14 DAY TRIAL // Turbine, Inc., as developer, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, as publisher, have announced that The Lord of the Rings Online, the MMO based around the fantasy world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, will be going free to play, allowing all interested fans to get into the game and play their part in the fight against the hordes of Sauron. The major update that will make the game free to play is set to come during the fall, although no clear date has been specified.
Players will only need to log into the official website and download a client to begin playing The Lord of the Rings Online and any content up to level 50 is completely free, allowing more than enough time and adventuring for any player to decide whether they are interested in pursuing the MMO more.
Expansion packs, quests packs, some items and various series for the players' account will be offered in the new Lord of the Rings Online store. The companies working on the game are also set to offer a VIP program enabling all the content to be experienced for a monthly fee. VIP players will have 5 character slots to develop and will get priority access to the game servers.
Jim Crowley, who is the president and Chief Executive Officer of Turbine, stated, “Turbine’s Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited was the world’s first truly premium free-to-play online game that ushered in a new era of choice for online gamers seeking quality entertainment. The popularity of DDO validated the extraordinary demand by gamers for quality entertainment they can experience at their own pace and within their budget. Extending free-to-play to LOTRO will offer another premium game to a broad spectrum of fans.”
The Lord of the Rings Online was the first in a long line of World of Warcraft killers, which did not manage to get the subscription numbers posted by the Blizzard MMO. The game has received constant updates since launch and the creators at Turbine are saying that they plan to continue working on it until the Ring saga is done.