{"id":37918,"date":"2010-08-18T20:06:06","date_gmt":"2010-08-19T01:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=37918"},"modified":"2010-08-18T20:06:06","modified_gmt":"2010-08-19T01:06:06","slug":"lotr-online-will-be-free-to-play-september-10th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2010\/08\/18\/37918-lotr-online-will-be-free-to-play-september-10th\/","title":{"rendered":"LOTR Online will be Free To Play September 10th!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"intro\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/LOTRO-Logo-8.18.10.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"LOTRO-Logo-8.18.10\" width=\"200\" height=\"87\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-37919 no-lazyload\" \/><strong>WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE\u2122 WILL BE FREE TO PLAY STARTING SEPTEMBER 10, 2010<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\nTurbine and Codemasters to Release Free-to-Play Version of Award-winning Online Game Across North America and Europe<\/p>\n<p>WESTWOOD, MA \u2013 August 18, 2010 \u2013 Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today that Turbine\u2019s The Lord of the Rings Online\u2122 (LOTRO) will introduce its innovative new pricing model, allowing players to download the game and play for free and purchase expansions, quest packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new LOTRO Store starting September 10, 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Extending its award-winning story, LOTRO delivers the ultimate adventure featuring the massive world of Middle-earth brought to life through 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.  <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur 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,\u201d said Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of LOTRO, Turbine. \u201cOur unique pricing model has revolutionized the industry and starting in September, players will be able to choose how they pay for and play one of the world\u2019s best online games and we can\u2019t wait to welcome millions of new players to Middle-earth!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>LOTRO will offer players unlimited choice!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Free means Free! \u2013 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\u2019s award-winning epic story up to level 50 for free.<\/li>\n<li>Visit the new LOTRO Store!  &#8212; 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.<\/li>\n<li>Be a LOTRO VIP! \u2013 Players who elect  to become a LOTRO VIP will have unlimited access 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Lord of the Rings Online is the ultimate adventure. This award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most famous fantasy of all time. From the picturesque surroundings of the Shire to Moria, the most fearsome underground realm ever imagined, players will soon experience the world of Middle-earth for free!  For more information, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lotro.com\">www.lotro.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Turbine<\/strong><br \/>\nTurbine, Inc. is a premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities. Turbine is wholly owned by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and has created some of the world\u2019s most popular and award-winning online games, including The Lord of the Rings Online\u2122, Dungeons &#038; Dragons Online\u00ae: Eberron Unlimited\u2122, and Asheron&#8217;s Call\u00ae.  For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.turbine.com\">www.turbine.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Middle-earth Enterprises<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Saul Zaentz Company d\/b\/a Middle-earth Enterprises f\/k\/a Tolkien Enterprises (SZC), is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in the literary works of  J.R.R. Tolkien including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.  SZC has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on the Tolkien works for more than 30 years.  Its headquarters are located in Berkeley, California and its Middle-earth Enterprises website may be found at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.middleearth.com\">www.middleearth.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Codemasters<\/strong><br \/>\nCodemasters is a leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products for a global audience across multiple gaming platforms and channels. Established in 1986, the company\u2019s dominant brands include Colin McRae DiRT, Race Driver GRID, Overlord and Operation Flashpoint; the company recently secured the exclusive worldwide video game rights to FORMULA 1. Codemasters is headquartered in Warwickshire UK, with North American operations based in Universal City, California.  The company also maintains operations in Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Malaysia.  Codemasters receives over two million visitors to its web site every month, discover why at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.codemasters.com\">www.codemasters.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment<\/strong><br \/>\nWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.<\/p>\n<p>THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE\u2122 interactive video game \u00a9 2010 Turbine, Inc. and patents pending.  All rights reserved.  Middle-earth Poster Map \u00a9 2007 The Saul Zaentz Company, d\/b\/a Middle-earth Enterprises f\/k\/a Tolkien Enterprises (SZC), under license to Turbine, Inc. All rights reserved. \u201cThe Lord of the Rings Online\u201d, \u201cSiege of Mirkwood\u201d, Middle-earth Enterprises logo, \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d and the names of the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SZC under license to Turbine, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the U.S. and\/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE\u2122 WILL BE FREE TO PLAY STARTING SEPTEMBER&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1tLoH-9RA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37918\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}