LOTR Online Special Edition Announced

[AgtFox]

Official Press Release:
Turbine, Inc. and Midway Games Inc. (NYSE:MWY) today unveiled the Special Edition of The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™. This Special Edition of the highly anticipated massively multiplayer online game provides fans with exclusive items, including the “making of” DVD, a soundtrack of the game, and a special in-game item. The Lord of the Rings Online is scheduled to launch on April 24th in the U.S. and Canada and the Special Edition of the game is now available for pre-order at select retailers nationwide.

“We have experienced unbelievable anticipation and support for The Lord of the Rings Online throughout the development process,” said Jeff Anderson, President and CEO of Turbine Inc. “We knew that the game had to provide a terrific experience to the millions of Tolkien fans and we wanted to enhance that experience even more with this Special Edition.”

“We worked closely with Turbine to create content for the Special Edition that would appeal to even the most dedicated fans of The Lord of the Rings Online,” said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. “With the bonus DVD, soundtrack, buddy pass, in-game item and more, we feel we’re providing great value for those that buy the Special Edition.”

The Lord of the Rings Online Special Editionwill be available in limited quantities and contains a number of benefits & bonuses priced at just $59.99 MSRP.
Press Release continues below...

Turbine/Midway's following the road well traveled by NCSoft, Blizzard, Sony Online, etc. I haven't activated my beta code yet, maybe I should try that. I know there is a forum thread (http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27788) about the beta here on EA. Could be another game that eats away a lot of time.

[AgtFox]

PR continued...
The Special Edition includes:
Full Game on 2 DVD’s

- 30-days of free online play

- Free 10-day Buddy Key

- The “Beyond the Shadows. . .The Making of The Lord of the Rings Online” DVD – A collection of videos that show how Turbine brought the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien to life. Hear from the game’s designers and see their work from concept to completion.

- The Lord of the Rings Online Soundtrack – In-game soundtrack of the Shire, Rivendell, Bree, Thorin’s Hall and Angmar.

- Exclusive In-Game Item – “The Glass of Aglarel” – Carrying this in-game jewel will increase your Hope to aid you against the effects of Dread brought on by the Witch-king and his minions.

- A Full Color Special Edition Manual

- Exclusive map of Middle-earth

[lockwoodx]

yeah.....special like the short bus.


Ba-da-Bing!

[Blue]

I've been messing around with the LOTRO open beta and have actually been enjoying myself every time I log on. Mind you, this could be due to the fact that it's all new and shiny, but so far so good with me. Playing a Minstrel (healing class, of sorts) I've found more entertaining than WoW's version and the quests are of the same ilk, for the most.

Can't really speak on crafting as I haven't gotten into that yet, but it interests me as I've always been geeky about that sort of thing. Even was in FFXI and that entire crafting experience was a lesson in pain. And too, the community seems pretty okay thus far. Mind you the main chat channel has been flooded at times with people from WoW just coming in to tear the game apart and then leave which prooves my point that - gigantic numbers aside - WoW has the worst MMO community I've ever been a part of and so far, LOTRO's is a nice change of pace.

I'm curious to see how the game does in the long run. Never played AC or AC2, so I can't speak for how I feel Turbine is doing past that but, for me, the game seems both fun and solid overall. Not crazy great, but I was surprisingly not disappointed.

Here's hoping that the dungeon/instance experience doesn't blow and turn into an all-out gear whore grind fest.

[roboninja]

A fairly standard set of extras, but at least they are not raping with the price.

[MrE]

Great. Wonderful. I already pre-ordered back in March so I could be part of the Open Beta, and now they have a special edition. Darn but I missed out on that.