The Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan instance content delayed, cleaved in two

Content for the recently released Riders of Rohan expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online, an expansion that was itself delayed, is coming later than originally expected, developer Turbine announced today. While a portion of the promised Riders of Rohan instance clusters will make 2012, the rest is slipping to 2013.

While the delay means that LOTRO players will only get access to smaller sized instances this year — and Turbine will miss out on renewed interest in the series due to the release of the first The Hobbit movie — the developer says it's the result of a focus on polish.

"Because of the delay in shipping Rohan, development time for the year was obviously reduced," explains Turbine community manager Rick Heaton on the games official forums. "This left us two options; either delay the entire instance cluster until 2013, or release those instances we felt could be completed with the highest degree of polish in December and delay the others until they are ready (currently expected to be February). We've chosen to honor our commitment as best we can with the limited time remaining in 2012 while still insuring the highest quality possible."

The first portion of that Riders of Rohan content will be released in the "Against the Shadow" update later this year and includes the following instances.

• Iorbar's Peak (Misty Mountains / Stone Giants-3-man)
• Webs of the Scuttledells (Mirkwood 3-man)
• Seat of the Great Goblin (Goblintown 3-man)

The remaining Riders of Rohan instances due next year, currently slated for February, include the following.

• The Bells of Dale (6-man)
• Flight to the Lonely Mountain (12-man; single boss)
• The Fires of Smaug (12-man; single boss)
• The Battle for Erebor (12-man; single boss)