lotro-f2p
Latest
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.
[Updated] Lord of the Rings Online F2P launch date announced
The Turbine crew has been preparing for The Lord of the Rings Online to go free-to-play since the announcement in June, and players have been very interested in a launch date. "This fall" has been the only answer for a while, as developers said they wanted to make sure the game was completely ready before committing to a date. They seem to be pretty certain now, as the announcement of a September 10th launch date came from Turbine early this morning. Executive Producer Kate Paiz gives plenty of credit to the beta testers: "Our LOTRO beta program has been a huge success and we want to thank all of our players who worked with us to get the game ready for launch." [Update: Current and former subscribers can access the game two days early, on September 8th.]
New LotRO screens give a peek at free-to-play
The Lord of the Rings Online free-to-play beta is well underway, and much of the game has gotten a makeover. Turbine released a set of screenshots today showing a bit of the game's new look. Wondering what character creation in LotRO F2P will look like? What about quests that have to be unlocked via LotRO Store purchases? The new images answer those questions as well as giving a feel for what Middle-earth will look like once things change. If you're interested in getting a firsthand look at things, beta signups for LotRO free-to-play are still going on, so visit the site, and check out the gallery below for the free-to-play screenshots. %Gallery-97576%
