Smoke em’ if you got em’ (pipe-weed that is) — Turbine and Codemasters Online are celebrating the one year anniversary of Middle-earth’s MMO, The Lord of the Rings Online, by releasing a new free content update.

Available today for North America Subscribers, Book 13: Doom of the Last-king (Last King, Lich King, can’t we all just get along?) is the fifth content update to the title, and it boasts a new realm, the introduction of a new class, and a new hobby system. If you are interested in learning more about this update, check out the official press release below.

TURBINE CELEBRATES THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF the launch of THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™

Month-Long Celebration Marks the Return of the $199 LOTRO Lifetime Subscription Plan

WESTWOOD, MA – April 24, 2008 – Turbine, Inc. announced today a special promotion featuring limited time pricing offers and a series of in-game events to celebrate the first anniversary of The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ (LOTRO), the award-winning massively multiplayer online roleplaying game.

“It’s been an incredible year for LOTRO and Turbine” said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “Winning the 2007 PC Game of the Year, being named 2007 MMO of the Year and the overwhelmingly positive response to the game from fans around the world has been a real validation of our vision*. Our anniversary celebration is a chance for us to take time to gather with our past and present players to enjoy everything that is special about Middle-earth and thank them for their wonderful support with some special in-game events and subscription options.”

The month-long celebration of the first anniversary of LOTRO includes:

Ø Launch of Book 13: Doom of the Last-king: Turbine’s fifth content update to LOTRO delivers the frosty new region of Forochel, a new Monster Player class plus a host of other enhancements that continue to make LOTRO one of the fastest growing games in the world!

Ø Welcome Back Celebration: Former subscribers are invited to come back to Middle-earth beginning May 8th for five days of free play! Experience the new content added since launch that has increased the size of the world by over 30% including new regions, player housing, the outfit system and a myriad of new raids and instances.

Ø Save Middle-earth and Win: During the anniversary celebration, monsters throughout Middle-earth will drop rare items when defeated. Players can exchange these rare items for a special gift box that will reward the player with one of a variety of in-game items to aid them on their adventures in Middle-earth.

Ø Special Anniversary Pricing: For a limited time, Turbine is offering two new pricing plans for the 2007 PC Game of the Year and the 2007 MMO of the Year! Players can choose to become lifetime subscribers for $199 and never pay a monthly fee again. Players can also choose any multi-month plan (90-days or longer) and lock in a monthly price of $9.99 for as long as they maintain their new subscription plan. **

Tags: anniversary_celebration, Codemasters, lord_of_the_rings_online, middle_earth, MMO, pc_game_of_the_year, turbine

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