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Moving day: LotRO EU players begin transfer to Turbine's global service
It's the end of one world... and the beginning of another. Or at least that's how it feels for many Lord of the Rings Online players in Europe this week as Codemasters hands the operational baton over to Turbine. Codemasters devs and GMs gave their best wishes to the LotRO players they watched over these past few years with a huge "thank you" notice on the site. Once the transfer is complete, all LotRO players will fall under Turbine's global service umbrella. As part of the move, Turbine is offering EU players a limited-time chance to sign up for a year's worth of VIP status (which includes 500 Turbine Points a month) for £79.99 (or approximately $131.94). Currently the game is down for European players until the process is complete, which Turbine estimates will take between two to three days. Details about the account transfers can be read in the LotRO EU Account Migration FAQ.
Turbine assuming full control of LotRO in Europe
The LotRO Global Service is on its way. That's the short version of Turbine's announcement that it'll be taking over Lord of the Rings Online in Europe. Codemasters will continue operating LotRO until June 1st of this year, after which "Turbine is taking over full operations of The Lord of the Rings Online throughout Europe starting June 1, 2011. We're merging the US and EU services into one mega-service we're calling the LOTRO Global Service." This summary is at the head of a combined announcement and FAQ Turbine has provided to answer any questions players might have. A long list of those has been anticipated and answered, such as how EU players will migrate their accounts, whether characters and inventory will be affected, whether VIP and Lifetime accounts will be changed, and so on. You can check out all the details on Turbine's official announcement page.
V-E-ME Day: LotRO Europe announces launch date for free-to-play
It's been a long time coming, and after some legal hemming and hawing, Codemasters announced that Lord of the Rings Online in Europe will be finally launching the much-anticipated free-to-play version of the game. On November 2nd, LotRO will open its doors to free players across Europe. This comes after a two-month period of limbo for EU players, which began two days before the update launched in North America. Codemasters had cryptically announced that F2P would be put on hold for what turned out to be contractual reasons. Fortunately, it seems as though the red tape has been cut, and players are free to sample the same blessed bounty as their NA comrades. This update also includes the new region of Enedwaith, the LotRO store, Volume III: Book 2 of the epic storyline and the Harvest Festival. Interested players can sign up for their free-to-play account at LotRO EU.
Codemasters comes clean on LotRO EU's free-to-play delay
Lord of the Rings Online players are well aware that something has been rotten in the state of Denmark -- and the rest of Europe -- with the lengthy and unexplained delay in rolling out the new free-to-play update in the region. While we've speculated on the cause, Codemasters has been cagey and non-specific during the past month and a half, only promising that a solution was coming "soon." That changed today, as general manager David Solari posted a letter on the LotRO EU forums clarifying the situation. It turns out that the hold-up was due to legal rather than technical obstacles: "As many of you correctly surmised, the issues have been contractual rather than technical. As they were contractual issues, we are bound by confidentiality and you will understand that I can't give you any further detail... Unfortunately a contract was required in order to go free-to-play and this has taken much longer to conclude than expected. The good news is that the contractual issues have been resolved and we are on the home stretch." Solari promised more information later this week, claiming that the F2P launch is "imminent." Codemasters is in charge of operating Lord of the Rings Online in the region while Turbine handles the responsibility in North America. You can read the full letter over at the LotRO EU forums.
The Road to Mordor: The Codemasters conundrum
J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote, "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." In light of recent events, we might turn that phrase to become, "Do not meddle in the affairs of players, for they are outspoken and very, very quick to anger." I'm referring, of course, to the outright debacle that's been happening on the Lord of the Rings Online European front. While Turbine released LotRO's F2P version along with the latest patch a month ago in North America, Codemasters has yet to follow suit, citing numerous problems on its end. When we first heard of the delay, I assumed it would be shortly resolved -- perhaps no more than a week or two at the most -- which is why I've mostly kept from discussing it in this column before now. Tech problems happen, there's always legal traps waiting, code can be glitchy, and regionalization is an ever-present obstacle. But at this point it feels as though the EU "Have-Nots" community has been under siege from lack of information and a frustrating view of the "Haves" across the pond. When will it be their turn? Why didn't Codemasters see this coming? How is the EU team trying to mollify the community as the devs scramble to get this puppy to live? Let's take a journey, you and I, through the past month and into the near future. Don't mind the hobbits picketing the Shire -- I'm sure it'll all work out.
Beta journals testify about the LotRO store
While the new version of Lord of the Rings Online is still under NDA lockdown, Turbine's opened a crack in the door to allow a few beta testers to jaw about the LotRO store. On the EU site, beta testers were encouraged to submit their thoughts and experiences with the new store for non-testers to assimilate, with four stories chosen to be posted. Although these stories come with the caveat that they were hand-picked to be shared, they seemed free to share both likes and dislikes about the store. Some of the positive mentions include the speed of the store's delivery to player inventory, the sheer amount of items available, fun items like emotes and mounts, and general ease of use. They report that cosmetics are a big hit with beta testers. On the flip side, the authors were critical of the unfinished feel to the store and the fact you can't see the items you're purchasing in the dressing-room window. Generally, however, the four testers are upbeat about this new LotRO feature. You can read their full thoughts at LotRO EU's site.
