your own advice, then:

But...reading helps. :-/

If you had actually read the thread you would realize the problem and not jump to conclusions that people breezed past everything and were just being sloppy.

[whheydt]

If you turned in the quest, which results with the whistle destoryed, and kept going in the chain at the camp, you would of done an instance. In that instance, you're buddy who you summoned...(spoiler) doesn't make it.

So I ask you, how is Turbine going to add him in a stationary place for people who finished it all if the guy is dead?

He's still standing by the rock where he was when you got the instance quest, after completing the instance.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

[Aztec_Soul]

I am (was) just one quest away from completing this deed, thinking that perhaps it would be given to me at the camp by someone else, since I had never experienced an 'incomplete quest deed'... Andreg (sp?) had apparently given me all the available quests, as I wondered around the region with no other quests given to me by him... going back to the initial quest-giving location didn't help, either...

way to go with dangling those 5TPs and +1 Honour rank in front of me without a way to get them...

EDIT: tried getting it by shared quest from someone else, but it's not possible.. the devs have to find a way to fix this... it's infuriating having an incomplete deed locked there...

[Grumbul]

I too dislike the way this has been handled. I am ready to end lotro altogether over this issue. I am a completionist and want to finish this. But nope the way this quest was implemented is just plain messed up in so many ways!

[Bicyclerepairman]

Well it will be dealt with like this: If we leave it alone for long enough it will slip back the pages in the forum and we wont have to deal with it - or something to that end it seems since nothing has been said about it since that dubious blue reply ages ago.

[Wyvernclaw]

You know they could just do something about this as a gesture of kindness

[WickedWitch99]

When I saw the title of this thread I thought it had to do with some kind of unique elite east of Bree. Glad I decided to read it.

Not glad that some of you can't finish the deed, although there seems to be a way around it.

I hope to avoid this problem when I get to it.

Thanks for keeping this on the first page for a while.

[Astleigh]

Oh man, this quest chain was REALLY confusing. The mobile quest giver who fights along side you was a cool idea, but everything else about it was poorly implemented.

I was confused where I was supposed to go, confused where I was supposed to blow the whistle, and confused why I was getting random quests appearing halfway through the forest. When I received the final quest and saw the warning text, it looked like everything was ready to go since I had no more quests open. Fortunately I remembered this thread that I had read a couple months ago, and held off on clicking the complete button.

I was unable to find the remaining quest locations on my own and had to google the coordinates. Even with the coordinates they were very hard to find.

My suggestion is that these quests should all be given to you from the start, or there should be a meta-quest that leads you to the locations where the other quests are bestowed.

As for those who already missed out on the deed: maybe everyone who's completed the chain gets mailed a sympathy card from Andreg (edit: just read that he apparently dies later ) that grants them automatic completion of the deed.

Dear PLAYERNAME,

I, Andreg the Ranger, am penning this letter to you in my own blood, as I lay mortally wounded by orc archers. I am not long for this world, and I have only one regret: that you may have missed out on completion of the deed "TRACKING AN OLD GOAT", due to confusion surrounding our adventures together in the Gloomwoods. I only hope that this letter will reach you, as I may not have the strength left in me to make it to the mailbox. Please... accept this [OLD GOAT RANGER MERIT BADGE], as a token of my condolances.

Sincerely, Andreg

[Fionnuala]

Thanks for making this thread. I was able to get the deed because I saw it before encountering these quests. Otherwise, I don't think I would have.

[Tuco]

Doggone it. I saw this thread after the most recent necro, checked my deed list and Fooey! I remember now that I blew the whistle at the camp, Andreg showed up, there was a red warning which I guess I just assumed meant the usual "finish your quests before you send him away" stuff like at the Mirkwood intro rather than reading it carefully.

Some blue name said it's just like Annuminas so I shouldn't be surprised, but since I think I haven't done Annuminas on the dozen or so characters I've leveled past there, I <am> surprised.

How annoying!

Well, at least only one of my flock has gone past that point so far.

(3 of 7 and out of luck -- Can't I at least expunge this one from my deed list so it doesn't sneer at me for the rest of my career?)

[Tuco]

<Spoiler alert for Andreg... bail here if you haven't done "Tribunal of Shadows">

...

I should add to my previous message that I did the Slade of Shadows chain from Saeradan's place, and Andreg sacrificed himself for our victory, telling me with his last breath to head back to the camp with the news that we'd been successful. After turning it in to Saeradan I noticed I still had the whistle, so I blew it to see what would happen. That's when I saw the red alert, which I skimmed, learning that if I executed it I wouldn't be able to turn something or other in. I had two unfinished Andreg quests, so that fit the bill... I turned them in and then quit the whistle tour. Since Andreg was already dead it didn't occur to me that his chain was still going, but (as Miracle Max would say), he was only <mostly> dead.

Guess I should bear in mind that cause does not always precede effect. And read more carefully.

After reading this thread, I thought I'd go try a quest that I'd missed, so I picked "Cruel Traps". I went to the appropriate area near the Tree of Tribute and used the USC Trojan Mine Detector Algorithm to defuse them: run around like an idiot until I step in a trap. I found seven of them while harvesting orcs and skarn (no dupes - I recorded the coordinates), but nothing that gave me credit.

Oh, well.

[Aztec_Soul]

Thanks for making this thread. I was able to get the deed because I saw it before encountering these quests. Otherwise, I don't think I would have.

I suppose this is the best one can do... help others with the knowledge, so they won't go through the same thing I (and others) did... when I asked someone else in the region to share the quest, I made sure to give them a fair warning that this deed was one that had to be done carfully to complete... he actually had trouble with a couple of them, after he mentioned he had wondered around for a length of time, so I lead him to the locations of the ones he was missing that I had previously done myself... unfortunately, the quests in this deed cannot be shared, so the loss of the +1 Honour rank had to be compensated for by doing the Uruk-slayer deed in Angmar... yes, I let out my bit of rage on those Uruks without mercy, until I got my long-deserved 12 rank Honour...

well, the fellow I helped went on to complete the deed, and got his reward... one has to put away jealousy and feel happy for saving someone else from the annoyance of an incomplete deed... bottom line is, turn one's personal misfortune into a helpful bit of knowledge for others...

[ChromiteSwiftpaw]

Welp, all my deeds tabs for Eriador (Except Ettenmoors) and Rhovanion are cleared except for that stupid Tracking an Old Goat deed. Thanks, Berephon, for not listing things properly in the deed description tooltip, quest, etc. (For some reason I can't find the pictures of it that were posted in this thread...)

[Bicyclerepairman]

Welp, all my deeds tabs for Eriador (Except Ettenmoors) and Rhovanion are cleared except for that stupid Tracking an Old Goat deed. Thanks, Berephon, for not listing things properly in the deed description tooltip, quest, etc. (For some reason I can't find the pictures of it that were posted in this thread...)

I feel your pain. In the same situation with my main and it bs.

You know the devs have a big /IGNORE sign in front of it when one of the biggest theads on the forum havent received a blue reply in over three months.

[Odysses]

I am (was) just one quest away from completing this deed, thinking that perhaps it would be given to me at the camp by someone else, since I had never experienced an 'incomplete quest deed'... Andreg (sp?) had apparently given me all the available quests, as I wondered around the region with no other quests given to me by him... going back to the initial quest-giving location didn't help, either...

way to go with dangling those 5TPs and +1 Honour rank in front of me without a way to get them...

EDIT: tried getting it by shared quest from someone else, but it's not possible.. the devs have to find a way to fix this... it's infuriating having an incomplete deed locked there...

I'm in the same boat, 6 out of 7 and couldn't get the 7th quest so figured it was at the camp...

[uscguyjd]

This is an absolute shame. There needs to be a fix to this. I've left games forever for less than this.

[Laire]

Is there any way you /can/ get the quest? Like, if someone else has Andreg up and you just follow that person around until they get to the right area? :/