LoTRO Journal: 6.25.2007

Well, level 35 at last for my guardian! Woo! Went and got me my horse right after dinging ... sorta ... kinda. And yet not. In WoW, once you hit level 40, you bought your riding training and then your mount. There was no questline (unless you're a Warlock or a Paladin). I went through the one on my Paladin and it was a cake-walk (if not a little silly):

Newly-40 Paladin: "Hi, I'd like a horse."

Quest NPC: "Really? That's great! Talk to me again and I'll give you a horse!"

Newly-40 Paladin: "Hi, I'd like a horse."

Quest NPC: "A horse? Sure! Here you go!"

I'm not sure why you have to ask twice. :) I'm also not sure what the Warlock one is like ... probably similar to the demon-training quests, I'm guessing.

Some people on the LoTRO forums were rather upset about the horse quest. Most of the upset people didn't like the fact that you had to quest for a horse at all. "I made it to 35! I deserve it!" Other than the frustrations of the first course of segments, overall I liked the idea of the quest for the mount. The ending is rather fun even if you have to redo it and it gave me a certain sense of accomplishment to actually have a horse outside the "I leveled! Gimme!" context.

* ~~ Spoilers ahead about the horse quest!! ~~ *

In LoTRO, once you get to 35, you head on over to the Bree Horsefields and talk to the horse trainer there. But you need to SHOW him that you can handle a horse. The first run is simple enough: deliver a horse to the Bree stable master. You're on a timer (channeled like the mail quests) and you need to follow a certain path to get to your destination. The problem is that the paths are not all that clear. The first quest (to the stable master in Bree) is no problem. I rode south from the horse farm and then rode in the North Gate of Bree to the stable master. Then I took a horse to Trestlebridge to get back (the stables are on the way, so I'd jump off there). And here's where it gets interesting.

The next one is to deliver a horse to Michael Delving (sp) in the Shire. I got my horse, reviewed the map, plotted a course and away I went ... to fail in the middle of a field. I tried that route a second time (heading southwest across country) and failed again. I reviewed the quest text. It said something about following my "course" but it didn't say what my course was supposed to be. So I tried again, this time staying on the road. After each failure I had to run back to the horse master to try again or head to Bree and take the fast horse again. I failed again shortly before Adso's camp and then called it a night.

The next day, I stuck to the road ... right in the middle of the road. No variation at all. I also passed through the intersection outside Bree until I got the text saying I was there BEFORE I made the right-hand turn to head down the road towards the Shire. Long story short: success! I took a fast horse back.

The last delivery quest was to Orthikar (sp) in the North Downs. Once again I passed.

The last part is to show you can ride fast. You race around the circle track around the farm. This part was actually the fun part that made the other frustrating bits not that bad to me. You need to think like a racer. It will be close regardless of how well you ride and the section of track on the far side gets confusing. Just remember: it's the gates in the correct order and under the time limit that will win, not how well you follow the path.

The good news is that the race occurs on the farm where the horses are, so redoing this piece is easy.