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lord of the rings online

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lord of the rings online

Return To LotRO Free This Weekend

Turbine is celebrating the first anniversary of the Lord of the Rings Online as previously mentioned, and they're giving lapsed players a chance to come back and see what's changed since they bucked up and kicked the hobbit (so ashamed of myself). Between now and May 12th, players who have cancelled their account may log back in for free, spend several hours patching, and then experience the new features they've missed out on, such as...
* New Region - Explore the icy reaches of Forochel
* New Quests - Over 100 new quests
* Hobby System - Feel like going fishing?
* Enhanced Monsterplay - New monster class: the Orc Defiler
* Looking For Fellowship Enhancements - Mustering Horns and UI improvements
* More customization options - cosmetic clothing, traveling clothes, and barbershops!
* New PvMP dungeon - The Delving of Frór
* Return to Angmar - completely overhauled to enhance playability and fun
All of this, plus they added more cowbell. What more do you people want?

8:40 AM on Thu May 8 2008
By Mike Fahey
1,109 views, 25 comments

Latest by poke50uk: ug.. well im giving the free trail a go.. its taken 5 hours to dl/install... but the updating is the worst.. 3000/7000+ updates im on now.. "109%" complete ¬_¬ more »

one year of lotro

LotRO Celebrates Year One - Lifetime Memberships Return

It's been a great first year for Lord of the Rings Online, and Turbine has an entire month of celebrations planned for one of the most successful MMO launches since World of Warcraft. It all starts with the launch of Book 13: Doom of the Last-King, which adds the frosty reaches of Forochel to the landmass and a brand-new Monster Player class in the Defiler, seen menacingly above. Monsters will be dropping rare items throughout the month that you can exchange for in-game rewards, and if returning players want to check those out they'll be allowed five days free play to see how the game has evolved since launch. Finally, special subscription plans are in effect for a limited time, with plans over 90 days in length costing only $9.99 a month, and the return of the launch premium lifetime memberships for only $199. Hit the jump for more details on the celebration of a year of l337-speaking Hobbits. More »

7:00 PM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Mike Fahey
3,533 views, 38 comments

Latest by svetlana: Anyone know if I buy this game stateside I can play it in Japan in August when I move there? I know that, with WoW, I'd just have to deal with ridiculous login times etc. for the overseas more »

lotro

Lord of the Rings Online Kicks Off April Fool's With The Battle of Amon Hen

It may be March 31 on the Kotaku Tower desk calendar, but it's April 1 somewhere in the realms of The Lord of the Rings Online. Turbine has decided to make with the massively-multiplayer hilarity, announcing that a new playable race, the Fowl-People, would join the currently playable Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits, bringing new epic quests and new housing options (coops, henhouses, etc.).

The jokes are too good to spoil here, so make your way to the official site. But pee before you do. We can't have your LOL-derived incontinence on our hands. This is sure to be just a mere speck on the landscape of puns, gags and sidesplitters to be delivered this April Fool's, so brace yourself for all comers.

The Battle of Amon Hen [LotRO]

7:20 PM on Mon Mar 31 2008
By Michael McWhertor
4,274 views, 37 comments

licensing

Turbine and Tolkien Sitting In A Tree

Most people who've actually gotten a chance to play a bit of Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online have to admit that the company has done a damn fine job in handling Tolkien's work in a respectful fashion. Apparently the Tolkien folks agree, as the two companies have signed an agreement granting Turbine the license to create online games based on the Lord of the Rings books up through the year 2014, with an option to extend the rights to 2017.
"We have had a wonderful working relationship with Turbine over the past several years," said Albert M. Bendich, Executive Vice President of The Saul Zaentz Company, and its merchandising division Tolkien Enterprises. "We look forward to our continuing success with Turbine as it pushes the envelope for compelling online entertainment and gameplay to bring the compelling characters of Middle-earth to life for Tolkien fans around the world."
Those TE folks aren't pushovers either, nearly single-handedly bringing about the downfall of Iron Crown Enterprises by pulling the license on their Middle Earth Role-Playing Game. Good show Turbine! More »

11:20 AM on Wed Feb 20 2008
By Mike Fahey
1,814 views, 20 comments

Latest by Chef: I'm on LOTRO to play with my brother every now and then, and I'm constantly surprised by how much content they keep adding and adding, beyond just new quests, balance fixes, and seasonal content - they've been adding entire features more »

mmo update

Turbine Continues To Impress With LOTRO Book 12

Turbine continues to kick the living crap out of most other MMORPGs feature-wise with the announcement of the latest free content update, Book 12: The Ashen Wastes. Book 12 introduces a mechanic that so many MMOs need but so very few utilize - the outfit system. Basically it allows you to customize the gear your character wears without affecting your armor stats, meaning that no matter what armor you put on, you can maintain the look you want. You wanna be known as the hobbit in hot pink pants? You can be that hobbit without worrying about your look changing every time you find a better piece of armor. They're also introducing barbershops where you can deck your character out in one of more than 50 new hairstyles, which is nifty indeed. On the actual game front, they are introducing The Delving of Frór, a 12-player raid dungeon that switches between player character and player monster control based on the faction winning the battle in the Ettenmoors, sort of like the Darkness Falls dungeon in Dark Age of Camelot. Enhanced player housing, over 100 new quests, and the chance to recover the ancient ring Narchuil round out the impressive feature list in Book 12. Hit the jump for more details, while I ponder the reactivation question for the umpteenth time. More »

10:20 AM on Wed Feb 13 2008
By Mike Fahey
4,551 views, 70 comments

Latest by AMonkey: Sounds pretty nice. I don't think I can be bothered to download the trial and none of the classes seem to fit what I want. When I get bored of WoW I'm sure I'll give it a shot. more »

mmorpg

LOTRO Goes Russian

They're taking the Hobbits to Kaliningrad! Russia is a gigantic country with approximately 142 million people, and not enough of them are MMO addicts. The gaming industry is slowly realizing this, with Blizzard readying the Russian-language version of World of Warcraft and now Turbine announcing an agreement to bring Lord of the Rings Online to the Hobbit-hungry populace. IT Territory LLC, a major Russian online game publisher, will be handling the publication and operation of the game in their country.
"The Lord of the Rings Online has taken North America and Europe by storm and we are committed to bringing the game to fans around the world," said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "ITT is a major player in online gaming and we look forward to partnering with them to bring The Lord of the Rings Online to Russia."
Hooray! The world has come so far, hasn't it? Remember when Russians were the enemy in all those 1980's video games and movies? We were all such dorks back then. More »

9:40 AM on Mon Jan 28 2008
By Mike Fahey
749 views, 15 comments

Latest by dissimilis: @bakana: They were playing on a private Lineage 2 server. more »

mmorpg

LotRO Gets Prettier With Nvidia and DX10

Turbine is extremely pleased to announce that their relatively successful MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online is the first MMO to fully support DirectX 10 and Nvidia's Geforce graphics processors. Utilizing the combined forces of the two, the MMO is now sporting upgraded water shaders, better particle effects, and more far-reaching lighting than ever before, along with a DX10 exclusive dynamicshadowing system. In layman's terms, if you got the right parts, the game just got a lot prettier.

"The FPS genre has long dominated the race to better graphics but with this major update from Turbine, The Lord of the Rings Online players can enjoy graphics as good as or even better than many FPS games. This is an outstanding achievement and the whole Turbine team should be rightly proud of what they have produced," said Roy Taylor, Vice President of Content Relations at NVIDIA
Right. In my world, high-end graphics and MMO games equals lag city, but who knows? Maybe Turbine and Nvidia have some sort of genie imprisoned somewhere. Since I don't have an active account for the game, it is all up to you folks. Is it prettier? Is it secret? Is it safe?

Update: Turbine sent me a lovely comparison shot, seen above, that really highlights the differences between the two versions. Thanks!

More »

9:20 AM on Mon Jan 7 2008
By Mike Fahey
6,402 views, 40 comments

Latest by r1chard: Damn the lack of an edit button. I meant to mention that the DX10 support in LOTRO has been in for a month and a half and that I really like the extra details it provides. I guess my post more »

lord of the rings online

They're Taking The Hobbits To Korea

This year has seen a steady flood of 'top-quality' Korean MMOs into the U.S., so it's high time we showed them how it's done repaid the favor by giving them another of ours. Turbine has announced a partnership with Korean internet company and gaming site NHN to distribute Lord of the Rings Online in the Land of the Endless Grind. Already operating in North America, Europe, the UK, and Japan, LotRO should be available to Korean players sometime next year.
"The Lord of the Rings Online will redefine the MMORPG genre in Korea, with amazing graphics and high-quality game content, along with a game system that Korean gamers are familiar with," said Kim Chang-Keun, Director of the publishing division of NHN.
As opposed to all of those Korean MMOs with their crappy graphics and low-quality content. I didn't say it. *points to Kim Chang-Keun* More »

10:20 AM on Mon Dec 10 2007
By Mike Fahey
1,232 views, 19 comments

Latest by Andrew_Cho: I don't know, all my friends around me don't really have much interest in this. Since most of the games produced here is MMO. We already have plenty of online "free" games to play. But I bought 15 stocks in more »

hobbit holidays

LotRO Gets Cheaper For The Holidays

With Blizzard adding a cold pack to their Burning Crusade and NCsoft giving Guild Wars players five hours of marketing, what does Lord of the Rings Online have to offer MMO players this Holiday season? Low, low prices! From now until January 31st, new and existing subscribers to LotRO can pay only $9.99 month, $5 off their normal $14.99 rate. You'll have to pay $29.97 for three months at a time in order to take advantage of the special offer, but 33% off is nothing to scoff at. Of course had you known you'd be so addicted you would have just dropped $200 at launch for the lifetime subscription. Hindsight, huh?

LotRO Holiday Promo [Lord Of The Rings Online via FiringSquad]

7:00 PM on Fri Dec 7 2007
By Mike Fahey
1,167 views, 13 comments

Latest by theun4gven: Is that the alien from 'Mac and Me?' more »

lord of the rings

LOTRO Book 11: More Cowbell

Sure, Turbine and Codemasters' 3rd major free content patch for Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar introduces over 100 new quests, your first glimpse of Gollum, two new areas, Amarthiel's ring of power, a raid against a Balrog, and player housing. That's all well and good, but the single most important aspect of the new update, due out on October 25th, is to the music system, my favorite aspect of the entire game. Three new instruments are being introduced with the update, including the bagpipes and god's very voice on earth - the cowbell. Finally all of Middle Earth can be graced by the most complete version of my masterpiece, "Don't Fear The Ringwraith." Hit the jump for info on that other crap.
More »

11:20 AM on Thu Oct 18 2007
By Mike Fahey
3,603 views, 20 comments

Latest by Naia: Ooo I play LoTRO, though haven't been logging in lately. Level 32 Minstrel. I'm more interested in SGW though, wonder when that's coming out.. hehe. =) more »

7 day trial

Play LotRO Free

A nice, week-long vacation in Middle Earth sounds absolutely lovely right now. I mean, they've got everything; verdant hills, babbling brooks, Misty Mountains, all-encompassing battle to determine the fate of the world...toss in some taquitos and I'm there. Right now you can take a 7-day trip to the land of hobbits for the low, low price of free as Turbine launches a free trial for their critically acclaimed MMO, Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Just head over to http://trial.lotro.com to sign up, wait out what is sure to be a massive, time-consuming download, and you'll be toking up pipeweed in the Shire in no time. If anything it'll be something to do in between periods of swearing you'll never return to World of Warcraft. More »

6:30 PM on Wed Aug 29 2007
By Mike Fahey
9,734 views, 33 comments

Latest by n/a: The monthly fee is $15 with discounts for paying for more than a month at a time. If you know anyone who has been with the game since it launched, there was a promotion where they could extend their $10 more »

the city of kings

LOTRO Book 10 Detailed

Turbine continues it's quest to make Lord of the Rings Online players dizzy with new content next week. August 21st sees the release of Book 10: The City of Kings, the second free content update to the massively popular online roleplaying game. Highlights include newly customizable UI (thank god), new reputation (faction) and bartering systems, the latter being akin to WoW's pvp reward system, where you trade trophies for special items, the introduction of the Ranger of the North and Troll into monster play, and over 100 new quests. In case that wasn't enough, you'll be able to play as a chicken. Yes - a tiny, harmless little chicken. Hunting for worms has never been so...present in an MMO. Weird, but I like it. Hit the jump for full details! More »

9:20 AM on Mon Aug 13 2007
By Mike Fahey
4,212 views, 14 comments

Latest by Miososin: Ok, I guess I have to defend this game because all over the internet WoWers are trashing the hell out of it. If you like WoW there is no way you can not like this game. The graphics are far more »

hard hobbit to break

LOTRO Tops PC Sales in USA and Europe

Midway, Turbine, and Codemasters are completely freaking ecstatic to announce that The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angamar, or LOTRO as we affectionately call it, is the #1 PC game in North America, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. According to the most recent industry reports (see the release), the power of Tolkien and the popularity of the films have brought PC gamers out in droves to get a chance to frolic in Middle Earth. More »

11:24 AM on Thu May 10 2007
By Mike Fahey
3,404 views, 30 comments

Latest by brodie123: Like so many others, after playing WoW for so long and trying out other MMORPG's(EQ2, D&D) that just can't hold a candle to that very behemoth, LOTRO is a certainly a good time and a step in the right direction.. more »

event

Gallery: LOTR Online

More »
lord of the rings online

LOTR Launch Day Madness

Get your elf ears and foot wigs ready, Tubine, Midway and GameStop are readying a series of Midnight Madness launch events across the United States. More »

11:00 AM on Tue Apr 17 2007
By Brian Crecente
1,259 views, 16 comments

lord of the rings online

LOTROnline Entering Open Beta

On March 30 Lord of the Online will be kicking off an open beta of the MMO. More »

12:00 PM on Thu Mar 22 2007
By Brian Crecente
1,629 views, 22 comments

Get Fuzzy Gets Gaming I love watching this slow migration of gaming into the mainstream consciousness, even when it involves poking fun at gamers. Brian Crecente

23 comments

lifer

LOTR MMO Get's Lifer Subscriptions

Turbine and Midway recently announced that they are kicking off a Founder's Program for their upcoming massively multiplayer game Lord of the Rings Online. More »

8:00 AM on Mon Feb 5 2007
By Brian Crecente
3,147 views, 16 comments