It's finally here! We're proud and excited to announce that The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ has entered Open Beta today with our World Tour event! From now until we launch on April 24th, gamers can play the game and experience Middle-earth firsthand. This is a huge milestone in LOTRO's development, and we look forward to seeing everyone in-game. Players can obtain keys for the World Tour at http://www.lotro.com/worldtour.

Characters are capped at level 15 during Open Beta, but players who Pre-order the game are elible for our Founder's Offer and can carry all of their characters from all servers over into the live game after launch. The Founder's Offer also gives players unique in-game bonus items and the option of a reduced subscription fee of $9.99, or a one-time, lifetime subscription fee of $199. Full details about the Founder's Offer can be found at http://www.lotro.com/preorder