Galatekinc.com

Turbine has decided to let Founder members who chose the Monthly rate ($9.99/mo) to change their subscription to the Founders Lifetime rate ($199). Instead of being stuck with the monthly rate, confirmed founders can now do what was once impossible - upgrade to a Lifetime :D.

The post was made today by Patience - You can read the whole thing here.

Greetings Founders!

We wanted to let you know that we’ve made the $199 Lifetime offer available to our Founders who initially chose monthly pricing plans (Founders are those who pre-ordered LOTRO and carried their subscriptions over into the retail launch). If you are an eligible Founder, you’ll find the Lifetime option available in your account at https://myaccount.turbine.com.

So what are you Monthly founders waiting for?!

Technorati Tags: Turbine, LotRO, Lord of the Rings Online, Founders

Lord of the Rings Online has decided to add a 7-day free trial to their lineup; Similar to the World of Warcraft free trial, this trial will allow new players to experience the world of Middle Earth for 7 days free of charge (The client can be downloaded [its the low res version] from the information page).

There are some limitations with this free trial, the biggest of which is as follows:

Free Trial accounts have restrictions in place that prevent the use certain features and functionality, such as in-game mail, auction houses, trading with other players, and the sending of tells in the Game. Free Trial accounts also have posting limitations on the message boards. All of these limitations are removed once a Free Trial player upgrades to a standard account.

Check out full details & Limitations via this link 

This should help cut down on the ‘Free Trial Spammers’ that some other games see when offers like this go out, and will still allow new players the flexibility to see much of the game and determine if it is for them (Hint: Its a great game!).

Current players can also use a refer a friend key to get their friends into the game, and Founder’s get special keys that they can use to refer friends.

So what are you waiting for?? Jump into the game now with this free trial and see if Middle Earth is the place you have always wanted to be.

Technorati Tags: Lord of the Rings: Online, LotRO, Turbine, Free Trial

You might have noticed a new link in the Blog Roll; it is a link to a blog of 2 Turbine employees that talks of a cross country trip to PAX with stops all along the way. They are driving a car emblazoned with the Lord of the Rings Online logo and carrying along a neurotic doll that seems to see ‘Men in Black’ with Swords everywhere - if you are going to PAX you might want to stop by the Turbine area and say hello.

Technorati Tags: Lord of the Rings Online, LotRO, Blog, Turbine, PAX

Thats right, yesterday Turbine (in conjunction with their partners @ Codemasters) announced the imminent arrival of the next free update to Lord of the Rings Online - Book X (10 for those normal people out there :)). Some of the upcoming features include a customizable UI, more monster play upgrades, and a reputation system. Announcement below:

TURBINE AND CODEMASTERS ONLING GAMING UNVEIL
BOOK 10: THE CITY OF THE KINGS
FOR THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™

Major Content Update to Hit MMO to be Available on August 20th

WESTWOOD, MA - August 13, 2007 - Turbine, Inc. and Codemasters Online Gaming announced the details of the second free content update for subscribers to The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™. Book 10: The City of the Kings continues the epic story, adds over 100 new quests, implements significant enhancements to monster play and introduces the Reputation and Bartering systems. Book 10: The City of the Kings will be available to subscribers of The Lord of the Rings Online on August 20, 2007.

“Our first update significantly expanded the world of Middle-earth with new story arcs, quests, and exciting new kinds of gameplay,” said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “For Book 10 we continue the epic story and introduce a ton of new content, but we also are introducing legendary play, a completely new way to experience monster play that enables you to play as a powerful Ranger of the North or a terrible Troll.”

Beginning August 20th, heroes can join the battle in Book 10: The City of the Kings, the second of many free updates to The Lord of the Rings Online.

NEW FEATURES:

• The Epic Continues! - Amarthiel, introduced in Book 9: Shores of Evendim, has reclaimed the palantir of Carn Dûm and is now seeking to make Annúminas her new seat of power as she searches for her lost ring of power: Narchuil. The Dúnedain stands against her as the Rangers mount a last, desperate attempt to wrest the palantir from Amarthiel. Before she can find Narchuil, a most dangerous opportunity presents itself that may give the Dúnedain the advantage they need to blind the eye of Angmar.
• Legendary Play - Once in the Ettenmoors, players can experience monster play in a completely new way by spending their Destiny Points to play as a powerful Ranger of the North or a terrible Troll to offer a strategic advantage to their allies in the battle for control of the Ettenmoors.
• Critter Play - Friendly barnyard animals love squawking around the landscape, exploring chicken coops, hunting for worms and more! Players can now explore Middle-earth from a different - and sometimes unexpected - viewpoint as a chicken, the first of many new playable critters that will be added to the game in the future.
• New Reputation and Bartering Systems - Book 10 introduces the Reputation and Bartering systems. The Reputation system enables players to earn positive and negative standing with different races and groups in Middle-earth based on both monster kills and quest completions. The Bartering system allows players to trade trophies earned in battle for rewards such as armor sets or mounts.
• Over 100 New Quests - The story continues for players as they aid the Fellowship and encounter new adventures, new dungeons and over a dozen new monsters.
• Enhanced User Interface - The game’s UI is now customizable. In addition to being able to skin your UI with a unique look, Book 10 will enable players to access sliders in their ‘Options’ panel to scale the size of individual elements of the UI to their liking.

“We are working very hard to deliver the most content and best experiences to our subscribers and it is extremely satisfying to see such a large number of players embracing the game and joining us in Middle-earth,” added Anderson. “We intend to continue our long established reputation of delivering frequent and substantial updates to our players with the release of Book 11 this Fall which will offer players the opportunity to live in their very own house in Middle-earth!”

The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. The Lord of the Rings Online is now available for purchase at major retailers across North America and Europe. For more information about The Lord of the Rings Online, please visit http://www.lotro.com/ or http://www.lotro-europe.com/.

[ View the full post ]

So put on your war face Hobbit Folks! The new update is on its way! (Oh, and did you notice the little blurb about Housing coming in Book XI? :D)

Yep, the fun folks over at Turbine have used the Google Maps API to create an interactive map of Middle Earth! Now you can see all of that good stuff on your travels through the Shire, Rivendell, and anywhere else in ME. The announcement was on the LotR:O Lorebook main page and featured a subset of Frodo’s Path to Rivendell.

Here is the announcement as it appeared on the Lorebook Home:

Introducing LOTRO Google Maps!

We’re pleased to bring you a brand new LOTRO Lorebook feature – LOTRO Google maps! Use this feature to add detailed maps, plot quest paths, and mark locations in your Lorebook entries, or just explore the game from a bird’s eye perspective.Visit our Editing Maps section for tips on getting started. For a taste of what LOTRO Google Maps can do, check out Frodo’s Path to Rivendell!

So get on out there intrepid Adventurers and start adding your contributions to Middle Earth Mapping!*

Technorati Tags: Lord of the Rings Online, LOTRO, Turbine, Google Maps API, Lorebook

*Note: An active subscription to The Lord of the Rings Online is required to participate in the LotR:O Lorebook 

Turbine announced yesterday (July 24th, 2007) that they are instituting a Friend Referal program which can allow paying subscribers to gain special credits good for 1 free month of game time each. The full details are below (gleaned from the forum post here):

Posted by Patience (Community Coordinator - click to view original post):

We’re proud to announce the Turbine Referral Program, a great way to earn free game time by introducing your family and friends to The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™! It’s so easy an orc can do it!

The Turbine Referral Program lets paying subscribers of The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ refer friends to play the game and receive free game time for successful referrals, subject to certain terms and conditions (see myaccount.turbine.com/referral/rules). Each of your referred friends will be sent a Guest Key to try the game for free for ten (10) consecutive days!

For every friend that buys the retail edition of the game, registers a retail product key at myaccount.turbine.com, and subscribes to the game, you’ll get a referral credit that can be redeemed for 30 days of FREE game time to be added to your subscription for the game! If you’re already a Lifetime Member we’ll issue you a 30 day game card key to give to a friend who is a game subscriber.

If you have Founder’s pricing, you can also offer Founder’s pricing to your friends! The first 10 friends you invite can take advantage of the special Founder’s pricing plans offered through the Founder’s Program. See www.lotro.com/founder for more details on the Founder’s pricing terms.

Finally, to celebrate the launch of this new referral program we’re proud to announce a special offer: For a limited time (ending on September 30, 2007), you will receive a referral credit for every retail product key activation! That’s right, you don’t even need to wait for your friend to subscribe before collecting your free game time! So get started today by visiting myaccount.turbine.com!

Technorati Tags: LOTRO, Lord of the Rings Online, Turbine, News, MMO