Lord of the Rings Online - perhaps the only massively multiplayer online game that can challenge WoW this year - will be released on April 24th. Don't expect fans to be queuing up in a high street near you, but do expect some fairly decent MMO'ing that mixes Tolkien's epic with some of WoW's polish.
Whether that will be enough to distract you from Azeroth is open to question. What I've seen is promising - running around the Shire was pleasant enough - but it didn't grab you in a way to make you abandon your level 60 undead warlock. But then let's be honest, what would? And that's the point really. A new MMO not only has to match WoW - which is hard enough - it has to seriously better it to have any hope. New competitors like Vanguard have pitched for player housing and diplomacy card games as a differentiater. But the setting, story and rabid fanbase give LOTRO a better chance of creaming off some of WoW's subscribers.
If you're already convinced then the 99 pound lifetime subscription might be tempting - for once Europe is getting a better deal than the US where the offer is 199 dollars - but chances are the monthly fee (6-10 UKP) will be more appealing. Lord of the Rings Online then - excited or not?
