Just prior to the launch of PWI's The Rising Tide expansion a few days ago, ZAM had a chat with product manager Jon Belliss about the MMO's new features, as well as a few existing community issues.

Perfect World International is the North American and European version of the popular MMO The Perfect World that launched in China in 2005. Its theme and story are based on Chinese mythology and the legend of Pangu, a 1000-year-old creation story from the Zhou Dynasty. In China, The Perfect World enjoyed widespread success for quite some time as a subscription-based MMO. Later, the developers (Perfect World Entertainment) reworked the MMO into its current, free-to-play incarnation as Perfect World International, which boasts more than 50 million registered players.

As we reported a few days ago, the developers recently launched The Rising Tide, PWI's third and largest expansion. The Rising Tide is an aquatic-themed expansion that introduces a new race called the Tideborn, and opens new zones including islands and underwater areas. Just prior to The Rising Tide's launch, ZAM interviewed Product Manager Jon Belliss, who told us about the expansion's two new classes (the Assassin and Psychic), new dungeons and endgame content and more. We also asked Belliss about some of the additional changes to the PWI client, and brought up a few of the hotly-debated community issues we've seen raised lately.

ZAM: What's the story behind The Rising Tide? What's the overall significance of this new expansion in context with Perfect World International's existing lore?

Jon Belliss: Rising Tide introduces a new race to the Perfect World realm; the Tideborn. They are a race that has existed alongside the rest of the Perfect World inhabitants, but until now was content to remain hidden within the depths of the sea. Discovering what originally drove the Tideborn into hiding—and what has caused them to emerge now—will be a major part of player's questing and story to uncover.

The story behind the new race's appearance is significant simply in terms of new content to explore, but we will also be adding new dungeons, new quest systems, custom key binding, redesigned user interface and tons of new loot, of course. This expansion is huge.

ZAM: How does the new race, the Tideborn, fit into the story?

Belliss: For years, a giant storm/magical barrier has been blocking access to the southern seas. A war between the Tideborn and their enemies has broken this barrier, opening the Tideborn to allies and enemies alike.

The Tideborn are now on the brink of extinction, requiring the aid of the other denizens of the Perfect World.

ZAM: Regarding the new classes; would you analogize the Assassin with traditional "rouge-like" classes?

Belliss: Yes, the Assassin is the PWI's rogue class. We actually haven't had a straight-rogue class, so the Assassin is a great for players who want to try a different style of gameplay, or have been itching to deal out some damage with daggers instead of arrows.

ZAM: The other new class—the Psychic—doesn't seem to be a "raw DPS" magic caster; how does its class mechanic work?

Belliss: The Psychic might be called a support class due to their buff and debuff skills, but it's not like it's a party-dependent class. The Psychic will be able to hold its own outside of grouping. Psychics can either 'summon souls' onto themselves or onto targets that trigger once certain actions occur. For example, you can summon a soul onto yourself, which will stun the next monster or player that hits you.

ZAM: How much new zone and dungeon content will The Rising Tide introduce, and how would you describe these areas?

Belliss: The Rising Tide introduces three new islands, one new quest hub/city and two new dungeons. These areas are all aquatically-themed, both in terms of 'ambiance' as well as the creatures that inhabit these areas.

One of the new dungeons is called the Palace of Nirvana. This dungeon is considered an 'end-game' dungeon, allowing only players over level 100. The Palace of Nirvana contains bosses only; no trash mobs. Parties will be faced with seven boss battles; four of them being random and three of them being fixed. This allows for some variety each and every time you play the dungeon, because the four random bosses are pulled from a pool of 16. We're sure that players will find this new dungeon extremely challenging, as well as extremely rewarding.

ZAM: The Rising Tide introduces the new "Public Quests" system; how do these work, specifically in PWI?

Belliss: PWI public quests are designed to be open so that any player can contribute, whether they are in a group together or not. Quest progress is shared by everyone who has accepted this quest, and anyone and everyone can influence each other's progress—some will work with you, and some may work against you. Players will definitely see and feel how they are influencing the live word.

ZAM: PWI is self-described as an MMO that caters to players who love customization; is this philosophy extended in The Rising Tide?

Belliss: Total customization continues in Rising Tide. The new race, just like the other ones, is able to be fully customized in the character creation screen. We're also adding a Hat/Hair Fashion slot, to take player fashion on step further. There will also be a new 'Recasting' equipment system, so players can further refine and specialize their gear for themselves.

ZAM: Can you tell us why the developers chose not to raise the level cap in The Rising Tide?

Belliss: The level cap was not increased in PWI simply because not that many players have reached it. In an effort to provide higher level players with more content, we've added new instances, such as the Palace of Nirvana, as well as public quests for high level players. Additionally new 'couples' daily quests will reward players substantially.

ZAM: The PWI development team has appeared to be genuinely interested in player feedback and suggestions; will The Rising Tide address any of these issues, specifically from massive forum discussions like this one?

Belliss: The Rising Tide is going to address many player requests that we've had. Some are as simple as allowing players to rebind their keys. Others are as complex as redoing the entire user interface to accommodate many display related changes players have been requesting.

ZAM: The "gender issue" is something we have to ask about; not only is it prevalent throughout the forums, it was something that was brought to our attention in the PWI Preview story we ran a couple months ago. Some players feel that certain aspects of the MMO are discriminatory or sexist (female characters unable to dominantly embrace males, characters of the same gender unable to ride mounts together and vanity clothes items limited to specific genders, for example). Will any of these issues, or others, be addressed in The Rising Tide, or at some point in the future?

Belliss: There has been no change to those things you listed above in Rising Tide, and I don't know when or if they may be changed in the future. These are things that were coded into the original version by China that I don't see them changing anytime soon, unfortunately.

ZAM: The PWI team alluded to the possibility of an underwater dungeon in The Rising Tide; can you confirm whether or not it will be included?

Belliss: The underwater dungeon is not yet complete; however there is a fair amount of underwater content for players to engage in. Aside from new areas and monsters that are based in water, there's a new 'Treasure Hunt' timed event that takes place underwater as well.

ZAM: Will the expansion introduce any new technical enhancements or upgrades to the PWI client, or its graphics engine?

Belliss: Yes. The development team has made many graphic tweaks for the Rising Tide expansion. One simple example is transparency. Since there were no stealth classes in PWI, transparency was never really part of the game. Other than that we've made some overhauls to lighting, draw distances and in some cases, textures.

ZAM: What's the one thing that no one has asked you about The Rising Tide yet, but you wish they would have? And of course, what would your answer be?

Belliss: No one has asked me which of the two new classes is my favorite. The answer is that everyone and their mom are in love with the idea of a stealth assassin, but I find myself intrigued by the complexity that the Psychic brings to PvP and PvE. Yeah, it's great to be able to two-shot someone and have them never see it coming, but I think it's more satisfying to outwit and outplay someone through intellect and skill. Maybe that's just me, though. ;)

ZAM: Thanks for sharing these details with us, Jon!

[For more details, check out ZAM's Perfect World International portal site for information about the free-to-play MMO. You can also check out our preview of PWI, which we published in September.]