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.