Turbine today announced that its Riders of Rohan expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online would be delayed from its announced launch date of Sept. 5 to Oct. 15. Producer Kate Paiz said in a statement:

Thanks to some great efforts from beta players, we’ve identified issues that we think need to be addressed before we can launch. In order to address those issues and meet our expectations for quality we’re going to need more time.

To make up for the delay, Turbine is offering an extra package of goodies for pre-purchasers, including 500 Turbine Points and a handful of consumables.

While it’s not a bad thing to delay a release if more time is needed to work on it, one has to wonder if the timing of other big MMO releases played a part in the decision to move RoR from Sept. 5. Guild Wars 2 drops on Aug. 28, just a week before, and Mists of Pandaria a few weeks later on Sept. 25. One would think that can’t be a coincidence.

Or maybe, to paraphrase Gandalf: “An expansion is never late. Nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it means to.”