Lord of the Rings Online Executive producer Jeffrey Steefel has recently returned from a trip to Korea where Turbine is getting ready to launch Lord of the Rings Online. MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood recently caught up with Steefel to talk about developing for these two very different markets and what Noth American and European players can expect to see from the move.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Lord of the Rings Online Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel where we talked about launching the game in the Korean market and what that might mean for those of us in the west.

As you may or may not know, Steefel had just returned from a business trip to Korea where Lord of the Rings Online is getting ready to make its debut. He told me that right now, they are finishing up the Closed Beta process and are moving toward a limited Open Beta.

It seems as though there is a lot of interest in the game over there and that fans have been enthusiastic as the game gets closer to launch. When I asked him to compare the fans and anticipation in Korea with the fans and anticipation for the same stage of development here in the North American market, he said that it was a bit like comparing apples and oranges as the markets are so different.