Update 37 - River-hobbits

[Dornvald]

I would gladly spend points or money on a stoor hobbit with impressive sideburns and a respectable tummy. On an aneurexic human kid rather not.

 

[Pontin_Finnberry]

I would gladly spend points or money on a stoor hobbit with impressive sideburns and a respectable tummy. On an aneurexic human kid rather not.

This is another thing I was disappointed with, the fact River-Hobbits don't have any five o-clock shadow options, many hobbit NPCs outside of the shire have facial hair, and would've been nice if our Hobbit characters had that too, but then it would look even more like man with how they are currently.

 

[gildhur]

I believe at least some of these are being addressed (traits are mentioned specifically).

Yes, they've said racial traits and animations are on the way, and an intro is being considered but not certain yet. Those things will go a long way to making it fit for sure.

Well, that depends on how they are offered. Assuming points, so, I can find many other things I'd rather spend my monthly stipend on than River-hobbits in their current state.

Did we have to buy Beornings with points since it wasn't part of an xpac, like High-elves and Stout-axes were? I don't remember.

I certainly wouldn't buy them in their current state either. If they go live with the things mentioned above done, maybe. If they fix those things and adjust their proportions a bit, I'd already be starting to come up with names for my new River-hobbits*.

*(I'd still go with "River-folk" instead, if they stay as tall and slender as they are now)

 

[Harvain]

Did we have to buy Beornings with points since it wasn't part of an xpac, like High-elves and Stout-axes were? I don't remember.

I certainly wouldn't buy them in their current state either. If they go live with the things mentioned above done, maybe. If they fix those things and adjust their proportions a bit, I'd already be starting to come up with names for my new River-hobbits*.

*(I'd still go with "River-folk" instead, if they stay as tall and slender as they are now)

The Beorning Race/Class was for Points only from the LOTRO Store for 1,000 Points at the time they were added in 2014.

 

[Elmagor]

The Beorning Race/Class was for Points only from the LOTRO Store for 1,000 Points at the time they were added in 2014.

Brawler 1000 LP if you don't have Gundabad
Stout-Axe 1000 LP if you don't have Minas Morgul
High Elf 1000 LP if you don't have Mordor

 

[Harvain]

Brawler 1000 LP if you don't have Gundabad
Stout-Axe 1000 LP if you don't have Minas Morgul
High Elf 1000 LP if you don't have Mordor

Those were after a certain period of time before Points could be used to get them as the SSG LOTRO Team have been using 6-ish Months after an Expansion to get such. It was either a "Get this Bundle + Race or Class or just get this Race or Class but not the Content" once a Race or Class was available for Points.

The Beorning from the get go when it was added in Nov 2014 was purely a LOTRO Store only purchase and anyone could get it from Day 1 after it was added with Points.

 

[Kehleyr]

River-hobbits may start their journey in a new, unique tutorial by selecting the "Shadows of Angmar" tutorial option during character creation!

 

[Belnavar]

Good to see the devs listened to player feedback on this

-Bel

 

[Davie]

River-hobbits may start their journey in a new, unique tutorial by selecting the "Shadows of Angmar" tutorial option during character creation!

Just had a quick wee look at it, the outfit your character has looks really nice!
The fond farewell between friends vibe certainly makes it feel more Hobbit-y rather than a head dive straight into action.

 

[MadeOfLions]

The fond farewell between friends vibe certainly makes it feel more Hobbit-y rather than a head dive straight into action.

So here's the thing: I think the years of interest in playable River-hobbits made us overestimate how much players would want to come up with their own backstories for their new hobbits. As a result, the plan had been for River-hobbits to arrive at Mossward with their histories a blank slate - you could decide for yourself what brought you to Mossward and the adventuring life. Turns out that was unpopular! So I burned some midnight oil and made a new introduction for River-hobbits. You can still get the original vision for River-hobbits by selecting 'Before the Shadow' at character creation, and you'll play through 'Mossward, the Border Village.' Otherwise, by default (or by choosing 'Shadows of Angmar'), your new River-hobbit will play through my new introduction 'Humble Beginnings,' which provides you with some more backstory and explains how you came to be at Mossward. So you can pick the starting instance you prefer, and whichever one you choose you'll still end up in Mossward after the Uruk attack, ready to start your adventures.

MoL

 

[Harvain]

So here's the thing: I think the years of interest in playable River-hobbits made us overestimate how much players would want to come up with their own backstories for their new hobbits. As a result, the plan had been for River-hobbits to arrive at Mossward with their histories a blank slate - you could decide for yourself what brought you to Mossward and the adventuring life. Turns out that was unpopular! So I burned some midnight oil and made a new introduction for River-hobbits. You can still get the original vision for River-hobbits by selecting 'Before the Shadow' at character creation, and you'll play through 'Mossward, the Border Village.' Otherwise, by default (or by choosing 'Shadows of Angmar'), your new River-hobbit will play through my new introduction 'Humble Beginnings,' which provides you with some more backstory and explains how you came to be at Mossward. So you can pick the starting instance you prefer, and whichever one you choose you'll still end up in Mossward after the Uruk attack, ready to start your adventures.

MoL

 

[gildhur]

River-hobbits may start their journey in a new, unique tutorial by selecting the "Shadows of Angmar" tutorial option during character creation!

LOVE the new instance! Thanks be to MoL. It's lovely and perfectly situates the race and our character in the game. I'm much more comfortable with it now.

Still no race traits, animations, or unique shouts, but I understand some of that is still in progress.

The outfit in the Lyndelby instance is perfect. But it disappears once you get to Mossward and reverts back to the base starter white gear. Could we get a low-stat equippable version of that when we arrive in Mossward like Stout-axes and High-elves do?

 

[Lightwood]

So here's the thing: I think the years of interest in playable River-hobbits made us overestimate how much players would want to come up with their own backstories for their new hobbits. As a result, the plan had been for River-hobbits to arrive at Mossward with their histories a blank slate - you could decide for yourself what brought you to Mossward and the adventuring life. Turns out that was unpopular! So I burned some midnight oil and made a new introduction for River-hobbits. You can still get the original vision for River-hobbits by selecting 'Before the Shadow' at character creation, and you'll play through 'Mossward, the Border Village.' Otherwise, by default (or by choosing 'Shadows of Angmar'), your new River-hobbit will play through my new introduction 'Humble Beginnings,' which provides you with some more backstory and explains how you came to be at Mossward. So you can pick the starting instance you prefer, and whichever one you choose you'll still end up in Mossward after the Uruk attack, ready to start your adventures.

MoL

Thank you so much for listening to the community.

 

[Happy]

River Hobbit NPC on the right.

 

[Vanyel]

Same

As they are now they just don't look right, but maybe something can be done, maybe some of the feedback will be taken into account. This could have been so nice but release is only a few weeks away. The game will change forever once they go live, I am sure many people will have fun, it is always like that when something 'new' appears. It will leave some of us out of course, things and adventures we planed will not happen. I am sad, but there is not much else that can be done or said at this point. I am sorry if I offended anyone in this thread, I just felt it was a bit personal for me as I have been talking about the river hobbits for years.

I wish you all well in your adventures in Middle-earth ( including to my personal troll )

I don't see anyone trolling you, just disagreeing with your viewpoint, which you seem to have an issue with.

 

[Gloredh]

So here's the thing: I think the years of interest in playable River-hobbits made us overestimate how much players would want to come up with their own backstories for their new hobbits. As a result, the plan had been for River-hobbits to arrive at Mossward with their histories a blank slate - you could decide for yourself what brought you to Mossward and the adventuring life. Turns out that was unpopular! So I burned some midnight oil and made a new introduction for River-hobbits. You can still get the original vision for River-hobbits by selecting 'Before the Shadow' at character creation, and you'll play through 'Mossward, the Border Village.' Otherwise, by default (or by choosing 'Shadows of Angmar'), your new River-hobbit will play through my new introduction 'Humble Beginnings,' which provides you with some more backstory and explains how you came to be at Mossward. So you can pick the starting instance you prefer, and whichever one you choose you'll still end up in Mossward after the Uruk attack, ready to start your adventures.

MoL

I criticize many things in lotro, but credit where credit is due. Thank you for this. I am glad that players have been listened to and they can start their river hobbit journey in a more "lore friendly" way

 

[Buttertart]

So here's the thing: I think the years of interest in playable River-hobbits made us overestimate how much players would want to come up with their own backstories for their new hobbits. As a result, the plan had been for River-hobbits to arrive at Mossward with their histories a blank slate - you could decide for yourself what brought you to Mossward and the adventuring life. Turns out that was unpopular! So I burned some midnight oil and made a new introduction for River-hobbits. You can still get the original vision for River-hobbits by selecting 'Before the Shadow' at character creation, and you'll play through 'Mossward, the Border Village.' Otherwise, by default (or by choosing 'Shadows of Angmar'), your new River-hobbit will play through my new introduction 'Humble Beginnings,' which provides you with some more backstory and explains how you came to be at Mossward. So you can pick the starting instance you prefer, and whichever one you choose you'll still end up in Mossward after the Uruk attack, ready to start your adventures.

MoL

Thank you so much for all your hard work!! I hopped on to Bullroarer without knowing the new intro had been added, and my jaw dropped when I realized where my new River-hobbit was. I was not expecting such a big change so soon! I LOVED the starter instance and also the quest from Fridolin Took in Mossward. The frequent references to my River-hobbit's height were a great touch

I was also very happy to see 3 new female River-hobbit hairstyles, and I loved the fact we were wearing Holbytla cosmetic armor during the starter instance. I would also love it if we could still be wearing that when we arrive in Mossward (maybe an undyeable set so there is still a reason to grind the reputation version?).

Thanks to you and the rest of the team for listening to our concerns. While I understand the appeal of a blank slate approach to the River-hobbit backstory, I much prefer the new story instance (very well done!) and will be using that for all of my future River-hobbits. River-hobbits feel like a much more natural part of LOTRO now, and I am even more excited to create one when they come to the live servers

 

[CloudCastle]

Thank you so much for all your hard work!! I hopped on to Bullroarer without knowing the new intro had been added, and my jaw dropped when I realized where my new River-hobbit was. I was not expecting such a big change so soon! I LOVED the starter instance and also the quest from Fridolin Took in Mossward. The frequent references to my River-hobbit's height were a great touch

I was also very happy to see 3 new female River-hobbit hairstyles, and I loved the fact we were wearing Holbytla cosmetic armor during the starter instance. I would also love it if we could still be wearing that when we arrive in Mossward (maybe an undyeable set so there is still a reason to grind the reputation version?).

Thanks to you and the rest of the team for listening to our concerns. While I understand the appeal of a blank slate approach to the River-hobbit backstory, I much prefer the new story instance (very well done!) and will be using that for all of my future River-hobbits. River-hobbits feel like a much more natural part of LOTRO now, and I am even more excited to create one when they come to the live servers

I acidentally stumbled on this earlier today on Bullroarer too and tried the new instance and noticed the new hairstyles. I must say I'm really impressed with how quickly you put together a new starter instance, MOL, (what was it, 4-5 days?) I appreciate that and the new instance helps situate these new hobbits in the world much better. I did laugh when my character's taller height was mentioned twice! I have mixed feelings about that...she still looks out of place among her Lyndelby kin and I'm wondering if this means that river hobbits are staying as is. I am looking forward to seeing the new animations. Will river hobbits be getting unqiue voices or shouts? How about dances? Any other unique mechanics? (Stout axes get their extra big thumps and splashes when jumping, High elves get their riding animation and fall roll.) Are there any more hairstyles coming? I thought the preview pics showed quite a few so I'm not sure if all of them have been implemented. Happy to see the new ones either way.

 

[Lightwood]

After testing the introduction, I'm quite satisfied with the treatment ! I'm still having a little trouble making a hobbit that suits me, but I'm pretty happy with mine maybe you can get me to change my elf into a river hobbit.

 

[LadyCalithil]

I thoroughly enjoyed the new intro for River-hobbits! Feels like a much better fit into the world. The little slightly snarky references to height were amusing. Would still like either slightly shorter legs or a height-slider of some sort but am looking forward to the actual River-hobbit animations. Still hoping, as many are, that they get some sort of unique sounds/movements/dance.

Thank you devs, and especially MoL, for listening to the community and adding a lovely touch of storytelling to the River-hobbits!