Lord of the Rings Online fans received a pleasant surprise in their e-mail inboxes today as Turbine announced in their September newsletter that players will enjoy +25% bonus experience boost from Oct. 2-6. This event is to get characters ready for the upcoming Mines of Moria expansion, and also coincides with the Harvest Festival , which runs until Oct. 12.

In addition, a community manager posted on the official LotRO message board that Oct. 2-6 will also be "Welcome Back Weekend," which grants free access to returning Lord of the Rings players. If you left LotRO and want to get your old character back, now's the time to do it for free with an XP bonus, to boot.