I Don't Recall Aragorn Ever Chirping

A couple weeks back with the release of Book 13, Turbine patched how a hero summons his mount. I can't recall what it used to look like, but they changed it to two shrill whistles. The accompanying movement had the hero whistle once to his right and then turn and whistle to his left. The change was supposed to be reminiscent of Gandalf whistling for his beloved horse, Shadowfax. Kudos to Turbine for wrapping lore into even the most mundane of task (That sounds sarcastic but it's not supposed to be. I genuinely like the whistle-call).

It turns out, however, the larger Lord of the Rings Online community hated the whistle. I didn't actually read any of the hate mail on the official forums, but I did read Turbines reaction which basically said, "We hear you, you hate the whistle, now please stop posting about it."

Well, this past Tuesday, the game performed a minor patch. I logged onto my 43 champion and proceeded to summon my horse, Mr. Ed. Bracing my ears for the shrill-whistle impact, I instead heard two staccato chirps. I glanced outside my window to make sure a little sparrow wasn't perched outside cheerfully singing to me. The closest tree was vacant but for a vagrant squirrel. The rodent glared at me and then scurried down MY tree; I shook my fist at him as retaliation. Turning my attention back to the game, I dismounted and re-summoned to verify I heard correctly. Sure enough, my plate-armored, weapon-bristling, tobacco-chewing, orc-slaying, pipe-smoking, troll-chopping, scar-ridden warrior made a motion to his right and chirped cutely, then made a motion to his left and chirped cutely, and then found himself astride Mr. Ed.

I asked myself aloud, "Holy crap, did my dude just chirp?!" I waited for my toon to make an additional emote. A shrug of the shoulders. A resigned shake of the head. A shudder from a controlled sobbing. A handing over of his weapons and armor because he was no longer a man but an avian duet-singer for Snow White.

No emote followed. Kammris waited stoically in his saddle; Mr. Ed swished his tail patiently. I rode out of Bree surprised, bemused, and wholly emasculated.

And so let this be a warning to the entire LoTRO community: be careful what you wish for because certainly in this case, you got what you deserved.