Beginning Fall 2010, everybody will be able to experience Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) with the new Free-to-play system. With Free-to-play, anyone can download LOTRO, create an avatar and start exploring every corner of Middle Earth, without the need for a subscription or credit card.

MMO developers Turbine Entertainment has recently announced that its popular title, The Lord of the Rings Online, will alter its pricing model to include free-to-play (F2P).

The change will take place Fall 2010 for both North America and Europe (Codemasters runs the European servers). Those who want to check it out earlier can sign up for the beta program that begins on June 16, 2010.

This isn’t exactly a shocking turn of events as Turbine’s success in converting its other MMO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, to a F2P business model pretty much guaranteed that their Tolkien-based game would follow suit.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Group recently announced that it has acquired Turbine Inc., the Boston-based developer of popular online role-playing games The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) and Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO).

Turbine has long been known for its MMORPGs, having also developed Asheron’s Call back in 2001. It’s recently been known for successfully and smoothly switching their business model for DDO from a monthly-based subscription to a free-to-play method. They still offer monthly subscriptions but their focus is on the free-to-play system.

This dark and strange animated telling of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings by director Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat, American Pop, Wizards, Cool World) has been released to coincide with Blu-ray release of Peter Jackson ‘s live-action Lord of the Rings trilogy.

It’s a bit creepy, has a unique visual style and, being the first official LOTR film, certainly helped to set the tone for future adaptations. You definitelyneed to watch this (with an open mind)…

This may be one of the few sets that you pretty much need to own on Blu-ray. No other format does it justice. The scope of the scenes, the intensity of the imagery and the depth of the effects are made for high def.

Then again, this set *only* contains the Theatrical Editions…

Conquest is, and wants to be, a Star Wars: Battlefront clone. Not only is Pandemic Studios the developer of this title (they were the studio responsible for the previous two Star Wars: Battlefront games), but Conquest borrows many of the same elements and characteristic of the Battlefront series. Unfortunately, if you were a fan of that series, then don’t expect the same thrills this time around with LOTR: Conquest.

The story is by far the only real thing that works for this title. Not only does it follow the film’s primary plot line, more importantly, and more enjoyable, is the “What if” scenario call, Rise of Sauron…

Jeff Anderson, CEO of gaming company Turbine, will take questions from SlashDot members next week in a phone interview celebrating the latest game from his design group, Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. When the Massively Multiplayer LOTR game was launched a few weeks ago, gamers and enthusiasts trooped to it and gave more »