Flying Lab announced this week that Pirates of the Burning Sea will be going free-to-play, so we sat down with Design Department Lead Declan O'Connell to talk about the change and the new expansion.

The first major expansion for Pirates of the Burning Sea, Power & Prestige, just launched two days ago, but it turns out the team at Flying Lab Software had another major announcement hidden up its collective sleeves. That same night, the team revealed that the pirate-themed MMO will be going free-to-play this fall!

We decided to go straight to the developers to find out exactly what this change means for both current and new players. Design Department Lead Declan O'Connell was kind enough to give us some more details on why Flying Lab is going the free-to-play route, and he explains how the release of Power & Prestige coupled with the F2P tag can be considered a relaunch of the game.

Keep reading after the jump for the full interview! Yarr!

ZAM: Flying Lab just made the huge announcement that Pirates of the Burning Sea will go free-to-play with the next major update. Why the change?

Declan: A subscription-only model is limiting in two ways:

First, it's a huge barrier to trying the game. When a potential new player is looking to pick up a game, they're thinking "This looks like fun, maybe I’ll give it a try." When you tell them subscriptions are required, it frames the question in terms of commitment: "Do I want to pay for this game long term?" Players are looking for fun, not commitment, and free-to-play gives them what they want.

Second, it limits the player's choice of how much they invest in the experience. With a flat subscription rate, a player who likes to jump in and play a few hours every few days has to pay the same as someone who logs on 40 hours a week. With free-to-play, players get to make that choice of how little or how much they want to pay based on how much fun they’re having. And because Pirates is such a fun game, we think that'll go pretty well for us!

So, why are we making the game free? We're making the game free for the players who love the game but aren't sure if they can justify paying for the subscription this month. We're making it free for the players who would love our game but haven't tried it out because they don't like the idea of subscriptions. We're making it free because we want to give everyone the chance to be a captain of their own ship and wage war against their enemies.

ZAM: How long has the plan to make the game free-to-play been in the works?

Declan: We made the decision over a year ago, and as we've worked through the technical and business issues, we've been planning what we would change, what we would offer in the shop, what our philosophy was with regard to free players vs. paying players, and so on. We knew that we were announcing free-to-play the day P&P went live, so we've been working towards that schedule.

ZAM: How much of the current version of the game will be available to players once the game goes free-to-play? Will there be any restrictions in place for players who choose not to purchase any extra content?

Declan: For current subscribers, nothing will be removed. They will have full access to all of the features available to them before the switch. Free players will have access to two character slots per nation, two active ships per character, and two economy structures per account. They will be able to purchase upgrades to all of these features, or may subscribe to gain them all at once.

Free and subscription players alike will have access to over a thousand missions, PVP, port governance (a new feature in Power and Prestige), and the aggressive international warfare that our current players know and love.

Moreover, players will have the opportunity to purchase Burning Sea Points (the RMT currency) from other players for doubloons (the in-game currency), so even free players can experience the full range of possibilities the game has to offer.

ZAM: Can you go into a little more detail about the premium content that will be available for purchase, especially the missions? Will it all be optional, or will some players have an edge if they purchase content and items?

Declan: This is, I think, the most important issue to tackle when considering the shift to free-to-play. We want players to be able to use real money to level new characters quickly or get back in the fight quickly, but we do not want people paying to win. That cheapens the experience for everyone.

We're offering items that increase your XP gain, loot gain, faction gain, consumable items comparable to those craftable by players, clothing options, some long-awaited pet options, summonable allies that will help you in PVE (but NOT PVP), and more. There's too much to list here.

As for missions, we are adding treasure hunt missions for sale that let people turn their Burning Sea Points into doubloons with a little time and effort. The only existing missions we have put behind a purchase for free players are the Besieged Tortuga epic missions. They represent a kind of encapsulated experience that we will be building more of in the future.