We caught up with the Turbine team to check out some of the latest content to come out this fall, including the gorgeous land of Enedwaith and, of course, LOTRO's shift to F2P!

If, one year ago, you were to tell us that Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) was planning to go free to play, we would have scoffed. Here was one of the few triple-A MMORPGs in the market that was still capable of holding its own and continued to produce quality content for their faithful masses; how could something like LOTRO be going free to play? Well, it seems that a lot can happen in a year's time, because the moment we heard that LOTRO was going to go free to play this fall, not only did we nod our heads at the smart move by Turbine, but it really did feel right; as if LOTRO was heading this way all along.

Now, don't get us wrong, it has nothing to do with the quality of LOTRO because, if anything, this game has only gotten stronger since last year; after all, we did award Siege of Mirkwood the best expansion of 2009. No, it's really because Turbine has been hard at work changing some long-held industry perceptions through the stellar work of Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO). For those of you don't know, DDO was one of the first triple-A MMORPGs to go free to play in the fall of 2009 and, since then, the Turbine team notes that some incredible numbers have poured in, with almost two million new players signing up and 20% of former players actually returning to play this rejuvenated MMO.

But how will LOTRO make that transition? And what do they have in store for the future of LOTRO fans? This was definitely something that we at ZAM were interested in, so when the Turbine team invited us in for a fun-filled tour to check out LOTRO's latest content and F2P shift, you can bet we were there in an instant.

To start with, some of the new content coming in Volume 3: Book 2 (Turbine still has a few months to figure out that name), those of you who were getting weary of foreboding forests, creepy castles and crawly caves will be overjoyed to be hitting the great outdoors once again. Book 2 brings the introduction of the rugged lands of Enedwaith to players as they follow the history of rangers. More specifically, the team notes that thirty rangers arrive to cross with Aragorn to the Halls of the Dead, but what we don't know is really how many rangers made that initial journey and fell along the way. Thus, Book 2 is about players taking that journey with the rangers across this treacherous landscape.