Following Kate Paiz's news of Lord of the Rings Online's success at GDC Online, Senior Editor Chris Tom caught up with her to talk about LOTRO's free-to-play shift and what's in store for the game's future.

It's always great to hear of developers who dare to be bold and, in doing so, find a level of success they wouldn't have normally seen by staying on the well-worn path. Take Turbine, for example; when every fantasy MMORPG was pushing to compete in the industry, Turbine decided to place their faith in the strength of their product by making the shift from the standard subscription-based revenue model to the free-to-play system they have made famous.

Fast forward to a little over a year now, and not only has Dungeons & Dragons Online experienced monumental growth since its F2P shift (not to mention dramatic increase in updates, as demonstrated by ZAM's in-game tour of DDO's Update 7) but last month, Turbine also decided to try out this revenue model change with Lord of the Rings Online. The results of making LOTRO free-to-play were in the numbers. A few weeks back at GDC Online, Executive Prodicer Kate Paiz stated that LOTRO has since doubled its revenue and has added a million new accounts since adopting the F2P model.

Senior News Editor Chris "Pwyff" Tom decided to catch up with Kate Paiz after GDC Online to talk to her a little bit more about LOTRO's newfound success, how the game has changed since its F2P launch and Turbine's future plans for the MMO. Read on!

ZAM: Hello there and thanks for taking the time to talk to us about Lord of the Rings Online!

Kate Paiz: It's always a pleasure to sit down with you guys and talk about what's going on in the world of LOTRO!

ZAM: First of all, congratulations on the success you've had with Lord of the Rings Online adopting the free-to-play model! You noted in your GDC Online panel that Turbine has doubled its revenue since adopting the F2P model, with a 400% increase in active players, more than one million new accounts created since the shift and over 50% of your players using the micro-transaction store. Was this the expected level off success Turbine was looking for, or was this level of success surprising even for you?

Turbine: We knew adding the free option and LOTRO store would have a significant lift to our business, and it has been very gratifying that the level of success has been so high, and that the players have taken so well to the change.
 
ZAM: Turbine is, arguably, one of the very few companies to have had not one, but two huge successes in shifting an MMORPG from a subscription based revenue to a free-to-play model. Do you think this success was a matter of great timing in the industry, or would you attribute it to Turbine's unique approach to the F2P model?

Turbine: Both, I think, as for DDO, we'd been talking about a shift like this for awhile (I started thinking about it right after launch, when we got clear feedback from some players and press that the business model wasn't a great fit for the gameplay). It was when we started to see the free to play model have clear success in the Asian market and growing traction in the western market that we felt the time was right to make the change. Naturally, though, I attribute most of our success to really creating a free option that makes sense in our game - players understand what is going on, so they can have fun in the game without running into confusing business model roadblocks.

ZAM: In spite of all of this success, have there been any setbacks in LOTRO's transition to the free-to-play model? Unless Turbine was really prepared for a 400% spike in player populations, your servers must have taken a hammering!

Turbine: Certainly there were load issues at launch, but we resolved them within a short period of time and feel great about how the service is functioning. And while not a set-back, I would say that because MMOs don't really become alive until the player base is in them, we knew that a lot of tuning and response to player feedback would come after launch, and are always listening and learning how better to shape the game to meet the players' needs.