Not long ago I was lucky enough to be invited to ask Kate Paiz, Executive Producer, The Lord of the Rings Online(tm) a few questions. With Lord of the Rings Online going free to play in the near future, it seemed like a great time to share the answers with you all!
- What was your background and what else have you worked on before getting involved with Lord of the Rings Online?
I have been working as a producer in the MMO industry for 10 years. I started as a producer at There.com, where I designed and produced the initial experience and ecommerce aspect of There’s social world. In 2005, I joined Turbine to help launch Dungeons & Dragons Online, and led the team as Senior Producer through live development and its conversion to a Free to Play business model.
- Was it a daunting task becoming part of the Lord of the Rings Universe?
No, not really. I have been a huge fans of the books and movies for years, and was at Turbine while LOTRO was in development and for launch. Having worked with many of the developers on the team over the years, they made an immediate effort to help me get ramped up on details that you can only know when deeply involved with the project, and it’s been a great experience!
- Was it harder to create a game based on a well known world than one you could invent?
All of the members of the development team have a deep knowledge of the books (some of them can actually speak Elvish!), so for them it’s akin to bringing old friends to life rather than creating completely new fiction. That being said, we have extended the world of Middle-earth with a lot of characters that don’t appear in the original fiction, so there is a great blend of new creation and leveraging the existing work in what we do.
- When producing an MMORPG it is impossible to not get compared to World Of Warcraft. Other than the obvious license tie in, what makes Lord of the Rings Online different and stand out.
When you enter into Lord of the Rings Online with your character, you are immediately a part of the story. Our epic quest line starts at level 1 and ties you into the Fellowship and their actions throughout Middle Earth. We also have a great achievement system, in the form of deeds, where completing them gives you various rewards: titles, virtues, and traits (bonuses to character abilities). Skirmishes, further extending the depth and breadth of content in LOTRO, provide scalable adventures for a range of group sizes (from solo and up) starting at level 20. We also have unique customization options through player housing and our cosmetic system. The best part of all: we’re free to play!
- What was your favorite part of making the game.
Creating iconic locations from the books is by far my favorite part of our development. Right now, we are working on concepting and building Isengard and its surrounding areas, and we’ve had some really fun conversations around the way Saruman’s influence stretches into the neighboring areas.
- Are there plans to let you play as the bad guys, the Nazgul for instance?
Our Monster Play feature allows players to roll up a Spider, Orc, or Warg character, and play against other players in our PvP area, the Ettenmoors. Currently, Monster Play is only available to subscribers, but we have plans to extend it to free players next year.
- Did you have any contact with the Tolkien estate during development, and if so what was that like?
We have had great support from the Tolkien estate and the Saul Zaentz Corporation during development, as they review our content regularly and give us feedback on the way we are extending Tolkien’s works.
- Have you had any feedback directly from the Tolkien purists (the ones who always make comment on LOTR related things!) If so, was it positive?
Oh yes! Many of those folks are active posters on our boards, and we take their feedback very seriously. It is so important to us to be very authentic in our recreation on Middle-earth, and they have been a source of ideas and adjustments on features since beta.
- To finish off, what are you playing right now and what is your favorite game of all time?
Right now, I am playing Frontierville and LOTRO (of course!) and am eagerly waiting for my pre-order of Civilization V to arrive! As far as favourite game of all time… I have massive affection for the original Zelda game, and play the Civilization series religiously.
Register for the Free Trial of Lord of the Rings Online at www.lotro-europe.com/
We will be announcing the date that Lord of the Rings Online goes Free To Play as soon as we know it!