Lord of the Rings Online Expansion Gets Date, Price

Along with the digital download itself, there is also something else being sold, called the Adventurer's Pack. In this "Adventurer's Pack," you get a "free" mount, two more character slots, shared storage space amongst all my characters on the server and a cloak that makes you run faster. The mount is a dusky nimblefoot goat, but it's a mount, and anyone would be happy with a free mount. The extra character slots are nice, but I don't currently use the extra character slots I received with Mines of Moria. The cloak is negligible unless you have a free spot in your bags that you don't mind tying up. Now, the shared storage space is a beautiful thing. I spend quite a few silvers mailing loot and crafted items to each of my characters. Not even World of Warcraft has this nice little feature. I am sure, though, that I will have to wait until December 1st when Siege of Mirkwood is released to get my shared storage.

Now we'll talk pricing, which I'm still not sure I understand. Individually, the Siege of Mirkwood digital download expansion and the Adventurer's Pack are $19.99 each. But...

  • If your account is dormant and you renew your subscription again, you get Siege of Mirkwood for free, but you have to pay for the Adventurer's Pack.
  • If your account is in good standing and you upgrade to a higher package (including the Lifetime Membership for $199), you get Siege of Mirkwood free, but you have to pay for the Adventurer's Pack.
  • If you are already a Lifetime Subscriber you don't get anything, unless you buy the Adventurer's Pack, then you get Siege of Mirkwood free.
  • If you are a subscriber and you do nothing, you pay full price for everything.

Okay, it isn't exactly rocket science but wow that is convoluted. As a lifetime subscriber, I pre-ordered the Adventurer's Pack to get Siege of Mirkwood free, yet I still paid $20 for the content. I wish it was the other way around. I feel a little dirtier paying $20 for in-game items and getting the expansion for free than I would had I bought the expansion and received in-game items for free. Regardless, that shared storage and free mount were really too good to pass up. So, once December 1st rolls around, you will be able to easily find me on Arkenstone. I'll be the guy on the goat.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™: SIEGE OF MIRKWOOD™ TO LAUNCH ON DECEMBER 1st

Turbine Unveils Special Pre-Launch Offers Including the New LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack

WESTWOOD, MA – September 29, 2009-- Turbine, Inc. announced today that The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™, the new digital expansion to the 2008 MMO of the Year will launch on December 1st in North America. Turbine also unveiled The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) Adventurer’s Pack which contains what every player needs to survive in the chaos of Mirkwood! Siege of Mirkwood and the LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack are scheduled to launch on December 1, 2009.

SIEGE OF MIRKWOOD PRE-LAUNCH OFFERS

Starting today, players can take can take advantage of several special pre-launch offers to celebrate the release of the second expansion to LOTRO:

  • The LOTRO Lifetime Membership is now available for $199.
  • Any current or former player who renews or upgrades their subscription to any multi-month plan by October 31st gets the Siege of Mirkwood digital expansion for FREE!
  • All players can pre-order the new LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack which contains 2 character slots and one shared storage slot that allows players to share items with all of their characters on the same server for $19.99 and get the Harbinger’s Cloak which provides 8% speed boost and the Dusky Nimblefoot Goat mount for FREE!
  • Starting today, existing Lifetime Members who pre-order the LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack get the Siege of Mirkwood digital expansion plus two in-game items (Harbinger’s Cloak which provides an 8% speed boost and a new mount) for FREE!

These special offers will be available for a limited time. For more information, please visit www.lotro.com/mirkwood.