Lord of the Rings Online gets Chinese Government approval

CDC Games has received final government approvals to operate The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar (LOTRO) in China. This enables the company to begin open beta testing of Turbine’s MMO later this week with commercial launch to follow one week later. The Chinese government has a strict approval process that requires prior approval of all games before proceeding into an open beta and commercial launch enviornment.

During the final phase of the closed beta test, CDC Games reported a registration number of 2.2 million users and a high activation rate during the last week of testing. Playing time steadily increased throughout the test resulting in about four hours per session.

CDC Games holds the exclusive distribution rights in China for The Lord of the Rings Online.

Free-to-Play DDO Unlimited gets first major update

Turbine has launched the first major content update for Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited (DDO Unlimited) since it went to free to play earlier this year. The new update offers several new features, a new Epic Difficulty setting, as well as over 100 new items to purchase in the DDO Store

In addition, Turbine has released a new DDO video, which gives a glimpse into the Vale of Twilight adventure pack, now available for purchase in the DDO store. The video can be found after the jump.

The update includes a new adventure pack called Path of Inspiration, a new Veteran Status system that rewards who by earn 1000 favor (unlocks the ability to create characters which enter the game at level four), a new Epic Difficulty setting and new DDO Store goods like 32-point build characters, a size upgrade to the shared account bank, new hair styles, Reincarnation items and more. Get all the details by checking out www.ddo.com.

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DDO Unlimited Sorrowdusk Isle adventure pack released

Turbine has released a new Adventure Pack for Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited (DDO Unlimited) called Sorrowdusk Isle. The new Sorrowdusk Isle adventure pack, which is now available to purchase in the DDO Store is designed for players level 6 - 10.

Players will take up a series of adventures in the dangerous jungle of Sorrowdusk Isle battling trolls, ogres, undead, and more! Buy Sorrowdusk Isle now by visiting the DDO Store - for characters level 6 to 10. The ogre Bruku, Elder of the Grey Moon Clan, seeks heroes to overcome the evils of Sorrowdusk Isle and follow the clues that lead to the Cult of the Six. All this takes place acorss hand-crafted adventures and 34 wilderness quests.

Siege of Mirkwood dates and deals

Turbine announced that The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood, the new digital expansion to the LOTRO will launch on Dec. 1 in North America. Turbine also urevealed that The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) Adventurer’s Pack, which contains “what every player needs to survive” in Mirkwood, will also be released on Dec. 1.

Starting today, players can take can take advantage of several special pre-launch offers: a LOTRO Lifetime Membership for $199. Current or former player who renew or upgrade their subscription to any multi-month plan by October 31 can get 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 percent speed boost and the Dusky Nimblefoot Goat mount for free.
Finally, 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 and a new mount) for free.

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

Paltalk Holdings targets Turbine with new lawsuit

Turbine Entertainment, makers of such MMO’s as Asheron’s Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online Unlimited and The Lord of the Rings Online, is facing a lawsuit from the same company that convinced Microsoft to settle out of court in 2006. According to the Boston Globe, Turbine has been accused of patent infringement related to its Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online titles, Paltalk Holdings. That company succeeded in negotiating a settlement with Microsoft in 2006, related to its Halo games.

The company filed the lawsuit with the US District Court in Marshall, Texas earlier this month, alleging that Turbine’s game violate a technology patent it owns which covers sharing data among connected computers. The company is also targeting Sony of Japan, Activision Blizzard, NCsoft, and Jagex with similar lawsuits.

A spokesperson for the company had no comment on the matter, saying only that “Turbine does not provide comment on pending lawsuits.” We’ll have more on this story as it develops.

DDO Unlimited gets microtransactions from PlaySpan

Turbine and PlaySpan today announced an agreement to provide a virtual goods marketplace for Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited, Tubine’s recently relaunched MMO that is now free-to-play. PlaySpan’s microtransaction platform will let gamers to stay in the game while shopping for wearables, weapons, potions, hirelings, and other helpful items in the integrated marketplace. In addition, the marketplace will showcase items based on the character’s level, making shopping fast and easy.

Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer for DDO Unlimited, will demo the game and its new digital goods marketplace powered by PlaySpan at the Monetization 2.0 Forum at GDC Austin today, between 2pm - 7pm. To learn more visit corp.playspan.com/gdc. Demos will also be available at the PlaySpan booth #801 at GDC Austin.

Free-to-play Dungeons and Dragons Online goes live

Turbine today announced the official launch of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited (DDO Unlimited), probably the world’s first premium free-to-play MMO. While this new game does offer some new content like new playable races and classes and new areas, the most important thing that this retooled game offers is a better pricing scheme.

DDO Unlimited introduces a new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content. Starting today, players can download and play DDO Unlimited for free by visiting www.ddo.com.