Massively gets the low down on Dawntide pt. 2

How big is Dawntide? One massive continent, multiple continents, or something else?

Dawntide takes place on an island world, around 15km^2 of world terrain is planned for the Beta. There are a few big continents, but mostly a lot of small to medium sized islands. Sailing will play a large part in the territorial warfare part of the game, I think, both for logistics and fighting. Controlling routes will be important for success. Ships are player-built and come in about a dozen different types with different purposes.

How extensive is crafting in the game? Is it to the level of something like EVE, where crafting supports the market, or is it more like a traditional MMO? What will players be able to make with their crafting skills?

We've put a lot of effort into our crafting system, and it's quite extensive. Everything can be made my players, and virtually nothing is generated by NPCs – the most notable exception being coin, of course. Players are the only source of resources and crafted items, and are responsible for almost the entire market demand for both.

Players are also responsible for the introduction of new item types. By going around the world and researching different objects and collecting samples, players can research and invent new item recipes, which they can then build from or sell to other players. They can also find ways to improve existing recipes, allowing them to build higher quality items.

As far as the actual resource system and crafting process go, we've drawn a lot of inspiration from UO and SWG. The crafting system is not based on a fixed list – instead, items are created based on templates, which are then modified by attributes such as material quality, skill level and enchantments to determine the final item attributes. There's a lot of room for customization, and we allow players to brand their goods with their or their guild's name.

Will there be any other forms of travel outside of mounts, such as caravans or some form of flight?

We will have sailing, as explained before. There will be wagons and carts as well, with and without beasts of burden. Mounts and beasts of burden have to be tamed or bought from an NPC stable, and can't be carried in your backpack.

What are the races in Dawntide? Will your race provide any influence on your skills or statistics?

We have the Vynn, kind of a human race of noble savages or barbarians living in the colder regions, and the Cevanti, another human race led by sorcerer nobles ruling a decaying empire. Then we have the Andrunians, who are physically unimpressive but have strong ties to the Vynn and high technology, and the Santyrians, a race of reptilian humanoids who serve as slave labor to the Cevanti.

I can't really do them justice within the space of an interview question, but we have a lot of information up on them over at our forums.

All right, final question — If a train leaves Copenhagen at 75 kilometers per hour and another train leaves New York City (it's a train that can fly over the ocean, bear with me here) and it's going at 90 miles per hour, and the two trains are set on a collision course for one another somewhere in Sweden... how awesome is your game on a scale from one to awesome?

Haha – like I said, this is a big task, so we're trying to stay pragmatic. We're pretty awesome right now, but we've definitely got some way to go before we can say that we're totally awesome.

Thanks for your time, Christian!