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Lord of the Rings Online: Turbine Announces Free to Play
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
In what many are sure to describe as a surprise move, Turbine announced today that their flagship title, Lord of the Rings Online, would be joining Dungeons and Dragons Online as a Free 2 Play title using a similar pricing model.
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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.”
LOTROwill 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 unlimitedaccess 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.
MMORPG.com will continue to follow this story as it develops.
Read More about LotRO.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Very cool! I hope it is as successful for Lotro as it was for DDO.
Wonder how lifetime sub people feel about this.
I would assume that they'll get permanent VIP access, but otherwise who knows.
Argh....got mixed feelings about this one. We'll see how it turns out.
I honestly thought this was some kind of joke.
I guess DDO has been doing even better than I thought, because I was under the assumption that LOTRO still had a decent population. Crazy time for the genre.
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Yes according to the FAQ lifetimers get permanent VIp which includes 500 turbine points /month.
As someone who play both DDO and LotrO this is great news and a sign that the DDO move to F2P was a huge succes.
And according to massively it will also be on the European servers!
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
This comes as a huge surprise to me! I've been playing LOTRO since release and I never saw that huge of a decrease in activity. In fact its been growing slowly but surely. The developers mite be making the right decision though considering how well DDO has been doing with its model, Which I also happen to play. I do concur were likely to see a marked increase in players now though. I think I need to get the guild setup for recruitments.
I simply love DDO and liked LOTRO, it´s great news; my two favourite MMORPGs now free to play and with a great company behind which updates a lot.
Bye Bye Codemasters.
2 X lifetime here and I don't care. Haven't played the game in way more than a year and looking at this move, plus the buyout by WB, plus the "monetize" rhetoric that every Turbine public face has chanted to any open microphone over the last few months, Turbine has went from my absolute favorite developer to off my radar completely.
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I'd play it now, LOTRO always had a good, but not good enough to pay for feel to me, I know its an epic game to some thats just my take, so I'll probably play it now.
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Well boys, you're looking at the new best free to play mmorpg.....if only Warhammer did this..
And AOC and DAOC and SWG and just about any other MMO with declining subs and no good way to attract new players. Surprised more companies haven't gone along with this model.
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I fear it's only for the US servers once again. CM still didn't make DDO F2P there, so LotRo won't go F2P for Europe as well.
Luckily I did sell my LotR EU lifetime sub account recently. Now when I want to play LotR I'll join the US servers
This game allready was the number 2 MMO, now, its going to harnis the power of the DDO model.
This is nothing but good news for anyone, and this will now be the second time Turbine has raised the bar for F2P games. Subscriptions are going to be a thing of the past.This is one of the most polished and buituiffl MMOs you can play behind Wow. Now, you can play for free.
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Yeah, as soon as steefel said how profitable DDO was after the change and the purcase of Turbine by WB I knew LOTRO wasn't far behind. Well, we'll wait and see.
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Psst. Actually read the news item.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
They probably just saved this game by offering free play. It was dying a slow death
Wow.
Also, yeah, this is actually not. Having a subscription plan, as well as a F2P plan is the best compromise that can be made. I would never play LotRO ever again, if it was purely F2P, but since the subs stay intact, I don't mind.
All this will do is bring in more people who were unable to get in because they're willing to pay $15 just to pay, or are unable to do it due to other reasons. So in the end, its just more players coming to the game - and the more players the better.
I unsubbed to LotRO, but I may give it a go again when the F2P opens up so I can check things out for free. though I'll always sub over F2P if i wanna play.
"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."
Fantastic news!
Especially since LOTRO is the best MMO right now , anyway.
I am just sad for the bloke that just asked if to buy lifetime sub few days ago. And than went on to buy it although most of us adviced him not to ... ouch !
Will lotro and ddo share turbine points?
I believe this will work out for the better, the people who are already in and enjoying the game will get a new slew of players. The new players will get to try the epic known as LOTRO.
Same thing was said about CodeMaster's DDO hosting and it's still P2P...
[EDIT]
Oh wow... CM will make LotR also F2P. They already announced it on the EU website. Damn, I think the guy that bought my account is real sad now :P
Interesting decision. Hopefully it works out for them.
I know I'll probably play more when it's F2P. I liked the game, I just didn't play enough to justify spending $15 a month on it, as well as my other paid MMO subs.
Why would he be? He gets access to everything in the game without a monthly fee, as well as 500 points every month to spend on optional things in the store on the side.
It pays to read before jumping to conclusions.
DDO and LOTRO free to play, but Asheron's Call 1 still has a subscription fee? Something doesn't make sense here.
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