In a special preview and in-game tour, ZAM talks with Product Manager Jonathan Belliss about Perfect World International, and why it's not your "average" free-to-play MMO.

Today's MMO market is flooded with product. From a newcomer's point-of-view, it might seem that the pickings are slim, especially for someone who hasn't jumped into the world of "free-to-play" games yet. Just beyond the veil of traditional, subscription-based MMOs, there's an enormous library of transaction-based content to explore. The free-to-play and RMT (real money trading) gaming industry is booming; if you know where to look, you'll find dozens of new and established free-to-play MMOs.

At the same time, the sheer amount of these games can be overwhelming; like any other industry, developers try to capitalize on the success of proven business models. Some of the genuinely good MMOs can become tougher to notice, especially when they're buried neck-deep with products sharing the same, shiny packages.

That's why it can be easy to miss something like Perfect World International; the North American and European version of China's popular MMO, Perfect World. Its developers are intent on breaking away from the negative reputation shared by other free-to-play MMOs, which consumers often assume to be uninspired and shoddily-designed. In this preview, ZAM takes a look in-game to see what's different, and we speak with Product Manager Jonathan Belliss to find out why.

Some readers may have already heard of Perfect World International; it launched almost a year ago here in North America, and a bit later in Europe. The MMO was localized to the West from China, similar to what NCSoft is currently doing with Aion. Originally released in 2005 as Perfect World, the developers changed the name to Perfect World International for its NA and EU versions.

Perfect World International is a fantasy-derived MMO, heavily influenced by Chinese mythology and the legend of Pangu. The game's story and lore are deeply-rooted in this 1000-year-old creation story from the Zhou Dynasty; even the three in-game races draw heavy interpretation from the mythology:

"The Human race was born of Pan Gu's spirit, and demonstrated morality, honor and an unlimited imagination," the story reads. "The race of the Untamed, born of Pan Gu's body, embodied freedom and peace, and possessed a unique connection with the natural order of the world. And the third race, the Winged Elves, were born of Pan Gu's own blood, and exemplified beauty, grace, and purity. Between the three races, the Perfect World was created."

The main premise is that Pan Gu failed in his first attempt at creation, so he tore apart his corrupted world to create a new, Perfect World. He gave his new children—the game's three races—the choice of free will, which explains why they often fight amongst themselves. The looming threat, however, are the Wraiths that escaped Pan Gu's first cleansing.

PWI's lore is exotic and interesting, as far as MMO stories go—but it's not exactly the game's main draw, at least, here in the West. More so, it's PWI's depth and surprising level of intricately-designed gameplay, compared to the majority of free-to-play MMOs on the market these days.

Aside from the fact that Perfect World Entertainment—the game's developer/publisher—has five years experience running PWI, it began in China as a subscription-based MMO, like many of today's popular and "traditional" MMOs. It wasn't until the publisher began to notice the new direction the industry was headed in that it decided to change PWI to a free-to-play MMO; and that's something that Product Manager Jonathan Belliss is eager to elaborate on.

"Many US gamers have the pre-conceived notion that if something is free, it's probably low in terms of quality," he told ZAM. "As a result, I believe that the Free-to-Play industry in the US, as a whole, is facing an uphill battle."

Ironically, it's not easy being free—when it comes to MMOs, that is. The "pre-conceived notion" that Belliss is referring to is one that's shared by many MMO fans, as a result of market saturation and fly-by-night developers pumping out game after game, often regardless of actual merit. Belliss said that since PWI switched to micro-transactions, they've achieved greater market penetration in Asia and China, where it reportedly has 50 million registered players. Part of the challenge, though, is that free-to-play MMOs in the West still aren't as ubiquitous as they are in the Asia.

"The secondary part of this challenge is simply education," he said. "Most people still do not know what 'Free to Play' is. Most people think that a free game is a flash game or a web-based game, they have no idea that these huge client based MMORPGs/games exist."

In an effort to understand why PWI is so different from average free-to-play MMOs, ZAM decided to take Belliss up on his offer for an in-game tour. I rolled up a character—a Winged Elf Archer—and did a bit of exploring by ourselves before the actual tour. PWI's character creation system is relatively detailed for the game's age. You can choose among a Human, Winged Elf or Untamed race. The classes within those races are Archers, Barbarians, Blademasters, Clerics, Venomancers and Wizards. Later in the game, each of those six classes can be further specialized.

It only took 20 minutes to become moderately-acquainted with the basic gameplay and UI after setting foot in the game world for the first time. It's a classic fantasy MMO design, one that almost any veteran would find familiar. If you take a look at the screenshot below, you'll see a common UI layout featuring unit frames, action bars and other elements found in today's most popular MMOs (click to see the full pic).

After wandering around, slaying a few monsters and completing some quests, I began to realize that PWI does have some pretty fleshed-out gameplay compared to many other free-to-play MMOs I've tried out. The graphics are a bit dated because the engine is almost five years old, but the world still has its own unique charm and Eastern-stylized environment, all of which looks more than adequate by today's standards.

Combat and movement mechanics are fairly solid; the game didn't have that "glitchy" feel that you'll find in a lot of MMOs. It wasn't quite as smooth and responsive as WoW, but it was much easier to control my character than I would have expected. Plus, the game engine is pretty well optimized, so you don't have to have a high-end GPU to play effectively.

As I was pelting mobs with arrows, a little action button with wings on it caught my eye, so I pushed it. My character jumped in the air and began to fly, an ability that's unique to Flying Elves at level 1. Other races can fly by using mounts at level 30. As I learned later, during my tour, flight isn't just for traveling; it's an integral part of combat. More on that later.

Before Belliss met with me in-game, to take me through his virtual tour, I had the chance to visit the first major town in my starting area and play around with some of the game's early features. I dabbled with the crafting system a bit; the game offers several different professions like Blacksmithing and Jewelling, all of which can be used to create your own items or sell them to others, even for RMT currency—more on that later, as well.

After seeing every player with his or her own little fairy-like creature, called "Genies", I asked around and found the Genie Merchant. Your first Genie is so cheap that you're basically meant to be able to start the game with one; it serves as a type of "pet" that can help you in combat in a variety of ways. Genies were added to PWI in the game's last major content patch, offering an additional layer of character customization.

Genies were one of the first things that Belliss and I talked about, after he whisked me away to PWI's main city, Archosaur. Until then, I only had a brief chance to mess around with my Genie, using it to dish out an occasional attack to my enemy in combat. But it turns out that the Genies are much more than just a "pet," in the usual MMO sense.

They're almost like a second character—or an extension of your character—that you're able to outfit with gear and level up. Using an elemental "Affinity" system, you can spec up your Genie to perform different roles, depending on the situation. They can be used for basics like offense and defense, but you can also use them to fill niche roles in PvE and PvP, depending on what kind of battle you find yourself in. You can also trade your Genies with other players, and equip them with special equipment to enhance their abilities.

Belliss led me around the capital city, Archosaur, pointing out the auction house and the in-game "Boutique" store, where players can buy vanity and other special items via micro-transactions. However, the boutique items aren't bound to the players who spent real money on them, as they are in many MMOs. In PWI, the whole micro-transaction system is based around a free-enterprise economy, in which players can buy and trade the boutique items for in-game resources they've earned themselves.

"PWI actually has an in-game auction house where players can sell our micro-transaction currency to one another," Belliss said. "[It's] very unique in the fact that you can actually attain cash shop items regardless of whether or not you directly invest real world dollars into the game.

"So let's say you have all the time in the world, but not all the money in the world," he added. "You can go around in-game, kill monsters, and accumulate in-game coins. Now, with your abundance of coins, you can go to the auction house and purchase some micro-transaction currency from another player.  Now you have full access to the cash shop and can purchase whatever you like."

Although I've personally never found vanity items and intense character customization all that appealing, I decided that I must be in the minority in that regard after looking at all the players running around in PWI's main city. I've rarely seen such a visually-diverse crowd of characters, dressed in elaborate costumes and sporting an eclectic variety of gear. I asked Belliss why it's such a big deal.

"Customization is one of the key features of PWI," he replied. "The character creation system is incredibly in-depth, allowing players to completely shape and customize their face. Ranging from the bridge of your nose to the depth of your cheeks, players can honestly adjust any single aspect they can imagine.

"On top of the character creation system, the fashion customization system adds yet another layer of customization to the game," Belliss said. "Players have two layers of armor/equipment. A normal layer, that holds your armor and weapons, and a secondary layer, or fashion layer. The fashion layer lets players overlay a variety of different fashion items over their existing equipment layer. This allows players to customize their look without sacrificing the functionality of their equipment."

After meandering around the city for a little while longer, we headed out to some of PWI's higher-level zones. I'd seen the "decorative" and customization elements of the game, but as most MMO veterans know, a game has to have more than just a pretty face to succeed. One of the things I was curious about was the flight system, and how it plays in combat.

"There are quite a few MMORPGs these days that feature flight mechanics," Belliss told me. "However the flying mount system in PWI has a few unique points that help it stand out against the rest. First is the fact that, unlike other MMORPGs, we do not restrict players from participating in combat while in flight. Players are allowed to participate in both PvP and PvE while flying."

Belliss jumped on a Winged Elf character, wanting to show me something. He came up to me and clicked the "Embrace" command on his end, which then gave me the option to accept or refuse. I accepted, and his little elf girl jumped into my arms. I laughed, thinking it was just a cute role-playing thing (on a side-note, there's even a marriage system in PWI), but it turns out it's more than that.

"[Another] feature related to the mount systems in PWI is the fact that more than one player can ride on each mount," he said. "This system is called the 'embracing' system. Players can embrace and ride on any mount available in the game, even flying mounts. What's more, players can actually gain energy or 'chi' while embracing. Chi allows players to unleash devastating attacks upon their opponents. So players can leap into each other's arms prior to battle in order to power up."

PWI has PvE and PvP gameplay, both of which tie into the game's guild system. Being a fan of PvP, I asked about world combat, and Belliss had me open the Territories Wars map, which shows a real-time representation of the guilds that own territories around the world.

"The game's world map is broken up into 44 different territories," he said. "Guilds can compete for the ownership of these territories. Every week territory wars are scheduled on the weekend days during peak hours. During the scheduled time, an instance will open up specifically for the two guilds involved. An '80 vs. 80' battle commences where both teams attempt to destroy one another's base through the use of siege weapons. As soon as one of the bases is destroyed, a victor is declared and that guild then obtains ownership of that territory for the following week."

He said that once a guild is able to hold a territory for one week, they start earning rewards via "taxes," as well as cheap teleports to the areas they own. As far as world PvP on PvE realms, PWI uses the familiar "flag" system that allows you to toggle your availability, based on the situation.

PWI also features a fair amount of "endgame" content for PvE fans, based on parties of six players. Throughout the leveling experience, you'll encounter instanced dungeons that can be completed in several ways, depending on your resources. For example, Belliss took me into a cavern dungeon, pointing out a NPC named "Old Swordsman." Players have the opportunity to give him wine in exchange for his "services," which consists of clearing out all the trash mobs in the entire instance. It's a convenience thing; designed to give players a less time-consuming option in taking down a boss.

When players get to the mid-80 levels, the PvE endgame starts to begin, and players are given the choice to follow a path of "Good" or "Evil." It's another way in which PWI tries to diversify playing experience, allowing them to customize their experience beyond just cosmetic aspects.

"This choice changes a variety of things," Belliss said, as he pointed out two huge doorways; one red, one blue. "First and foremost is directly related to the red and blue doorways. These doorways are paths to worlds that are only available depending on your decision of aligning with good or evil.

"More relevantly, in terms of gameplay, choosing good or evil will slightly alter your entire class' skill set," he added. "If you choose good, perhaps your skills will have a lot of positive buffs associated with them, or increased efficiency. If you align yourself with evil then perhaps some of your skills will have a chance to randomly curse your enemies or have a chance to stun."

After my virtual-tour ended, I spent a little more time poking around in PWI. Although I still haven't had the time to level my Winged Elf Archer up to a "respectable" level and see all the game has to offer, I've been able to come to one conclusion, at least; for a free-to-play MMO, Perfect World International is one of the diamonds in the rough. I imagine that's partly because the game didn't actually begin as one of today's varieties of free-to-play MMOs—and I suppose 50 million Asian players can't be wrong, either.

"PWI has been breaking down barriers and changing the way people perceive Free-to-Play games," Belliss later remarked. From what I've seen so far, I'm inclined to agree.