Releases and Subscription Model
In North America, players who pre-ordered the game were offered a special founder's offer, a lifetime subscription for $199 or reduced cost of $9.99 per month. Standard monthly fee is $14.99 with three, six, twelve month, and lifetime discounts available. European players had a similar program from Codemasters. A Holiday subscription was available in December 2007 and January 2008 for $9.99/month for a 3 month commitment. A one year anniversary addition includes a $9.99/month subscription or a $199.99 Lifetime subscription, which was again offered during the leadup to the release of Mines of Moria. However the lifetime subscription option is no longer available and is unlikely to return.
The special edition, which costs $10 more than the regular edition, includes a full-color manual, an item called "Glass of Aglaral," a cloak of regeneration, which is visually different from the one in the regular edition, a "Making of" DVD, soundtrack, and a 10-day buddy key.
On June 4, 2010, it was announced the game was to add a free to play option in the Autumn, with an in-game store. Free to play was successfully launched in North America on September 10, 2010. After a delay in Europe free to play went live on November 2, 2010. Since then, revenue has tripled, according to company statements.
On April 26, 2011, it was announced that Codemasters would relinquish control of the European service back to Turbine. On June 1, the European servers were transferred, with all the data intact to Turbine. After a transition period of a few days, the servers reopened under a unified LOTRO global service.
On June 6, 2012, The Lord of the Rings Online was made available for download on Steam.
Read more about this topic: The Lord Of The Rings Online: Shadows Of Angmar
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