Free LOTRO weekend under way

By Robert Purchese Published 8 May, 2008

To return and see what's changed.

Codemasters Online Gaming is trying to entice past Lord of the Rings Online subscribers back by offering them a free weekend in Middle-Earth.

From today to 12th May there will be no charge, and those returning will find their accounts magically activated by Gandalf and ready for action, although you will need to patch first, of course.

Rather a lot has changed since the game was released in April 2007, and it is still one of the best worlds out there to inhabit, as we point out in our recent and also high-scoring re-review of the game.

Incidentally, we have no idea if this is related to subscription figures as Codemasters Online Gaming never releases numbers.

Pop over to the official Lord of the Rings Online website to find out more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (21) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MuppetThumper #1 4 years ago

    no
    time
    for
    anymore
    games
    ...

  • HardToast #2 4 years ago

    I'd like to try this for free. The absence of PVP majorly disappoints me.

  • henneth #3 4 years ago

    The games features PvP and it's *almost* really well done. They just need to give the peeps more of an incentive to venture into the contested areas (such as by removing repair bills incurred during PvP).

    http://www.lot rolife.com/monster_play/

  • FunkyRenegade #4 4 years ago

    I guess I'll be jumping back on my dwarf then, if only for a weekend :)

  • Whizzo #5 4 years ago

    Now I've got a DX10 card I think I may reinstall and see what it looks like in Vista.

  • mcmothercruncher #6 4 years ago

    I've been obsessed with this over the past month- actually trying to stay away from it at the moment ;)

  • HMAN #7 4 years ago

    So Jonty might 50 Whizzo?
    Can't believe all the EG kin just upped and left. Practically all at once lol
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/08 @ 21:57

  • byron_hinson #8 4 years ago

    @Whizzo - shadows are excellent in DX10 on a 8800 - nothing else is different though apart from that graphic wise.

  • davisorle #9 4 years ago

    The most beautifull and smart MMOrpg out there atm. But to be honest I gve it up playing arenas on WoW simply cause Lotro had no cap lvl gear to go around etc... The graphs are freakin sweet specially for DX10 vgas plus the sound quallity etc. Maybe they added worthy stuff since i havent played wince I went to the army. So yeah I'll check it out now and see what's new. If worth i'll go for the lifetime subscription since I got the preordered one :) The game rocks. Hope they made it even better :p

  • DFawkes #10 4 years ago

    No! I'm out! I'm off the LotRO, I don't need you anymore!

    Well, maybe 5 minutes if its free. Perhaps hours. Or a whole weekend...

  • SamH #11 4 years ago

    @Kirly_Wombat: Yes. http://www.trylotro.com< /a> ;-) Well worth a go.

  • Darren #12 4 years ago

    I cancelled my subscription about a month after buying the game as the constant hitching got on my nerves and the game lacked the instant appeal of World of Warcraft IMO. I didn't really play it that much anyway. I'll certainly try it again tonight though to see if runs any better now but I'll just use up the free time I think as I'd rather be playing GTA IV. I doubt I'll renew my subscription.

  • Krusty #13 4 years ago

    8800 hitching problem long gone.

    Great game, and Forochel a nice new area for the 44+'s to level in.

  • HMAN #14 4 years ago

    It really has improved a lot since launch/summer last year. So much new content and things to do. I think anyone who hasn't played for a while will be suprised

  • HardToast #15 4 years ago

    A friend was trying to convince me to join but its really NOTHING like I expected a LOTR game to be. I’m not a LOTR nut but enjoyed the films but apparently in this game your ALL on the same side? Is this right? Surely one side should be the ‘goodies’ with the ring and the others the ‘baddies’ trying to get the ring?

    Isn’t that the whole point of LOTR’s?

  • hiddenranbir #16 4 years ago

    We can not simply walk into Mordor!

    Still playing the game. Great...and just beautiful thanks to the book 13 polish for DX10. Just rather anxious to get the expansions reaching Rohan so they'll finally improve mounts and the potential mounted combat to come with it.

  • HardToast #17 4 years ago

    Why can't I be a baddie in Mordor?

  • Hypercube #18 4 years ago

    Just cancelled this. Bit dull, the races aren't very interesting, combat is a bit clunky.

    But the scenery is awesome. Just not awesome enough for continued subscription.

  • DFawkes #19 4 years ago

    @HardToast

    The compromise they thought of was having a PvP mode where you can be a baddie, but nothing like you'd want. I agree having a Horde/Alliance dynamic would be nice, but LotRO is one of the most heavily story based MMOs I've played, so if they had 2 sides they'd need more story, where you'd ultimately never be allowed to win. It sucks, I know, but thats the way they play it.

    I really didn't get this game at first, until I got my first Title - like a surname you get to show an achievement. First it was Deegrim Furcutter for killing wolves, now it's Deegrim the Undefeated!

  • HardToast #20 4 years ago

    The compromise they thought of was having a PvP mode where you can be a baddie, but nothing like you'd want. I agree having a Horde/Alliance dynamic would be nice, but LotRO is one of the most heavily story based MMOs I've played, so if they had 2 sides they'd need more story, where you'd ultimately never be allowed to win. It sucks, I know, but thats the way they play it.

    Fair points but still, the inability to play as an evil character in Mordar is a bit of a flaw in my opinion.

    If it did, I'd buy it right away.

  • DFawkes #21 4 years ago

    I agree, I'd probably have kept subscribing if I could've had an Urak on the go. That would've rocked. Or goblins in Moria. Perhaps Cave Trolls. Haradrim. Wild Men. Orcs. Specialised Warg Riders classes, new starting areas, weapons forged in Mount Doom...

    The more I think about it the more I'd love proper Evil play. You stil could never win the story, but you could still cause terror to the free people of Middle-Earth, battle for Osgiliath, or defend Moria from the Fellowship.