It is time for another episode of Update Talks. This episode we will be talking about everything we know about the fourth expansion to LOTRO, Riders of Rohan and we will be making predictions on what it will be like to play the expansion on September 5th.
The talks will go topic by topic through Riders of Rohan. Each topic will start only open to the experts but once they get done anyone on Ventrilo will be free give their impressions on the topic through voice or text.
The prediction show for Riders of Rohan will take place on
Sunday 6/24 starting at 9pm Eastern Time.
Update Talks: Riders of Rohan Experts
- Andang
- Goldenstar
- Merric
- Pineleaf
- Ivan from Through the Palantir
- Shipwreck from LotRO Beneath Your Feet
Update Talks: Riders of Rohan Prediction Show Agenda
- Lore Overview
- New Landscape
- Story
- Mounted Combat
- Trailers
- Level cap increase
- Pre-Orders
- New Music
- Repeatable Content
- Horse Session Play
- Graphics Upgrades
- After Rohan: Helms Deep
- Final Thoughts
CSTM Ventrilo Server
Download: https://www.typefrag.com/services/download/
Host: tomordor.typefrag.com
Port: 3784
If you can’t make it on Sun 6/24 @ 9pm Eastern, you can send questions or comments you have about Update Talks or Riders of Rohan to andang@casualstrolltomordor.com and if you want we might read what you send on the show.
The show will also be LIVE on Middle-Earth Network Radio as well as recorded and posted after!
Conduct
Having your mic is a privilege not a right. If you do not follow the following rules you could be muted or even kicked from the CSTM Ventrilo server. You have to understand we are recording this stuff and so if you are found to be disruptive or problematic to the program, we will respond accordingly. With everyone having a mic it could turn into chaos real quick unless we all respect one another.
- Show up early for mic quality test (if you have background noise that sounds like you are at a monster truck rally during a hurricane we might not be able to hear you clearly which may cause you to get muted but if you show up early we might be able to send Gandalf to fix it)
- Please make your mic push to talk (we don’t want you to accidently talk over people or you might be muted)
- Don’t talk over other people on purpose and stop talking ASAP if you are talking over someone (or you might get muted)
- Try to stay away from facts and questions; try to say more opinions and thoughts (we want to talk about how people like Riders of Rohan not answer questions. If you have questions about Riders of Rohan you can send them to andang@casualstrolltomordor.com)
- If you do get muted you can still join us in the written chat
- Have fun!
June 20, 2012 at 9:58 am
I’m looking forward to it!
June 20, 2012 at 10:27 am
What about Edoras? You can’t go to helms deep before going to edoras!!!!
June 20, 2012 at 11:36 am
We don’t know anything about Edoras otherwise I would be talking a lot about it…but Turbine has told us several things about Helms Deep with interviews on other sites back in January.
June 20, 2012 at 10:33 am
Sounds like a great event, too bad I can’t make it.
June 20, 2012 at 2:29 pm
Well we plan on publishing it as an additional podcast.
June 20, 2012 at 11:27 am
And speaking of Rohan: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06/20/lotro-shows-off-the-vistas-of-rohan-in-new-video-and-stills/
We just got a flythrough of it(or at least parts of it).
June 20, 2012 at 11:35 am
Thank you so much for the link…this gets me really excited about Rohan.
June 20, 2012 at 3:54 pm
No probs. I yanked it from a post on the forums, although that one was in german.
Seems Turbine has made a special place to keep they Rohan teasers, by the way: http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/2118-riders-of-rohan-region?lang=EN
June 20, 2012 at 12:19 pm
I wonder if the new graphics engine will only apply to Rohan or the entire world?
June 20, 2012 at 1:48 pm
That is actually one of the prediction questions I am going to ask on the show…
If anyone has any questions they want asked/answered feel free to E-mail me or post them here in the comments.
June 21, 2012 at 3:37 am
Hey
I think this is a very nice idea and wish you luck for the execution!
All I’d suggest is that you stay positive and keep the pre order segment very short unless the ‘packs’ have changed. I do believe this subject has been more than covered…
June 21, 2012 at 9:38 pm
Due to timezone differences I won’t be able to be there, but I have one question about the ability/gameplay with the warsteed – will we get to do cavalry charges against infantry??? This is the whole point of having a cavalry.
The movies had some fantastic examples (Aragorn etc riding out of Helms Deep, Gandalf etc arriving at Helms Deep, the Rohirim arriving at the seige of Gondor). These events all happen after RoR, but the ability should be built in to what the warsteeds can do.
Other games have done cavalry where the horse just stands there (little more than horse-pants) and this would be sooo dissapointing to play. I want to ride into an army of orcs and kill dozens of them in seconds, before even swinging my sword.
If it doesn’t happen then I might go release a horse in the Turbine offices so they learn A) horses don’t stand still and B) horses that don’t stand still do an amazing amount of damage.
June 23, 2012 at 9:25 am
Despite time zone differences, I will be there! at 2am!
June 24, 2012 at 6:40 pm
I’m a bit concerned that we’re only 10 weeks from launch and still haven’t gotten many details from Turbine. To me this implies that a lot of details are still up in the air, which isn’t a good sign, this late in the game. However, here are a few predictions:
I predict there will be four factions to gain reputation with in Eastemnet. This would be considerably more than Turbine has introduced at the beginning of any previous expansion, but the land is twice as big. I think we’ll have to gain reputation with the Wold, Entwash, Norcrofts, and Sutcrofts.
I predict we’ll see and interact with some children in this expansion, since they were a primary emotional component of Tolkien’s stories in this region.
As far as crafting goes, I predict there will be two subsets of recipes for each profession, similar to Rise of Isengard. One group will be for level 80ish recipes and the other for level 85 recipes. There won’t be any radical new crafting mechanics. It will basically be a copy-and-paste from RoI with new names, new stats, and new appearances.
I predict we will get a third type of equippable legendary item (in addition to weapons and class items) to improve aspects of mounted combat. It might be reins or a bit or a bridle. This new legendary item will have gems, settings, and runes. To accommodate this addition, Turbine will add at least one more slot in the Legendary Items panel. (I’d be willing to wager they’ll sell that slot in the LOTRO Store, for a maximum of 9 slots total.)
I predict there will be one or two two books of the epic quest line at launch, with about 2 chapters in each of the areas of Eastemnet. One might be a continuation of Book 7 from the Great River, which itself never reached a satisfying conclusion.
I predict that a significant proportion of players (although probably not a majority) will not enjoy the implementation of mounted combat. It will require them to learn a brand new style of play, almost like starting over playing a 10th class. For example, it seems unlikely that playing a mounted burglar could be much like playing a burglar on foot. Because of the steep learning curve, Turbine will find it difficult to implement satisfying group mounted encounters at first.
June 24, 2012 at 7:58 pm
What is the password for the server? Or isn’t there one?
June 25, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I listened to the live stream last night, and although it was an interesting chat and I appreciated hearing people’s thoughts on the upcoming expansion, I thought it went on a bit too long and tried to cover too much. If you decide to do this again (and I hope you do!), perhaps select a smaller number of issues and allow more time for actual interaction about each one, rather than simply trying to work through a looong predetermined list of one-off interview questions.