Discussion: The Horsefields Derby -- quest bugs and issues

1- The timer starts BEFORE you have accepted the quest -- you cannot begin the run until you have accepted the quest.

2- The session is called "Roaming the Horsefields" not "Horsefields' Derby"

3- The stallion states: "Any horse that can pull his weight can make it around the eastern track in less than five minutes."
But, the quest timer starts at 3 minutes, and if you take time to read the quest you loose 10-30 seconds.
The amount of time lost is directly related to the length of time it takes to walk up the hill and for the dialogs to load.

4- You cannot START the run until AFTER you have spoken to the Stallion, even though the timer is running.
This is particularly annoying as in the (usually) previous session -- Herding the Trollshaws, there is NO similar beginning dialog which you must accept before beginning the quest.

5- The "mud" spots extend FAR beyond their graphics. (The inverse problem of the Feed Trough.)

6- The quest timer continues to run AFTER you have spoken to the stallion but have not yet clicked "finish" quest. This is particularly annoying because of the short timer.

Also submitted as a bug report.

Neither my wife nor I had any real issues with this quest.

I finished this quest with well over a minute left on the timer, I didn't seem to have any problems with it. Yes, the timer starting before you talk to the stallion was annoying, but nothing insurmountable.

I, myself, and my husband do these quests every chance we get, and this is the first time that we both actually crossed the finish line , with seconds to spare , and still lost the race, I can usually win both races and still have time to jump first fence, before my horse dismounts. But the timer seemed off in Bree , I made both power boosts , made it through the course , to cross the finish line , and it said I failed ...Still scratching my head on that one . But guess , one should just chalk it up as bad footing by horses , The next race I won , Have both mounts , and the Jester , so a little lag, delayed, or slow timer is just another day in middle earth

Envoyé par cavemanswoman

I, myself, and my husband do these quests every chance we get, and this is the first time that we both actually crossed the finish line , with seconds to spare , and still lost the race, I can usually win both races and still have time to jump first fence, before my horse dismounts. But the timer seemed off in Bree , I made both power boosts , made it through the course , to cross the finish line , and it said I failed ...Still scratching my head on that one . But guess , one should just chalk it up as bad footing by horses , The next race I won , Have both mounts , and the Jester , so a little lag, delayed, or slow timer is just another day in middle earth

Think your problem with the bree one is one that I have also hit upon occasion - even though you make the jumps, you can actually go between, rather than through, the flags. You therefore fail to finish the race as it sees you as not having passed through all the gates. They need to fix the gated flag area to cover more of the area there.

All that being said, I think the OP is not talking about this quest, but the newly released one.

/derail off

I've tried and failed this race 3 times now never even having a chance to be anywhere close to finishing. I think the timer must start while it's trying to log me in for the session play. Just like when someone from your kin is trying to log on, you can see that they are online but not do anything with them until they are done loading. I think the session play is the same way, because the timer never says the same time for me twice. It starts running as I'm loading and by the time I get up to start the quest, I'm already way low on time.

Envoyé par Archerwen

Think your problem with the bree one is one that I have also hit upon occasion - even though you make the jumps, you can actually go between, rather than through, the flags. You therefore fail to finish the race as it sees you as not having passed through all the gates. They need to fix the gated flag area to cover more of the area there.

This might also be due to server lag. If you are just barely beating the timer, on the server, you may have actually just barely missed the timer. Unfortunatly, the server wins.

Envoyé par Archerwen

All that being said, I think the OP is not talking about this quest, but the newly released one.

/derail off

Came here to say this, but thought I would add my 2¢ worth for the festival horse races Archerwen mentioned.

I've tried and failed it three times so far. The third time I didn't even try to talk to the stallion until I had scoped around and found the first gate -- it's downhill to the east. Now, in light of the bit about the timer starting BEFORE you talk to the stallion, no wonder I failed it.

At least now I know where the dratted first gate is; I'll try some more tomorrow.

Envoyé par djheydt

I've tried and failed it three times so far. The third time I didn't even try to talk to the stallion until I had scoped around and found the first gate -- it's downhill to the east. Now, in light of the bit about the timer starting BEFORE you talk to the stallion, no wonder I failed it.

At least now I know where the dratted first gate is; I'll try some more tomorrow.

I did the same the first time, now I know where to start I got lost searching for the seventh gate, I didn't see it at all! now I'm checking the course which I thought would be obvious, and seems it when I do it outside the quest, (you can practise it as the stallion is just outside the farm, ) anyone know if there is anything else to look out for? failed twice now which I can't believe..

I haven't managed to fail this yet in multiple attempts. There seems to be plenty of time, even when picking up multiple mud slows.

Regarding finding the gates, the direction is on the mini-map, just head towards the arrow.

Also, don't forget to use your speed-boost skill.

Envoyé par mjk47

I haven't managed to fail this yet in multiple attempts. There seems to be plenty of time, even when picking up multiple mud slows.

Regarding finding the gates, the direction is on the mini-map, just head towards the arrow.

Also, don't forget to use your speed-boost skill.

really I had no arrow on mine! I def looked maybe it's bugged, Ill try it again, thanks for the heads up.

Envoyé par mjk47

Also, don't forget to use your speed-boost skill.

This...
I use the boost at the beginning of the race (as soon as I'm down the little hill and near the first gate), because there aren't that much mud spots.

When I did the quest the first time, I also searched for the first gate, took the wrong direction and failed. Two hours waiting for doing it again seems too long for me.

There was one quest in which you start from the master and have to run through all the fences and back to the master, I completed that! The first fence is right out the gate towards the course and you just have to make sure you dont miss any gates. Now, i have another different quest called "The Horsefields Derby", in which the clock starts immediately from the master and says to talk to the horse from combe, then when you click the horse from combe, the session starts, and you are placed at that part of the course where you are on a hilltop, with a steep drop with another horse with a gold ring. The quest says "reach the first gate"!!!!! So ive been clicking in that horse with the gold ring and riding to the first gate! Now, you are in the middle of the course so you can reach the first gate by going either way?? So ive gone both ways, and so far and failed four times? Any insights here before I submit a ticket?

ok, just completed it on my alt. the first gate is down the hill as it says (da?) and all you have to do is follow your marker to each of the gates, but you have to use the speed boost! what threw me off was that you dont follow the regular course at the start,in either direction ~~ and the first gate is not the same first gate as the other quest! patience!

Although each successful quest of the horse does gain you the deed, there's the funny issue that the deed's reward is a cloak that is a horse's ###.

Lol!! I have two 75's that im busy trying to obtain medallions and seals in order to upgrade my armour and jewlery. ~ RL full time job, enough said. So im asking myself why im riding a horse through fences, killing birds on weathertop, and carrying buckets of water to bob, tom and alice? Now i dont do cosmetics, although i have them? I only hope that this deed, and these activities, have somerhing to do with mounted combat in RoR? Otherwise, these tasks are like a graduate student writing his abc's 60x?

I have to agree, the quest is a little weird in that the timer starts before you talk to the horse. I guess it is too keep people from using that quest to roam wherever they please in Middle-Earth on an unlimited timer. But still the clock should reset as it were when you talk with the horse.

The first time I did the quest I didn't get that the mud patches slow you down. The horse never told me anything about looking out for them. About halfway through I figured it out and figured I should jump over them... but I don't know if it is like the OP said where they extend farther than their graphics; or if you just aren't allowed to jump over them. Whatever the case, jumping over them still slowed me down. I barely finished and still had to talk to the horse and click finish before I read what it had to say.

I have to say, there are other time sensitive quests where you have to do something and then come back and talk to the quest giver to complete it. I don't like how the game handles those since some are tight on time and you basically can't read what the quest giver says when you come back. You have to hurry and click 'finish' in order to not fail.

Envoyé par Paladiran

There was one quest in which you start from the master and have to run through all the fences and back to the master, I completed that! The first fence is right out the gate towards the course and you just have to make sure you dont miss any gates. Now, i have another different quest called "The Horsefields Derby", in which the clock starts immediately from the master and says to talk to the horse from combe, then when you click the horse from combe, the session starts, and you are placed at that part of the course where you are on a hilltop, with a steep drop with another horse with a gold ring. The quest says "reach the first gate"!!!!! So ive been clicking in that horse with the gold ring and riding to the first gate! Now, you are in the middle of the course so you can reach the first gate by going either way?? So ive gone both ways, and so far and failed four times? Any insights here before I submit a ticket?

Unless i'm seriously misunderstanding you I think you're seriouusly misunderstanding the quest. The Derby one is the same run though all the gates and talk to the master thing.

Envoyé par Kongas

Unless i'm seriously misunderstanding you I think you're seriouusly misunderstanding the quest. The Derby one is the same run though all the gates and talk to the master thing.

You aren't misunderstanding, but several other folk are. I think people are over-thinking the whole thing.

The course for the quest is not the same course as for the "regular" Horsefields riding test quest.

The "first gate" for the quest is the one right next to the Master.

Make sure that you have a free slot in your quest tracker. If you do, the quest will get entered there and the pointer to the next gate will appear in the mini-map after you go through each gate.

It really is very hard to fail this quest. I normally finish with 20-30 seconds to spare, and that includes picking up mud slows.

Remember to use your speed boost skill!

You really can't go wrong, honest.

Envoyé par ETSubmariner

Although each successful quest of the horse does gain you the deed, there's the funny issue that the deed's reward is a cloak that is a horse's ###.

Yes. I intend to do all sixty quests to get the deed, but wild horses could not drag me to the point where I would wear it.

Envoyé par Paladiran

Lol!! I have two 75's that im busy trying to obtain medallions and seals in order to upgrade my armour and jewlery. ~ RL full time job, enough said. So im asking myself why im riding a horse through fences, killing birds on weathertop, and carrying buckets of water to bob, tom and alice? Now i dont do cosmetics, although i have them? I only hope that this deed, and these activities, have somerhing to do with mounted combat in RoR? Otherwise, these tasks are like a graduate student writing his abc's 60x?

I *think* the point of the various horse session plays is to give people a chance to learn how to use the horse skills *before* getting them dumped on us when we get actual war steeds. Note that several of the sessions require combat and the Derby requires use of the run buff.

What I wonder about is...how will this all be handled when RoR goes live? Will the deeds still be limited to two runs per day? If so...there will be a great flaming discussion in the Suggestions Forum (at a guess, might be in General) *demanding* that all 9 quests be available all the time. Conversely, if all 9 are available at any time when it goes live, there will be annoyed people who had to do them two at a time over the course of nearly a month.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

Definitely not wearing that cloak either! Lol. Anyway, i now know where the first gate (2) is, having tried to reach first gate (1) 4x's, and its all because i didnt pay attention to "down the hill" lol

Yes whhehdt, I see the light, and agree. Thanks, Ill feel better carrying buckets of water, but Im still not wearing that cloak! Hee hee :-))

For me the timer is at about 2 minutes 6 seconds by the time I get logged in and accept the quest - even using the accelerator skill and avoiding mud patches, there is no way I can complete it in the time - best I've done is to get close to the last two gates. Guess I'll just have to wait until it is patched so it is consistent with the other horse quests - timer starts when accept the quest - not when you click on the horse at the farm.

Update: started running it early in morning when server load is light - was able to finish.

Envoyé par torvigg

For the timer is at about 2 minutes 6 seconds by the time I get logged in and accept the quest - even using the accelerator skill and avoiding mud patches, there is no way I can complete it in the time - best I've done is to close to the last two gates. Guess I'll just have to wait until it is patched so it is consistent with the other horse quests - timer starts when accept the quest - not when you click on the horse at the farm.

You must be doing something seriously odd. Even with hitting mud patches, I usually finish this with 20-30 seconds to spare. Are you sure you are following the right course. You definitely need to keep an eye on the mini-map the first couple of times through.

Ok this is a little offtopic but it happens in this Horse session too:

Have anyone noticed sometimes the horse runs faster?. I mean at normal speed runs like when it has the speed buff, then when you use the speed skill it runs very fast.

When this happens I managed to complete this quest with more than 1 minute to spare, but normally is like 30 seconds.

Envoyé par Paladiran

Yes whhehdt, I see the light, and agree. Thanks, Ill feel better carrying buckets of water, but Im still not wearing that cloak! Hee hee :-))

I'm not going to wear it, either.

Now...the deed that simply requires doing each horse quest once gets you an additional session play (with no timer, I might add, but it puts you in Rohan) and the bonus mounted combat skill that comes with the Legendary Expansion pack.

What I wonder is (and we can't possibly find out for several days yet), are there are "extras" that go with completing 60 quests?

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

Envoyé par Laerien

Ok this is a little offtopic but it happens in this Horse session too:

Have anyone noticed sometimes the horse runs faster?. I mean at normal speed runs like when it has the speed buff, then when you use the speed skill it runs very fast.

When this happens I managed to complete this quest with more than 1 minute to spare, but normally is like 30 seconds.

yes there is a fast horse and a normal (slow) horse. I have yet to figure out why or when you get the faster horse. I've tried a couple things to see if that made a difference, but it seems completely random.

I have had no real issues with this quest since the first attempt. Like many of the repeatable quests in Middle Earth. Learned about the mud spots and have learned to ride around them. So nothing difficult here and no real reason to change the quest.

there is a saying if you do the same thing over and over you do get the same results. If you are not finishing, try making a change and maybe you will get a different result.

Envoyé par bloodyanarch

yes there is a fast horse and a normal (slow) horse. I have yet to figure out why or when you get the faster horse. I've tried a couple things to see if that made a difference, but it seems completely random.

I have never seen this. Are you sure you aren't just mis-reading the effect of the mud speed debuffs?

My observation is that (unbuffed), the War Steeds are faster than stable mounts!

Envoyé par Maxal

I have had no real issues with this quest since the first attempt. Like many of the repeatable quests in Middle Earth. Learned about the mud spots and have learned to ride around them. So nothing difficult here and no real reason to change the quest.

Completely agree. The first time I ran this quest it was a disaster. I didn't know about the mud, I didn't know where I was going, and the timer is very short. Second time through I knew to avoid the mud which made it much easier. Then I realized that the arrow on the mini-map points you where you need to go to reach the next gate. Now the quest is easy and I see no reason why anything needs to be changed.

Envoyé par mjk47

I have never seen this. Are you sure you aren't just mis-reading the effect of the mud speed debuffs?

My observation is that (unbuffed), the War Steeds are faster than stable mounts!

I dunno. I was doing the Trollshaws one, and I was heading to the ford with another player-controlled mount alongside. My un-buffed war-steed was running at about the same speed as that other player.

So much for faster steeds.

Envoyé par Jiraiyaisnolia

I dunno. I was doing the Trollshaws one, and I was heading to the ford with another player-controlled mount alongside. My un-buffed war-steed was running at about the same speed as that other player.

So much for faster steeds.

I second that. Just followed a rider from the lone lands to Bree and I was running at the same speed. Only if you use the speed buff, you go whooooooommm... ;-)

If you are having server lag issues, I don't have a solution. But if you are just having trouble running the Derby, here are some tips:

1. Run it during day time. Or put your gamma up so that you have lots of light. Running it at night makes the gates hard to see.

2. The first gate is down the hill to your right as you come into session play facing the Stallion.

3. Follow the quest tracker. It points an arrow towards the next gate.

4. There are nine gates. The last gate is directly below the hill where the stallion is. After going through the ninth gate, it is a quick gallop up the hill to turn in.

5. Use your Gallop skill on your hotbar. If you use this at Gate 1, it should just about get you to Gate 4. It should be available again about Gate 8 so that if you are short on time, you can speed up the hill to the stallion.

6. Just like the horse races, stay as close to the inside as you can, this will shave a few seconds off your time.

I've run this race a number of times. The first time I failed because I thought I had to run the entire course, but I wasn't paying attention to either the quest tracker or the quest. Once I realized that I only had nine gates and that the last gate was just below the hill where you turn in the quest, I never finished this race with less than a minute to spare.

Hope this is helpful.

Envoyé par Laerien

Have anyone noticed sometimes the horse runs faster?. I mean at normal speed runs like when it has the speed buff, then when you use the speed skill it runs very fast.

Yes I've sen this. I've had it happen on each of six characters and in each of the four sessions, completely at random. Sometimes one character, sometimes another, sometimes none. It seems that the base speed of the horse gets set to the buffed speed and the buffed speed goes up to rocket speed. It knocks 30secs off the time taken to run to Ost Guruth from the entrance point, for example.

Envoyé par Tarmas_Eldar

Yes I've sen this. I've had it happen on each of six characters and in each of the four sessions, completely at random. Sometimes one character, sometimes another, sometimes none. It seems that the base speed of the horse gets set to the buffed speed and the buffed speed goes up to rocket speed. It knocks 30secs off the time taken to run to Ost Guruth from the entrance point, for example.

I have noticed the same thing. I ran the Lone Lands quest on 9 toons and on one of them I finished the quest in under 6 minutes. The others took 8-9 minutes. It seems totally random because I have noticed the faster horse on different toons. Today I had the faster horse on my Champ and the other day it happned on my Mini.

Envoyé par brasswire12

Completely agree. The first time I ran this quest it was a disaster. I didn't know about the mud, I didn't know where I was going, and the timer is very short. Second time through I knew to avoid the mud which made it much easier. Then I realized that the arrow on the mini-map points you where you need to go to reach the next gate. Now the quest is easy and I see no reason why anything needs to be changed.

After failing this a few times I found this thread and once I knew about timer starting early and the mud patches I completed it. I had naturally assumed timer started when you spoke to horse and accepted!! I was also wasting time before adjusing my map as ojn the resolution used in session half my mini map was off screen. Once I read this thread and adjusted "on the run"

So a big thank you to the people who saved the day for me here!!