This week’s Warcry Network Ask Turbine interview features Turbine Executive Producer, Jeffrey Steefel talking about this week’s launch of Book 9: Shores of Evendim expansion for the Lord of the Rings MMO. Steefel covers launch procedures and features as well as future development plans.

Turbine has done everything possible to ensure next week’s launch of Evendim goes as smoothly as the original game launch. They’ve been testing the patch for ten weeks, and have a war room with key team members from each department to monitor patch integration.

“This is no different than any other launch,” Steefel told us and added that he’s worked to ingrain that into the culture at Turbine. “[We're] treating it just like the launch of the game.”\

Steefel also goes in depth on the new music system. He is confident that the new ABC notation method won’t ruin the magic of players actively playing their instrument.

While the launch was still being tested, the development team was forging ahead and is half way done with Book 10 already. Turbine is very proud of including new game features, such as the new music system, that players truly want as long as they fit into the story and are reasonably possible.  One of the things we are likely to see in future books is fishing. Yes I know the opinions on fishing in games are very polarized but, the fans have demanded it and the company wants it too.

For those of you confused by the books, the original game represents the first eight books or chapters of the LoTR game storyline with each new expansion as another book. They’re like episodes of a television series. There are plans for expansions up to Book 14.

Book 9: Shores of Evendim launches June 13.

Fans of Turbine’s latest MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online should be jumping for joy today as extensive details of the long promised content pack is now here. Like with its earlier title Dungeons & Dragons Online, Turbine is known for adding extensive free content to its titles after launch and as this is the first for the Tolkien based game.

The new content includes an entirely new area for players to explore, additional musical options to expand the lyrical systems in the game and a massive 24-player raid based around one of the last of the surviving Dragons of Middle Earth.

This expansion pack makes my hopes of one day playing Stairway to Heaven on a kick ass lute in LotRO so much closer to reality! The new content goes live on June 13th.

Here are the new screens from the expansion showing some of the new environments. The full press release details are after the jump.

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If you’ve played any LotR Online, or even read about it, I’m sure you’ve heard about the lifetime subscription offer that Turbine made available to Founders. Founders are people who pre-ordered the game, and then registered it within a certain time frame. If you did that, you could buy yourself a lifetime subscription to the fantasy MMO for just $199.

But what about those who didn’t pre-order? Maybe they were skeptical of the game, or maybe they feared what the launch might be like. Currently, there is no way for those players to purchase a lifetime subscription.

But, that’s all about to change.

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On Tuesday, Shawn told you about Sony’s Station Exchange, and how many MMO companies were watching closely as it developed.

Now, over at Ten Ton Hammer, there’s an interview with Jeff Anderson, President and CEO of Turbine, the company who brings us Lord of the Rings Online. With LotRO’s recent banning of some gold farmers, what is Turbine’s official stance on the secondary market?

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Any WoW fan can tell you the value of Thottbot. Now, just imagine if Thottbot was populated, updated, and hosted by Blizzard.

LotR Online players don’t have to imagine it anymore. It’s real. Turbine has launched the Lorebook, a wiki-type site that contains information on NPC’s, items, quests, crafting, and more.

The interesting thing is that the site is now read-only. However, once it is out of beta, it will become editable by LotR Online players, using their forum accounts to log in to the site. Says Turbine on the site’s hompage:

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Midway, Turbine, and Codemasters have announced that The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is the #1 selling game across North America and Europe, according to recent industry reports. Besides being a commercial success, the game has also received widespread critical praise from a variety of media outlets. Says David Solari, Vice President and General Manager of Codemasters Online Gaming:

“The fabulous response from consumers and the media has been overwhelming. It’s been a great launch, but it’s only the beginning for us. We look forward to rapid growth and welcoming thousands more to Middle-Earth!”

Midway and Turbine have officially released Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar to an eagerly awaiting public. Well I know they were eager, but after the massive open beta it’s not like we could say they were waiting. Fans from the beta will finally get to see Tolkien’s world the way the developers wanted them too as the low-rez graphic gloves are off, and the level 15 cap has been removed. While I don’t know if this will become the One MMO to Rule Them All, it will at least give the non-WoW gamers a viable fantasy-MMO option. No I did not forget about Vanguard, the key word was “viable”.

While we’re talking about LotR Online, before the launch date has even arrived, Turbine has already announced their first free content update, Shores of Evendim. This update, billed as the “first of many free updates,” will allow players to journey to Evendim, and to adventure there. They’ll even get to help Aragorn in his quest to reforge Narsil.

This update will include new monsters, new quests, new zones, and even changes to the music system. It will also add a raid encounter. In many cases, announcing new content prior to launching a game is highly suspect, but if this update is what we can expect from Turbine, maybe LotR Online will break that paradigm.

With Lord of the Rings Online launching in the US this Tuesday, April 24th, Turbine is teaming up with Gamestop to host “Midnight Madness” launch events at five Gamestop locations throughout the country. Fans who show up at these events will not only get their copy of the game, they’ll get to meet members of the development team as well. There will be contests to win signed posters, pre-paid game cards, and exclusive event t-shirts. Heck, they’re even holding contests for the best LotR themed costumes, with each location awarding prizes to the three best costumes. The only downside to this is that the five locations are: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle. If you’re not close to one of those locations, you’re out of luck. If you can’t make one of these events, which run from 11:00PM – Midnight on the 23rd, the game will be available in stores nationwide on Tuesday, April 24th.

In case you were somehow unaware, Midway and Turbine are still taking applications for the Lord of the Rings Online Beta program. The only excuse I will buy is that you recently got over being turned to stone while trying to decide the best way to eat a little person. Short of that, what’s wrong with you? 1) The game looks better than Liv Tyler in elf ears. 2) It’s a chance to experience Middle Earth in your own way. 3) Umm Free? So sign up, and Game On.