Lord of the Rings Online officially goes free-to-play today . Well, provided you don’t live in Europe. How does Warner Bros., the game’s publisher, make any money? Like most of these free-to-play games, the game itself is free, but you can purchase all sorts of extra bells and whistles from the game’s LOTRO Store.
There’s also a VIP program whereby you pay a monthly fee to get access to the whole enchilada, as it were.
Or, gamers can level all the way to level 50 for free; anything higher requires cash money.
I have to say: I’m a sucker for in-game events. I think my absolute favorite in-game event is World of Warcraft‘s Brewfest. I bring this up because in LOTRO there’s something called the Harvest Festival, and it sounds fantastic.
When the days shorten and the nights begin to cool, it’s time to celebrate the bounty of the harvest. All the races of Middle-earth celebrate this time and gather at the Bree festival grounds for the Harvestmath events that include bobbing for apples, pumpkin picking and much more. This year’s festival features a brand new event located in the new Haunted Burrow, a haunted hobbit Fun-house!
That seriously sounds like a bunch of fun. Thank God the game is free now, maybe I’ll swing by and bob for apples.