Fallen Earth's lead designer, Lee Hammock, is back this week with plenty of answers for eager forum fans, with a total of 18 questions about crafting, bound items, PvP, farming, fishing and no Landsharks in sight:

This week we're working on tuning up some conflict towns (Tinkersdam and Windfarm) and working on special abilities and mutations.

Folks have been asking a lot of questions lately that have short answers so I figured I'd do a few more questions this week.

1. At what level can characters start Scavenging and Harvesting? At what level can characters start Crafting?

1st and 1st. Crafting starts right off the bat.

2. Will some/all items be bound to a certain character? If yes, will they bind at pick-up, at equipping or at use?

We have the capacity for bound items, and we may have some in the game, but it's so few I can't think of any right now. So I don't want to say we don't have any, but we certainly don't have many. Instead we limit things by attributes, skills, and faction ranks.

3. I have looked in the forums and I am not sure but I think they had said there are going to be mini-pvp games like capture the flag and such. If not will there be those types of PVP matches to play? Or is it just going to be battling over the Towns for more faction quests?

We have some PvP encounter areas that have a different focus from the conflict towns, such as who can collect the most resources, but all of our PvP activities are part of the larger world and aren't really games. We may add arenas in the future, but for now we don't really have anything for PvP matches with a definite end.

4. Can you give us more information on "Farming," i.e. farms, crops, livestock? Will tending our "Farms" more diligently than others yield higher quality of product?

Farms aren't going to be available at release, but they will be available soon thereafter. Farms/ranches/mines/factories are 80% there, but that last 20% effort would be better put elsewhere currently. The nearly-complete state does mean it will be up and running pretty quickly once we really get working on it.

Basically for farms players will buy a share in a farm and get a portion of the resources it creates in exchange for regular upkeep payments. Players can also do missions to increase the productivity of their farm.

5. Will we have the ability to plug in a guitar or drum set like in Guitar Hero or Rock Band?

While a Night Wolves expansion using such tech would be awesome, it's not really anything we planned on doing. Interestingly enough, the Icarus platform can interface with most rhythm game devices, like a guitar or dance pad. Using that functionality, though, is a huge amount of work, is just outside our scope, and ultimately not what FE is about.

6. Will fishing be available for us outdoor sportsman types?

Not at release. Not a lot of good fishing holes in a desert.

7. What is the coolest thing you guys have worked on this week that you would love to tell us about but nobody asked?

The special items you can get in Repository, home of the Franklin's Riders.

8. Is it easy to "Have no idea where to go". As in.. Get lost..

It's pretty hard to get lost in the sense of "I've been wandering around for hours and have no idea where I am," due to compasses and maps and such. It's very easy to get to the "I have no idea where to go because I see so many interesting things on the horizon."

9. Is the land shark still in game, can we have an updated picture of it?

Landshark is gone. Captain Pouches ate it.

10. Can I buy a Fallen Earth T-shirt?

Probably at some point.

11. Interactive equipment, is that still in?

Yes.

12. Is there any way of knowing how rare an item is?

Not currently.

13. How much real world time does it take to master one of the tradeskills?

If you had unlimited resources, maxed out Perception and Intelligence, and access to every knowledge crafting non-stop (meaning your crafting queue is filled up every hour of the day and night) on that one craft skill you could probably do it in two weeks. Several months is the more likely time frame.

14. Do all items have a break-down feature for the raw material or components?

You have to know how to make an item to salvage it, but if you do, almost everything can be broken down into some of its components. You never get all the components that went into the item, though.

15. Does the time it take to craft items lower as you get better at crafting?

No, only crafting workshops and certain special abilities decrease crafting time.

16. Are missions repeatable? If so, for the ones that give AP will they no longer give it after that or if you fail to get the AP and do again can you then get the AP?

Most missions can be tried again if you fail, but far fewer missions are repeatable after a success. Missions with an AP reward can usually be retried if you fail, but never if you succeed.

17. Can conflict towns be taken by force?

Depends on the town, but most have some killing involved.

18. Will conflict towns turn back to neutral if no one is trying to hold them or turn them?

Yes.