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The Lord of the Rings Online artwork

MMORPG

The Lord of the Rings Online

Free to playPCMac

Release date: Apr 24, 2001

76out of 100IGDB community

The game at a glance

About The Lord of the Rings Online

Turbine’s The Lord of the Rings Online is a free MMORPG set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy saga. Players can choose from one of the races of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, traveling the world and battling Sauron’s minions, from orcs and wargs to villainous undead sorcerers, all the way up to his greatest servants, the Ringwraiths. Fight alongside iconic characters such as Aragorn and Gandalf, and aid Frodo in his quest to destroy the…

Read the full overview
Turbine’s The Lord of the Rings Online is a free MMORPG set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy saga. Players can choose from one of the races of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, traveling the world and battling Sauron’s minions, from orcs and wargs to villainous undead sorcerers, all the way up to his greatest servants, the Ringwraiths. Fight alongside iconic characters such as Aragorn and Gandalf, and aid Frodo in his quest to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom!

Your LOTRO character can be one of four races – elf, hobbit, dwarf, or man – and 10 classes. Character roles follow traditional MMORPG conventions, with tanks, healers, DPS, and crowd control classes, and the world is filled with thousands of quests and dozens of instanced encounters that you can take on alone or in groups of varying sizes. You’ll need to master a wide array of character skills and abilities and, later in the game, even acquire the ability to engage in mounted combat from atop your own war-steed. Another unique gameplay element is fellowship maneuvers, which occasionally require party members to execute a sequence of attacks to achieve spectacular results.

The world of Middle-earth is lushly represented in The Lord of the Rings Online, from the rolling pastures of the Shire to the elven architecture of Rivendell to the realm of the Witch-king in Angmar to the expansive plains of Rohan. The Mines of Moria represent another vast area in the game, where players will be tasked with aiding a dwarf colony retake their ancestral home. The epic story of the game is broken down into a number of exciting adventures that will see you travel far and wide, teaming up with familiar characters and making new allies, battling the minions of Sauron at every turn.
Story & setting

The Epic Story is an ongoing series of adventures, or quests, steeped with intrigue and action. These adventures begin the moment you start playing, and feature characters like Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, and Strider, Ranger of the North; during significant events in the Epic Story, Session Play lifts you from your hero's shoes and puts you in temporary control of a legendary character. But no matter the method of storytelling, you will always earn rewards for your developing hero.

ReleaseApr 24, 2001
GenreMMORPG
PlatformsPC, Mac

See it in action

Screenshots & videos

The Lord of the Rings Online gameplay screenshotThe Lord of the Rings Online gameplay screenshotThe Lord of the Rings Online gameplay screenshotThe Lord of the Rings Online gameplay screenshot

Editions & related games

Editions (1)
Expansions (15)

Live Twitch channels for The Lord of the Rings Online

Matched by the game’s IGDB identity. Public GameGood creators appear first when available.

The useful details

Game information

Developer
Turbine, Inc.
Publisher
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Game modes
Co-operative, Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO), Multiplayer

Free-to-play details

FreeToGame coverage: PC. Additional platforms may come from IGDB; availability and pricing can differ.

FreeToGame listed status: Live.

Play / official game site ↗

Minimum PC requirements

OS
Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
Processor
Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz or AMD Equivalent
Memory
1GB (2GB for Windows Vista)
Graphics
at least 128MB Onboard graphics memory
Storage
12 GB (+3 GB for international clients)

Primary data: FreeToGame. Missing fields and additional ratings, videos and game relationships come from IGDB when available. Provider listing is not a live availability check.