Lord of the Rings Online is now free to play. Although the move surprised many people it as a technique with an established history. Turbine, who run LOTRO, successfully moved Dugeons and Dragons Online to a free model. Money comes from the players buying enhancements and additions.
When it comes to LOTRO it isn’t just the Turbine players who’ll benefit. Players in North America and Europe get to play for free as Codemasters will also be moving to the new pricing stucture.
Massively has an interview with Turbine in which the company hints at possible content for the game. There will be content packs; players will be able to by able to buy the Rune-keeper and Warden additions (which came with the Moria bundle) seperarely, for example.
The freebie content areas include Bree, the Shire and Ered Luin; those represent some 800 quests and enough adventure up to level 50.
Players will also be bale to buy cosmetic features, horses and even XP boosts.
The game isn’t free to play yet. Turbine suggest “the fall” as the target launch date.
