Lord of the Rings Online open beta

The US open beta for Lord of the Rings Online starts on April 6. It is called the World Tour, which pretty much tells you that it is more a marketing event than a beta test. Quote:

Turbine, Inc. and Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY) announced a massive, free “World Tour of Middle-earth” available to players throughout North America. Over one million players are planned to be invited into The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, the most complete and authentic massively multiplayer online (MMO) world based upon the famous Books of J.R.R. Tolkien. The World Tour of Middle-earth is scheduled to begin on April 6th and continue until the anticipated launch of the game on April 24th.

“We decided to launch the World Tour of Middle-earth because of the overwhelming demand from players to get into the closed beta,” said Jeffrey Anderson, President and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “We expect the World Tour of Middle-earth to be a spectacular event like nothing that you’ve ever seen before.”

Well, the marketing hype is a bit thick, I'm not sure they'll get a million players in the beta, but Lord of the Rings Online is still a pretty solid MMORPG, and well worth trying for free during two-and-a-half weeks. Recommended.