Massively's LotRO Riders of Rohan launch-day roundup

- Columnist

Updated Mon, Oct 15, 2012, 2:00 PM·6 min read

When you first heard about Lord of the Rings Online, you probably had an idea of which areas from the Lord of the Rings lore you'd want to visit and which events you'd like to take part in. Not all of the areas in Middle-earth were part of LotRO when it launched, but with each expansion the game world gets a bit more complete. Developer Turbine has been hard at work developing iconic areas like the Mines of Moria and Isengard, but the zone players have been anticipating the most is the Plains of Rohan.

The Riders of Rohan expansion goes live today, opening the visually stunning Plains of Rohan area and introducing tons of new content, class updates and gameplay changes. Developers have been careful to capture the feel of the plains in not only the area's art style but also its impressive musical score. The Riders of Rohan expansion adds a new mounted combat feature that lets players fight on customisable war horses. The open plains are filled with roving warbands of orcs and other challenges to be overcome. Read on for a run-down of all the latest news on the Riders of Rohan expansion.

	Lord of the Rings Online reveals Riders of Rohan soundtrack Whether you play Lord of the Rings Online or not, there's no doubt that the game boasts stunning visuals and an impressive music score. With less than a week to go until the Riders of Rohan expansion is released, today Turbine teased players with a sample of the expansion's incredible soundtrack.
	Newest LotRO screenshots tempt us with Rohan's offerings As if waiting until Monday to run through the fields of Rohan isn't hard enough for Lord of the Rings Online fans, Turbine has released new screenshots of the landscapes found in Riders of Rohan.
	Lord of the Rings Online spills the beans on Rohan's epic story It's not just enough for Turbine to release a new war-pony expansion for Lord of the Rings Online and call it a day. No, the team has to maintain its high standards of storytelling, which is why Content Designer Jeff Libby wrote the latest set of quest notes for the upcoming addition to the epic tale of the game.
	Latest Lord of the Rings Online dev diary explores creating the characters of Rohan Adding to the stampede of developer diaries focusing on Lord of the Ring Online's upcoming expansion Riders of Rohan, Turbine has released the fourth episode of Bringing Rohan to Life titled Creating the Character.

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	LotRO hands over war-steed reins in dev diary The Lord of the Rings Online team is hard at work putting the final touches on next month's Riders of Rohan, and a new dev diary shines a spotlight on the expansion's star attraction: trainable war-steeds.
	Gamescom 2012: New LotRO dev diary about warsteeds Last week we brought you news about Lord of the Rings Online's warsteed mechanic, accompanied by a video with people talking about that mechanic. The time for talk has gone; now is the time for deep chanting, epic music, and glorious in-game footage of warsteeds in action.
	Newest LotRO dev diary showcases customizable warsteeds As Lord of the Rings Online's expansion Riders of Rohan gallops closer, Turbine has released another video developer diary, this time focusing on the look of the warsteeds.
	LotRO dev diary discusses mounted combat momentum, Farmers Faire goes live In Turbine's latest developer diary, the spotlight shines on the highly anticipated feature of mounted combat in Lord of the Rings Online. Although the video is short, developers share various details about the new combat style, including the fact that traditional skills can be utilized along with new skills like charging.
	Turbine releases LotRO mounted combat video, launches Riders of Rohan beta Saddle up, folks! Lord of the Rings Online launches the closed beta of its latest expansion, Riders of Rohan, later today. From 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

	LotRO's Wardens to get much-needed streamlining Just in case any of you Wardens in Lord of the Rings Online have actually got a handle on the class after the previous 1,437 iterations, Turbine's throwing a few more monkeys in the gambits for you.
	Lord of the Rings Online dev diary details Rune-keeper changes in Riders of Rohan Lord of the Rings Online's upcoming expansion, Riders of Rohan, is less than a month away, and players can certainly expect a plethora of changes and updates when it hits.
	New developer diary explores Minstrel improvements for Lord of the Rings Online You might think that bringing a lute to a swordfight sounds ridiculous, but any Lord of the Rings Online player knows better than to downplay the importance of a Minstrel.
	LotRO's Lore-masters get buff (and buff others) in Riders of Rohan Lore-masters far and wide in Lord of the Rings Online will be growing in power and ability this fall. In LotRO's newest expansion, Riders of Rohan, Lore-masters stand to be even more attractive fellowship members than ever before as they gain universal access to sharp, pointy things.
	Riders of Rohan brings new skills, skill tweaks to LotRO Hunters Turbine has graced us with a new developer diary covering some of the tweaks coming with Lord of the Rings Online's Riders of Rohan expansion.The update is a scant 26 days away, and not only will it bring the addition of the lands of Rohan and mounted combat, but a couple of classes will be overhauled as well.
	Lord of the Rings Online previews Guardian changes for Riders of Rohan Guardians in Lord of the Rings Online are tanks. That's pretty much their entire purpose in life. But with the upcoming Riders of Rohan expansion, the class is seeing a substantial revision that will allow it to also take on a DPS role.
	LotRO's Captains get buffed in Riders of Rohan Turbine's Riders of Rohan dev diary parade continues, as today the studio previewed some of the changes coming for Lord of the Rings Online's Captains this fall.
	LotRO's Burglars get a heads-up about expansion changes Turbine Developer Jonathan Steady is spreading the word through back alleys and in seedy taverns: Changes are coming for Lord of the Rings Online's Burglars when Riders of Rohan hits.

	Lord of the Rings Online explains crafting changes coming with Riders of Rohan One of the major issues facing crafters in Lord of the Rings Online is that gathering professions don't line up with crafting professions. Leveling up a non-gathering skill takes more resources than you gather while leveling up the appropriate gathering skill.
	How Turbine made Lord of the Rings Online's Rohan region "Enough painting outside the lines. Enough being coy. The Riddermark. Rohan. Finally."Thus begins a brand-new developer diary on Lord of the Rings Online's latest expansion, Riders of Rohan.
	Lord of the Rings Online dev diary discusses 'reincarnation' of PvMP Today's Lord of the Rings Online dev diary begins by stating that "over the course of LotRO's lifetime, the Ettenmoors has been updated several times.

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Massively's LotRO Riders of Rohan launch-day roundup

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