Now you can join the world’s greatest fellowship of players in the award-winning online re-creation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendary Middle-earth. In the Lord of the Rings Online™, adventure through Middle-earth as you have never seen it before, battle and win glory against the ravenous hordes of the Dark Lord Sauron, and forge your own legend in the epic story of the War of the Ring. And you can do it all without paying a thing with LOTRO Free-to-Play!

Free-to-Play opens the door to adventure so you can play your way without a subscription or even a credit card. Earn free Turbine Points as you adventure in the massive world of Middle-earth, and spend them in the LOTRO Store to access hundreds of items, expansion packs, premium content, character customization, and more! And you may also purchase Turbine Points in the LOTRO Store whenever you choose. The legend is yours, and the adventure is free!

Anyone can join the game for free as a Free player. You will automatically be upgraded from Free player to Premium player status with your first purchase of Turbine Points in the LOTRO Store. For a monthly fee, LOTRO’s VIP program offers the best value and the most options for players who like the convenience of having unlimited access to all of LOTRO’s game content and features.

LOTRO was officially Nominated for “Best of Show” at PAX 2010 and a couple of GDN Reviewers got to sit down with one of the technical developers of the game for a hands on preview.

In 2006 LOTR released Mines of Moria, which was a huge world In itself, in 2009 they introduced the Siege of Mirkwood with more epic battles and getting a chance to raid the fortress with friends and foes alike. Now in 2010 players are introduced to the world of Eriador, a mostly free to play area with over 800 quests including famed places like Ered Luen and the Shire.  The primary goal of the storyline is reunite the allies of the king, where you’ll be tasked with gathering the members of Aragorns Kin, 30 or so rangers scattered throughout the land.  In addition to the primary task, players can travel through other areas found in the books, you may find yourself wandering through other familiar places from the LOTR storyline. Perhaps in EnedWaith, you may run across the rural hobbits who have forgotten about the Shire, or you may find yourself deep in the wolf and boar infested GloomGlens, unlucky enough to run across the Grey King .  There is nothing in this game that is a just a painting or a background, everything in shown in the world is a place you can travel to, do quests and experience for your own. 

The point is, in LOTRO free play, your character can experience more of an open world and open space, with 80-200 more quests that can be unlocked through earnings or purchasing quests.  LOTRO uses the license to the official Tolkien books as a source to the storyline behind most of the quests, so players and fans can read and play to follow the game if they so desire, this will give you the basis for the storyline, but allows you as a character to fill in the “What If” details.