LOTRO Founder's Program

By Robert Purchese Published 25 January, 2007

Mates rates and privileges.

If you show your support for Elf-kind by joining the new Founder's Program for MMO The Lord of The Rings Online, you'll be rewarded with a special USD 9.99 monthly subscription rate, or a minuscule one-off payment of USD 199.

Developer Turbine announced the "revolutionary" new scheme for US gamers today.

Those who take up the offer will also gain early access to the game via the beta test, from which you'll be able to carry your character over to retail servers when the game launches on 24th April.

Other treasures include an Enchanted Cloak of Regeneration and a Ring of Agility. In pink, we hope.

We're still waiting for confirmation of how the billing process will work in Europe.

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.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 5 years ago

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

  • Wite_Noiz #1 5 years ago

    "you'll be rewarded with a special USD 9.99 monthly subscription rate, or a minuscule one-off payment of USD 199."

    Should that be "for" a one-off payment? A Founder's Program is normally where you fund the start-up for future discounts - I can't believe you can pay a little over £100 for a lifetime of free MMORPG (if true, I might actually consider it).

    I have allergies to subscription-based payment models

  • Gulag #2 5 years ago

    Then again, these are the guys who so royally fubared D&DO. What state is that in at the moment?

  • Wendelius #3 5 years ago

    This might prove tempting. There are incentives and monthly subscriptions soon add up...

  • Drone #4 5 years ago

    Its a bit heavy if you're only gonna play for six months though. Which is about as long as my life can handle mmo's. Curse you addictive personality!

  • Laserbream #5 5 years ago

    Free epixx?

  • MaxiSleep #6 5 years ago

    Sorry laserbream but they BOP

    :)

  • Poorandugly #7 5 years ago

    They still make MMORPG's? How quaint.

  • BrokenSymmetry #8 5 years ago

    The Europan LOTRO site mentions "£99.99 for a Lifetime Membership", with the following clause: "Founder Member pricing valid for so long as game is in service and account is continuously maintained without termination.".

    This doesn't seem to be a bad deal for a serious MMO player...

  • zoidberg #9 5 years ago

    this isn't half bad... USD 199 for it all? forever?

  • chupachups #10 5 years ago

    I remember advertising in the early 1990s that said for just £500 you could get a lifetime "founder's subscription" to a new dial-up ISP, which didn't include the cost of the calls by your modem. Even if you could still use the service (which I doubt), who would want to?

  • Slim #11 5 years ago

    That's exactly the point, they're not expecting you to actually play for a lifetime.

  • rudedudejude #12 5 years ago

    Anyone play RF Online?

    hehe.

  • Sko #13 5 years ago

    When I saw that 'one-off payment' option, the first thought that came to mind is "What aren't they telling us about the state of the game?".

    I mean, paying for the equivalent of 20 months worth of an MMO, sight unseen, is a big deal if you ask me. There's very few MMOs I'd cough up that sort of money for even after playing beta for a couple of months beforehand. Probably best off testing the waters with the 9.99 option.