Thread: Any word on whether non legendary buyers will be able to purchase horse session?

I'm just wondering if somewhere down the line, the people who don't buy the legendary edition will be able to buy the horse session play with TP. It would be really nice if so as it sucks to get locked out of content...It's really the only bonus in the legendary that interests me, but I don't really want to pay $30 more in order to get it.

Here's hoping that it gets released in the store. I'm sure it would be a decent seller.

I'd love an answer to this.

If they´d offer the horse play outside of the legendary edition, it somehow would stop being *exclusive*. Then again, I´m pretty sure Turbine can come up with a new definition of *exclusive* easily.

Originally Posted by Vandervahn

If they´d offer the horse play outside of the legendary edition, it somehow would stop being *exclusive*. Then again, I´m pretty sure Turbine can come up with a new definition of *exclusive* easily.

I know what you mean. It would stop being exclusive for sure. But I still think it's not a good idea to limit content based on a pre-order. I'm sure not a lot of people would not complain if Turbine released it for TP.

Originally Posted by leojreimroc

I'm sure it would be a decent seller.

I think you answered your own question.

Exclusive still has a meaning guys!

That horses session is 1) nice 2) works as a peakoff on mounted combat and rohan landscape 3) is not game breaking in any sense. You can live and play without trying the horse 2-3 months before eveyrone else.

Makes perfect sense to put that as a pre-order incentive.

Lets be logical; first ppl complain about the lengendary version not giving enough, and then ppl complain because the legendary edition gives too much? Jeez.

If you want that little quest chain, buy it. If you dont, buy the base edition.

I´m confused. Does the OP mean mounted combat with "horse session"?

If so then this is free for everybody as it gets opened in the free epic quest line IIRC. It´s the horsie´s traits that are dependent on the stuff you buy.

It´s anybodies guess of course how much actual mounted combat there is inside of only the epic quest line.

September seems like the obvious answer since the session play should be included...I think? Perhaps too obvious.

Originally Posted by Flatfoot789

I´m confused. Does the OP mean mounted combat with "horse session"?

No. He means the quests and deeds you get as part of the Legendary RoR pre-purchase, which includes four session-play quests as a special horse and culminates in a brief meeting with Shadowfax, giving a clue as to the lineage of the War-steed you'll have in Rohan.

Originally Posted by Leonide

...

Lets be logical; first ppl complain about the lengendary version not giving enough, and then ppl complain because the legendary edition gives too much? Jeez.

If you want that little quest chain, buy it. If you dont, buy the base edition.

Maybe you have missed the little tidbit that at the end of it, there will be an exclusive mounted combat skill. While this skill is not known yet but suspected to be a heal on a 24 hour cooldown, this still constitutes selling of game mechanics for top dollar.

Thats the problem with it. Not what the skill actually does (which probably will be very little). And that wouldnt really change if they´d put the horse play in the store (breaking the *exclusive* promise in stride).

Originally Posted by Vandervahn

this still constitutes selling of game mechanics for top dollar.

Not that I disagree or anything, but that bridge has been crossed.

Originally Posted by leojreimroc

I know what you mean. It would stop being exclusive for sure. But I still think it's not a good idea to limit content based on a pre-order. I'm sure not a lot of people would not complain if Turbine released it for TP.

Actually, I'd bet lots of people that bought the legendary version would complain, because it was advertized as "exclusive" content. If it goes into the Store, it would not be exclusive.

In my book, that would be false advertizing...

I think that this horse session will be exclusive until Rohan launch.

Originally Posted by Tarmas_Eldar

No. He means the quests and deeds you get as part of the Legendary RoR pre-purchase, which includes four session-play quests as a special horse and culminates in a brief meeting with Shadowfax, giving a clue as to the lineage of the War-steed you'll have in Rohan.

Yes, I meant those quests.

Originally Posted by Vandervahn

Maybe you have missed the little tidbit that at the end of it, there will be an exclusive mounted combat skill. While this skill is not known yet but suspected to be a heal on a 24 hour cooldown, this still constitutes selling of game mechanics for top dollar.

Thats the problem with it. Not what the skill actually does (which probably will be very little). And that wouldnt really change if they´d put the horse play in the store (breaking the *exclusive* promise in stride).

It has a 24 hour cool down and costs 171 power, but the tooltip doesn't really say what it *does*.

My best guess...

The horse quests will open up to everyone at launch, but those without the Legendary pre-purchase will *not* get the additional quest at the end that grants the skill. What is rather more open to speculation is the deed to do 60 quests that gets the cloak. The cloak *might* be generally achievable or it might be an exclusive to the pre-purchase, OR there might be something extra hidden behind that deed as well. which would be an exclusive reward.

Since no one can possibly have completed 60 horse quests yet, no one knows what happens with that deed.

Alternatively, Turbine might open the quests up somewhere between one week and one month before launch, and--again--without the exclusives being included. This might be the plan since I think the primary purpose of the horse quests is to let people learn how to use the horse combat skills.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

Originally Posted by Vandervahn

Maybe you have missed the little tidbit that at the end of it, there will be an exclusive mounted combat skill. While this skill is not known yet but suspected to be a heal on a 24 hour cooldown, this still constitutes selling of game mechanics for top dollar.

Thats the problem with it. Not what the skill actually does (which probably will be very little). And that wouldnt really change if they´d put the horse play in the store (breaking the *exclusive* promise in stride).

I didn't
And I dont see the problem here.

A 24h CD skill? Thats not unfair to give on a 70$ version at all.

Originally Posted by whheydt

It has a 24 hour cool down and costs 171 power, but the tooltip doesn't really say what it *does*.

My best guess...

The horse quests will open up to everyone at launch, but those without the Legendary pre-purchase will *not* get the additional quest at the end that grants the skill. What is rather more open to speculation is the deed to do 60 quests that gets the cloak. The cloak *might* be generally achievable or it might be an exclusive to the pre-purchase, OR there might be something extra hidden behind that deed as well. which would be an exclusive reward.

Since no one can possibly have completed 60 horse quests yet, no one knows what happens with that deed.

Alternatively, Turbine might open the quests up somewhere between one week and one month before launch, and--again--without the exclusives being included. This might be the plan since I think the primary purpose of the horse quests is to let people learn how to use the horse combat skills.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

I do not think these quest will open up at launch.

I think the primary reason for the horse quests is to build up excitement for Rohan, as other players see all these riderless horses running around. I believe that there will be another set of quests that players will need to do at 75 before actually getting into Rohan. Those are the quests that will teach the players how to use the combat skills, not these fluff quests that we have now.

Well, it's possible that Turbine will open up the horse quests up for purchase later on. In the realm of downloadable content, it's not that unusual to make "exclusive" items and content available for purchase after a period of time has passed post launch.

Then again, they may not. Only time will tell.

Originally Posted by Jiraiyaisnolia

I do not think these quest will open up at launch.

I think the primary reason for the horse quests is to build up excitement for Rohan, as other players see all these riderless horses running around. I believe that there will be another set of quests that players will need to do at 75 before actually getting into Rohan. Those are the quests that will teach the players how to use the combat skills, not these fluff quests that we have now.

I'll give another reason why I think the horse quests will be opened up to everyone shortly before, or at launch. There's a fair amount of work gone into those quests. Too much, I think, for the effort to simply be flushed away once the pre-order period is over. Turbine will want to get more player-hours out of them (not to mention the post-launch purchase of RoR content) and those quests will be part of that.

The final quest that is triggered now--the one you where you meet up with Gandalf and Shadowfax--could be removed as it's very short, or it could be retained and just have the post-quest final turnin with Eogar and/or granting the exclusive pre-order mounted combat skill removed. That whole sequence represents a lot less asset cost to Turbine that the rest of the material.

Short answer...why would Turbine write off those assets when RoR launches? That just doesn't make business sense.

Originally Posted by hillard1959

Well, it's possible that Turbine will open up the horse quests up for purchase later on. In the realm of downloadable content, it's not that unusual to make "exclusive" items and content available for purchase after a period of time has passed post launch.

Then again, they may not. Only time will tell.

I suppose it depends on how much of the horse quest material one thinks is "exclusive Rohan content" for pre-purshases. I wouldn't count on anything more than meeting Gandalf and Shadowfax, and it might be just the "do 60 quests and get a cloak", which is "content" that really wouldn't have cost more that a trivial amount of time to set up. It wouldn't be the first time a deed was set up that couldn't be done after some "event" had completed.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

Originally Posted by whheydt

I suppose it depends on how much of the horse quest material one thinks is "exclusive Rohan content" for pre-purshases. I wouldn't count on anything more than meeting Gandalf and Shadowfax, and it might be just the "do 60 quests and get a cloak", which is "content" that really wouldn't have cost more that a trivial amount of time to set up. It wouldn't be the first time a deed was set up that couldn't be done after some "event" had completed.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

I don't know. It could be argued that this might be a kind of testing ground to see how well extra content outside the scope of what is usually free to VIPs might sell. Think the Bonus Mission Pack on offer over at Guild Wars. With that, for $10 you get 4 or 5 extra quests (very similar to session play here, as you play a character besides your own) that isn't included in the main game. Personally, if they put out content like that I'd probably buy it. That is, as long as it's not necessary content and the price on it wasn't too extravagant. I'd pay around $5 to $10 for the horse session play quests. Especially if there was a decent (but not game breaking or overly advantageous) reward at the end. (In the aforementioned Bonus Mission Pack, completing an instance allowed you to choose a gold weapon bereft of any modifications. Well worth it if you needed to equip a character cheaply.)

Originally Posted by hillard1959

I don't know. It could be argued that this might be a kind of testing ground to see how well extra content outside the scope of what is usually free to VIPs might sell. Think the Bonus Mission Pack on offer over at Guild Wars. With that, for $10 you get 4 or 5 extra quests (very similar to session play here, as you play a character besides your own) that isn't included in the main game. Personally, if they put out content like that I'd probably buy it. That is, as long as it's not necessary content and the price on it wasn't too extravagant. I'd pay around $5 to $10 for the horse session play quests. Especially if there was a decent (but not game breaking or overly advantageous) reward at the end. (In the aforementioned Bonus Mission Pack, completing an instance allowed you to choose a gold weapon bereft of any modifications. Well worth it if you needed to equip a character cheaply.)

For all practical purposes, Turbine has had that sort of "bonus" content for the couple of years. They're called "skirmishes". VIPs get them routinely, other account types have to buy them individually. Some are unlocked by doing Epic quests. Other than that, they pretty much fit your description.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

Originally Posted by whheydt

For all practical purposes, Turbine has had that sort of "bonus" content for the couple of years. They're called "skirmishes". VIPs get them routinely, other account types have to buy them individually. Some are unlocked by doing Epic quests. Other than that, they pretty much fit your description.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

True. But what I'm saying here is that might, possibly, maybe, offer up "fluff" quest content that nobody gets for free. Which I'd be fine with as long as it was fluff content. Of course, that's pure speculation, but I could see such extra content on offer doing well with both VIPs and Free/Premium players. Extra session plays with minor rewards attached to them might fit in this category.

The problem with comparing them to skirmishes is that, through the Epic quest lines Turbine has incorporated that system into the core of the game. The skirmish camps as used as an alternative means to acquire a lot of things, from cosmetics to class quest items and everything in between. i.e. An alternative to the Store. Fluff content wouldn't and shouldn't be integral to the core of the game.

Originally Posted by whheydt

I'll give another reason why I think the horse quests will be opened up to everyone shortly before, or at launch. There's a fair amount of work gone into those quests. Too much, I think, for the effort to simply be flushed away once the pre-order period is over. Turbine will want to get more player-hours out of them (not to mention the post-launch purchase of RoR content) and those quests will be part of that.

Short answer...why would Turbine write off those assets when RoR launches? That just doesn't make business sense.

I see your point, but the way I see it, it doesn't seem like a lot of new assets were actually created. There's the new horse model, a few things like hay bundles and scrap metal, and the scripting to support the quests. Most of the other assets seem to just be recycled from elsewhere.

The whole concept of Horse session play is rather like the chicken session play that's been in the game since day one. All the quests (except the Gandalf and Shadowfax one, I think) take place in the landscape, which adds little, if any, assets to the game.

Even the scripting could have been recycled, such as the derby quest, which seems like a variation of the race lv20 VIPs do to get the riding ability. And the other quests don't seem to be much differant then the hundreds of other quests already in the game. I just don't think an inordinate amount of effort went into them, and they can certainly be left eclusive.

And the few assets that were created will almost certainly be re-used in Rohan anyway. As such, I think Turbine would not have to 'write off' much at all if they decided to never release these quests to players that did not purchase the legendary edition. I just went back and checked, and the 'exclusive' content is tied to that edition, not the pre-order..

As always, that's my opinion anyway.

Originally Posted by hillard1959

True. But what I'm saying here is that might, possibly, maybe, offer up "fluff" quest content that nobody gets for free. Which I'd be fine with as long as it was fluff content. Of course, that's pure speculation, but I could see such extra content on offer doing well with both VIPs and Free/Premium players. Extra session plays with minor rewards attached to them might fit in this category.

The problem with comparing them to skirmishes is that, through the Epic quest lines Turbine has incorporated that system into the core of the game. The skirmish camps as used as an alternative means to acquire a lot of things, from cosmetics to class quest items and everything in between. i.e. An alternative to the Store. Fluff content wouldn't and shouldn't be integral to the core of the game.

Well, it's certainly true that some skirmishes are part of the 'core' of the game, since the mirkwood ones ae required to complete the epic quest line, all skirms outside of these could very well be considered optional, since noone is required to complete any of them. As such, it's reasonable to think that Turbine could, in fact, release skirmishes that noone gets for free. They could even have bonuses like real gear, or increased Marks/Medalions/Seals rewards. They don't really have to be 'fluff', per se, to be sold as bonus content. They just have to separate from the epic line, and they should have equalivant options available to free/premium/VIP players.

That being said, I consider the horse session play to be 'fluff' more than anything else, and that the skill granted by the quest line will be usefull, but not a 'must have'. If that is indeed the case, I don't have a problem with the concept of paying for an exclusive skill, as long as said skill isn't super-powerful, which I doubt it will be.