Updated: On the first day of giveaways, Turbine gave to me...
On the first day of giveaways, Turbine gave to me... a lifetime VIP!
Welcome to Massively's 12 Days of Giveaways! During this 12-day event, you'll find presents galore, courtesy of some of the best MMOs out there. Every day until December 24th, we'll post a new contest for you to enter. We've got a huge pile of goodies to give away, so they're going to be fast and furious -- you'll have 24 hours from the time the contest is posted to enter. Don't worry, though, because we're going to do our best to accommodate everyone -- you'll simply have to leave a comment to be entered in the random drawing, and we'll be posting each contest at a different time of day.
So without further ado, let's get to the good stuff! Turbine is kicking off our contest in a big way by celebrating the holidays in Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and here on Massively. Follow along after the jump to see what's happening in game and what fantastic holiday gifts we have for you from Turbine!
[UPDATE: All winners have been selected and contacted. Congratulations!]
Earlier this year, Turbine applied DDO's successful business model to LotRO, opening the free-to-play doors wide to all potential players. If you haven't tried these two games, there is no better time. In-game events are everywhere this time of year, and Turbine celebrates in style. The greatest thing about the festivals in both games is that they're just as accessible to brand-new players as to anyone else, so whether you're a veteran player or you haven't even installed yet, read on!
A holiday celebration in Dungeons and Dragons Online
The season is celebrated in DDO with Festivult. Festivult is a whirl of bonuses, freebies, sales, games, and more. All the reward chests that appear throughout DDO have a chance of giving Festivult coins in addition to their regular loot during the event. You can trade those coins to the mysterious Festivult Jester for all sorts of sweets that help you and harm your foes.
The Risia Ice Games, a celebration introduced at the beginning of this year, will be back for a few weekends. Stormreach Harbor will freeze over and become home to a series of ice rinks and ski-jump-style challenges that will delight the platformers among you.
Winter Bonus Days will show up closer to the end of December to offer a bonus to XP and guild renown -- a nice little boost for new players. Finally, the DDO Store has daily deals throughout the month. A different item is 50% off every day, so hang on to your Turbine Points and watch the store!
Check out the Countdown to Festivult for all the details on the special treats and the Festivult page for event dates.
A holiday celebration in Lord of the Rings Online
LotRO's annual Yule Festival will be a novelty to new and experienced players alike, because it's gotten a nice overhaul. No more "festival-in-a-box," says designer Lauren "Budgeford" Salk.
Players will enjoy a new mini-region, the "town of Winter-home in the valley of Frostbluff." Having an entirely new region allowed the developers to really go all out with the Yule Festival this year. Get ready to enjoy events like snowball fights, eating contests, and more, all set in the festive valley of Frostbluff.
Lauren's dev diary is a fun read on the creative process behind the new-and-improved Yule Festival, so take a look and then get ready to check it out for yourself!
A holiday celebration at Massively!
You might say we've saved the best for last. Turbine is kicking off our 12 Days of Giveaways in style with 21 great gifts for the Massively readers! We have 10 codes for 1,000 Turbine Points each for DDO, 10 codes for 1,000 Turbine points each for LotRO, and one lifetime VIP membership to LotRO!
All you have to do is leave a comment here telling us which is your favorite -- DDO or LotRO -- and why. We'll do a random drawing 24 hours from right now and award these goodies to 21 lucky winners. So take a peek at our contest rules and leave your comment here before 9:00 a.m. EST tomorrow, December 14th. Best of luck!
