Turbine Entertainment released another promo shot in time for Gamescon 2010, where they are showing off the new F2P version of Lord of the Rings Online.



And if you missed them the last time around, be sure to visit our screenshot gallery to see other promotional shots from the Lord of the Rings Online F2P.

Our good friends over at Turbine Entertainment recently released a dozen or so new promo shots just in time for Comic-Con 2010 for the upcoming Free-to-Play version of Lord of the Rings Online, which is currently in the beta phase of development.







Be sure to check out our screenshot gallery for all the latest.

See this post for confirmation.

Also, check out this awesome thread on the official forums for an FAQ about the changes in store for us.

Take a look over here to see what, exactly, a VIP membership gets you in LOTRO. Or a premium account.

Just so's ya know: If you're subscribed right now, you'll have a premium account. If you've got a lifetime sub, you've got a VIP account forever. At least we've got that.

[Update: Those are VIP benefits for the beta program, mind you, and they may change for release. I'm guessing we aren't all going to have our levels reverted to 50!]

I know I said I was leaving, but this news is too big not to post. Press release below, if you're interested.

How do you think free-to-play LOTRO will work out? I'm not so sure it's a good idea. One of the things that makes free-to-play DDO work is that quests all have multiple difficulties, which means you can repeat single quests over and over again. If you don't repeat quests, you're more or less forced to pay if you want to reach much above level 4 -- once you get to that point, you'll find that leveling becomes difficult as a free player, as so much of the game is locked behind a pay wall. Without repeatable quests, LOTRO will struggle to emulate the DDO model.

Further, LOTRO's strength has been its community, and I really question the effect this will have on our current community.

Let me know what you think. Click that comments link and post.

[Update: The e-mail I received from Turbine's PR agency notes that LOTRO f2p will be playable at E3. While I'm not attending, I'll try to get information for you from the Vault folks who are.]

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WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™
TO ADOPT GLOBAL FREE-TO-PLAY MODEL

Turbine’s Award-winning Online Game Will Be Free-to-Play Worldwide This Fall

BURBANK, CA – June 3, 2010 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today that Turbine, Inc. will unveil a major update this fall, making The Lord of the Rings Online™ (LOTRO) free-to-play for everyone. Extending its award-winning story, LOTRO delivers the ultimate adventure featuring a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found in premium subscription-based online games.

Launching this fall across North America and Europe, with Codemasters operating the game free-to-play in Europe, LOTRO will introduce Turbine’s innovative new pricing model that allows players to download the game and play for free, purchase expansions, quest packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new LOTRO Store, or join the VIP program to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content for one low price. Players interested in getting a sneak peek of the new LOTRO can sign up for a chance to participate in the Beta program which begins June 16, 2010 at http://www.lotro.com.

“Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is bringing quality games based on The Lord of the Rings to multiple platforms, and the franchise’s expansive adventure story lends itself perfectly for LOTRO free-to-play, giving a wide range of players the opportunity to experience the game,” said Jeff Junge, Senior Vice President Online Games and Digital Games Platforms, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “We are focused on expanding our game franchises onto new digital platforms to maximize quality experiences for gamers worldwide and LOTRO’s new model is a great leading example of this.”

“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,” said Jim Crowley, President and CEO of Turbine. “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.”

“Having successfully taken two titles free-to-play in the past we are very pleased to be doing the same with The Lord of the Rings Online in Europe,” said David Solari, Vice President and General Manager of Codemasters Online. “It’s a fantastic, award-winning game with a wonderfully realized world and this step will only broaden its appeal and increase its player base.”

LOTRO will offer players unlimited choice!

 Free means Free! – Players will download LOTRO by visiting www.lotro.com and join with millions of other adventurers as they explore the most complete and authentic recreation of Middle-earth ever created and participate in LOTRO’s award-winning epic story up to level 50 for free.

 Visit the new LOTRO Store! -- The LOTRO Store is loaded with thousands of convenience items as well as expansion packs, premium content, additional character slots, potions, character customization and more! The LOTRO Store is seamlessly integrated into the game and lets the player identify new and exciting ways to enhance and customize their experience using points which can be purchased in the store or earned through gameplay.

 Be a LOTRO VIP! – Players who elect to become a LOTRO VIP will have unlimited access to all premium content, receive priority server access, 5 character slots, a shared bank slot, and a monthly allotment of points to spend in the new LOTRO Store.

The Lord of the Rings Online is the ultimate adventure. This award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most famous fantasy of all time. From the picturesque surroundings of the Shire to Moria, the most fearsome underground realm ever imagined, players will soon experience the world of Middle-earth for free! For more information, visit www.lotro.com.

About Turbine
Turbine, Inc. is a premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities. Turbine is wholly owned by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and has created some of the world’s most popular and award-winning online games, including The Lord of the Rings Online™, Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™, and Asheron's Call®. For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit www.turbine.com.

About Middle-earth Enterprises
The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises f/k/a Tolkien Enterprises (SZC), is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. SZC has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on the Tolkien works for more than 30 years. Its headquarters are located in Berkeley, California and its Middle-earth Enterprises website may be found at www.middleearth.com.

About Codemasters
Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products for a global audience across multiple gaming platforms and channels. Established in 1986, the company’s dominant brands include Colin McRae DiRT, Race Driver GRID, Overlord and Operation Flashpoint; the company recently secured the exclusive worldwide video game rights to FORMULA 1. Codemasters is headquartered in Warwickshire UK, with North American operations based in Universal City, California. The company also maintains operations in Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Malaysia. Codemasters receives over two million visitors to its web site every month, discover why at www.codemasters.com.

About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.

# # #

THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™ interactive video game © 2010 Turbine, Inc. and patents pending. All rights reserved. Middle-earth Poster Map © 2007 The Saul Zaentz Company, d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises f/k/a Tolkien Enterprises (SZC), under license to Turbine, Inc. All rights reserved. “The Lord of the Rings Online”, “Siege of Mirkwood”, Middle-earth Enterprises logo, “The Lord of the Rings” and the names of the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SZC under license to Turbine, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

WESTWOOD, MA – April 26, 2010 - Turbine, Inc. announced today the start of the celebration of the third anniversary of The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO), the award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The LOTRO Anniversary celebration will run from April 26, 2010 to June 30, 2010.

"It's been another incredible year of growth for LOTRO and Turbine highlighted by critical and consumer acclaim," said Jim Crowley, President and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "Since its launch, LOTRO has consistently been named Game of the Year by leading MMORPG sites and the overwhelmingly positive response to the game from millions of players who have adventured in Middle-earth has firmly cemented the game as one of the world’s premier online entertainment experiences. The game's player base grew over 15% over the past year and our anniversary is a chance for us to celebrate with our past and present players to enjoy everything that is special about Middle-earth and thank them for their wonderful support with some special subscription options."

The Lord of the Rings Online Third Anniversary Celebration includes:

• Play for $9.99 a month!: The party never has to end! During LOTRO’s Third Anniversary Celebration (April 26th to June 30th), you can get any 3, 6, or 12 month subscription plan and play LOTRO for only $9.99 per month!
  
• In-Game Celebration:
  
  • During the anniversary celebration, monsters throughout Middle-earth will drop rare and precious gifts when defeated. Players can exchange these items for a special gift box brimming with a variety of in-game items to aid them on their adventures in Middle-earth.
    
  • Turbine is also giving new, current and former players who log in to the game during the LOTRO Third Anniversary Celebration (April 24th through June 30th), a special in-game gift -- the Writ of Virtue, a passive skill that provides 20% discounts at Bards throughout Middle-earth
    

The Lord of the Rings Online is the ultimate interactive adventure. This award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy of all time. From the picturesque surroundings of the Shire to Moria, the most fearsome underground realm ever imagined, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. For more information or to download a free trial, visit .

About Turbine
Turbine, Inc. is a premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities. Turbine is wholly owned by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and has created some of the world’s most popular and award-winning online games, including The Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited, and Asheron's Call. For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit www.turbine.com.

About Middle-earth Enterprises
The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises f/k/a Tolkien Enterprises (SZC), is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. SZC has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on the Tolkien works for more than 30 years. Its headquarters are located in Berkeley, California and its Middle-earth Enterprises website may be found at www.middleearth.com.

About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.

When Angelina Rayne left the LOTRO Vault at the beginning of February, 2009, I was left as the only active staff member. I soldiered on, regularly updating the front page, trying to provide not just news, but some personality. By May, I found out I had been promoted to site manager (not that anybody told me -- I found out by reading our staff page!), and had learned that running a fansite was a difficult thing to do, especially in the case of a game like LOTRO, where so much information is centralized.

Still, there were some things missing from our community. When I took over the LOTRO Vault last year, there were two types of fansites: There were monetized fansites, like ours, which were updated on a semi-regular basis, and there were blogs, most of whom posted interesting thoughts on the game, but almost never provided real information. Trouble is, the monetized sites had no personality, and little interest in interacting with their community. They didn't work to provide exclusive content or early content. If they posted a guide to a festival, it was just a copy-and-paste of last year's festival. They didn't give us screenshots of rewards we could acquire. They didn't give us information about hedge mazes and hobbit races. If they ever interacted with the developers, it was as journalists, and the information they gave us was almost always something we already knew.

My goal, when I realized I was running the LOTRO Vault, was to build a stronger relationship with the game community. I made myself active on the LOTRO forums. I asked players what they wanted. And, in large part, I tried to meet these desires. At the same time, since my other staff consisted entirely of Poit-Narf, who is primarily our Wiki guy, I was limited in what I could accomplish. I've never been a raider, you see, so information about raid content isn't something I've been able to provide.

So, what did I give you over the last year? I gave you the first map of the Bree-land hedge maze. Sure, it's not as pretty as the one over at The Brasse, but, then, I make no claims to be an artist, and mine has elves and chickens! I gave you the first -- and most complete -- Yule Festival guide. Same deal with Summer and Fall. I gave you a world-first preview of Mirkwood. I gave you a comprehensive screenshot compository of skirmish cosmetics when the Mirkwood NDA dropped. That last one, there, has been our most-frequented page, by a pretty significant margin. Posting that page to the forums drove up our daily site views by something like one thousand percent. That's a lot.

These are all things that the other monetized fansites weren't giving you. Worse, they're things that the blogs weren't giving you. (To be fair, the blogs didn't have press access at PAX on quite the same scale.)

Tony over at MMeOw recently expressed similar sentiments: These days, the LOTRO fan community is not in so dire a state as it was when I came on board the LOTRO Vault back in 2008. At least one of the monetized fansites is doing a very good job, now, and we've got several very good blogs, many with developer access. I stronlgy recommend A Casual Stroll to Mordor.

For the past two months, I have not been playing LOTRO. I've played maybe five hours during that period, including time playing through V3B1. I simply don't have the interest -- or the time, now that I have gotten a full-time job after a year of unemployment -- to continue running this site as I would like. Other folks are doing a better job than I can, at this point. I've been feeling guilty for pretending to run this site for the last two months.

So, friends, it is time to say goodbye. I have enjoyed the last year immensely, and I'll miss you guys. Perhaps, at some point in the future, I'll be back. Perhaps not.

At any rate, you can find me in-game on Nimrodel, playing as Eadwacer, Araedis, Vonrak, or Langland. Drop by and say hi some time. :)

Apologies, all, but A Casual Stroll to Mordor beat me to this Festival guide, and did as good of a job as I'd have done, so I'm sending you over their way this time around.

Spring Festival Guide

See you in a couple of days, when I've got some bad news.

Hm. Not many updates lately, eh?

I hear I'm in much the same boat as many players, of late: I'm still interested in LOTRO, I'm just not so interested in playing right now. And, since none of you lazy sods ever want to help me out with this blasted fan site, you've got no content when I'm not playing LOTRO on a regular basis!

SO THERE! IT'S YOUR FAULT!

That said, many of you may realize that Festivals are my favorite part of the game. I pride myself in having the most complete Festival guides out there. And, not just that, but they're also finished and posted here before anyone else has even publicly started their guides. And, they're available as works-in-progress due to my love of our Wiki.

There's nothing up yet, as previewing the Festival during the Book 1 preview kinda, er... slipped my mind. (Read: It's been about two months since I've logged in for more than 5-10 minutes, even for the Book 1 preview. I tried to solo Urugarth a couple of days ago, but I wasn't paying attention and I died.) Or, well... nothing on the Wiki. That's coming later.

For now, some leftovers from last year:

Bree-land Hedge Maze Map

I'd like to note, too, that I had that map up before anyone else had a map last year. :)

Release notes here. I'm at work, so you'll have to wait until I get home to get the highlights. (Or you could read the notes yourself, you lazy sods.)

I've been MIA since Saturday.

So far this week, we've got the following:

Dev Diary, skill upgrades

My thoughts on that? I'm not very happy with the Warden skill upgrade. Burglars get a skill that gives them power over time, while Wardens continue to languish with no power. (Yes, we have a skill that restores our power. Let's see a hand from each minstrel which is comfortable with their tank running at 3000 morale because they need to restore their power.)

Turbine survey info

Turbine are running a survey. They want you to know that it's really them.


And, in Valentine Contest news, we've contacted all of our winners and we've heard back from all of them. If you didn't hear from us, you didn't win. Sorry. I still love you.

Oh, and this was my favorite entry by a pretty wide margin, so good job "e-mail entry"!

You hear me out there in LOTRO Land? We need more entries. We still don't even have enough to give away all of our prizes. :(

(Click to enlarge:)



Now, I need to have a word with you folks. See, a couple of days ago we posted a contest. It's a good contest. It's got very good prizes. And, so far, not a single one of you has entered. Do you know how incredibly depressing that is? I've cried myself to sleep every night since Tuesday. When I get home from work today, I'm probably going to kick a chicken.

And it's all your fault.

But, there's potential for redemption, here. You can enter the contest and make me happy. All I need are five entries. Please. I mean, really -- as it stands right now, an entry will give you a 500% chance at victory. FIVE HUNDRED PERCENT! (Okay, I'll be honest. You aren't getting five prizes, even if you're the only entry. You're only getting one. But it's a 100% chance, anyway, if you're the only entry.)

Ideally, your chances will be lower than 500%. Lower, even, than 100%.

Help me out, guys. Don't let me kick innocent chickens. (You know what happens when I kick a chicken one too many times, right? CHICKEN MAYHEM.)