f13.net

“I want to see the console space provide 50 percent of our revenue over the next few years,” said Smedley. The Agency and the DC Comics game will have simultaneous PS3 and PC releases and maybe Free Realms will as well, we’ll see how that goes. Our goal is to be multi-platform for all of our new stuff.”

One area SOE is focusing on is the family market. Its new game, Free Realms, which as the name implies, will be free, is clearly aimed at the family of gamers. The game is set in a whimsical world and the gameplay will offer diverse options.

“You might see a guy sitting at a table and you can play chess and there might be a racetrack in the middle of a forest and you jump into a car and race Mario Kart style,” said Smedley. “There might be a soccer ball in the middle of a field and you can play a game with your friends. We don’t want to make it all about kill, rinse, repeat.”

While the core gameplay is free, players can pay to become members and get access to special areas and items if they want. In addition, SOE will offer microtransactions for people to buy clothing and other personalized items in the game. Smedley said SOE is trying to bring business models that it has seen work elsewhere around the world here to the U.S.

While the core gameplay is free, players can pay to become members and get access to special areas and items if they want. In addition, SOE will offer microtransactions for people to buy clothing and other personalized items in the game. Smedley said SOE is trying to bring business models that it has seen work elsewhere around the world here to the U.S.

Yea, this is the one where everything's comedy (probably Star Trek "comedy" so, like, mostly painful), free, for kids, and sorta open virtual worldy from the company that thinks those don't sell :)

Or, said another way: their Club Penguin.

Not much tech details from what I've heard/read. Browser based or thin client seems implied

Lol, why did I know this paragraph was coming before I even finished reading the first line in that quote? Smeadly really has to be the greadiest person alive.

No.

No.

Watch the video.

“You might see a guy sitting at a table and you can play chess and there might be a racetrack in the middle of a forest and you jump into a car and race Mario Kart style,” said Smedley. “There might be a soccer ball in the middle of a field and you can play a game with your friends. We don’t want to make it all about kill, rinse, repeat.”

No? As in, no it's not a similar demographic target with microtrans business model added? Please don't tell me you think FreeRealms is different from Club Penguin just because of the Dungeon Runner-esque graphics.

No? Similar question as above. Runescape is 3D too. The video is fullscreen, but the people at the show where this was announced did not get substantial answer on whether it is thin client or browser based. Until SOE says it is one or the other (or traditional), it's an open question with only a guessable answer.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23176.html?r=1&type=wmv (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23176.html?r=1&type=wmv)

You know, that's the kind of shit I've wanted in mmo since I first got accepted into the UO beta. Talk about an unrealized potential.

I want to drive out to the golf course in my car (maybe drag a couple blocks against a couple other cars), then hop out and play a couple rounds of golf, all in the same game engine. People playing flight sims are flying overhead.

Problem is that people are douchebags and would try running people over with their cars, go afk for an hour while golfing, and crashland the plane on the 18th green.

Not really. This is the model the more casual MMOs are moving to.

I've brought up this point before, but that sounds exactly like what Three Rings (Puzzle Pirates, Bang! Howdy) is doing with Whirled (http://www.whirled.com/).

People are betting big on free play MMOs, and several have earned surprisingly positive reviews recently, like wizards101 and runes of magic. Free realms is looking to take their lunch money.

It's a real pity about mythos.

Um... not that I'd know or anything.

Wizard101 isn't a free to play MMO.  It has a very short trial period containing a really small area you can be in if you don't have a subscription (or unlocked areas with credits), after which you need to give them money to continue further.  On the other hand, for a subscription game, it's really reasonably priced.

Um... not that I'd know or anything.

I play it, i even gave them money.

Wow, huge Necro. 07? Didn't we have another thread about this game where we went over all this?

I have a black cat from Halloween.  What does that really say about me?

That said, other MMO's really need to steal their family pricing subscription model. 

Wizards101 is a kinda MtG

That said, other MMO's really need to steal their family pricing subscription model. 

It kinda sorta is. It uses decks of cards and you have battles with them and whatnot.

I thought w101 was freeplay. Don't you pay for individual adventure areas or something? Never seriously looked into it.

MMORPG.com:What was the inspiration for the art & graphical style of Free Realms? How much did consumer feedback and focus groups drive the direction of the art?
Free Realms:
   

We started the process by thinking up some words to describe the Free Realms style. Our words were “whimsical”, “organic”, “vibrant” and “playful”. The concept artists used those words as inspiration and started to play with painted scenes to establish the forms and color palette styles for the different regions of the world. The artists and designers collaborated quite a bit on this to make sure that the feel was exactly what we were looking for. The feel itself could get pretty complex, for example Briarwood forest was meant to be menacing yet whimsical, and Merryvale was intended to be creepy in a happy way. It was pretty important to get this all done in concept as much as possible so that when it came time to start building in 3D we had a clear vision and not waste time making changes at that point. Even through all of that, we decided several months into production to do a major overhaul to the 3D art and simplify the silhouettes and textures!

Focus tests held throughout development proved to be extremely helpful for fine tuning and getting a feel for what attracted kids. We were a little nervous at that first test but it was a big relief when the kids loved the art! After that it was helpful to show them different characters and clothing styles to see what they responded to best.


MMORPG.com:How do players create their avatars? How much customization is there at creation?

Free Realms:We wanted character creation to be as fun as possible and offer enough customization to engage players right away to give them the tools to feel expressive and creative in the process. We have options of different heads, skin tones, hairstyles, hair colors, face paint, makeup and clothes. Pixies also have options of different wings. Each customization is represented by an icon rather than slide bars because the icons are more playful.


MMORPG.com:Did the technology (how the game is being delivered) affect how much customization is available?

Free Realms:Free Realms was designed from the ground up so we had the opportunity to define and balance the right amount of customization options without much restriction from the technology. The challenge came from providing a large enough library of assets while still maintaining guidelines that provide the high level of quality players expect.

MMORPG.com:What can players of Free Realms customize besides their avatars?

Free Realms:Players can further customize their appearance through various outfits associated with jobs. Jobs offer wardrobes of items that can be combined within that job so players have control of their job appearance. We also offer “Free style” clothes which expands the types of items players can choose from.

Players can also equip fun shirts, hats, collars and shows on their pets! These costumes come in a range of colors and styles. Some are traditional, like a spiked dog collar or a pink bow collar for your cat. Others are more fanciful, like a Ninja outfit or a pirate costume.

MMORPG.com:Do you think that players identify with their characters more if certain basics – such as faces - cannot be changed?

Free Realms:Players will have the option to choose from three face types in character create. Because players will be changing their outfits throughout play sessions we focused a lot on systems that provide mix-and-match outfit opportunities so players could define which items for each outfit are worn.

MMORPG.com:How easy is it to change a look in game? Will players be able to change their avatar’s hair style or color after character creation?

Free Realms:Character create offers a handful of customizations to choose from and once the player is in the client they can continue to customize these features with additional options for each feature. Players will have the option to choose a variety of additional hair styles and tints. In addition, the players have six slots to customize outfits which include: Head, Shoulders, Chest, Hands, Legs and Feet.


MMORPG.com:You are launching with two races. Humans and Pixies. Why the choice of Pixie?

Free Realms:We chose Humans and Pixies as the starting races because each one fits specific roles players may want to play. The Humans offer players the option of choosing a more familiar character while Pixies are more whimsical by nature. It was important that each race be appealing to both genders. In the case of the Pixies, the wings can be customized to look very elegant and floral or they can be bat-like and scaly.

MMORPG.com:Do you think you’ve done anything particularly innovative with the character customization in Free Realms? What are you particularly proud of?

Free Realms:The quality of the design and art is top notch. There is such a fun variety of items and themes players can choose from, exploring these options just adds to the fun and playful experience of Free Realms.

It kinda sorta is. It uses decks of cards and you have battles with them and whatnot.

"A monthly membership offers additional perks and content to your child's Free Realms experience, such as new parts of the world to explore, the ability to own in-game pets, upgrades for a derby or racing car, or additional new mini-games to master. The monthly membership is $4.99 (plus any applicable taxes). Your child will also be able to purchase individual items for nominal fees if parents choose to place money in his/her wallet."

Sorry, guess I didn't phrase my post appropriately for the collectible card cognoscenti. For those of us not immersed in that world, saying something is "like MtG" offers a convenient shorthand reference for the entire CCG subgenre, even if it doesn't share the essential minutiae that enthusiasts fervently feel differentiates one CCG from another, because we lack the experience and context to appreciate or care about such things.

Fee Realms is right.

I left EQ1 when they integrated the Norrath CCG into the game. Last I heard, people were paying major real $$$ for rare loot cards that had trinkets that actually conferred major buff bonuses. Forget about SOE exchange, thats SOE pushing sanctioned RMT (in which they get a cut) through the back door.

Anyways, I hate the idea of CCG in any MMOG (microtransaction based or sub based). Now, not only do I have to gear and equip the toon, i have to have a l33t CCG pack? Every time I go explore I need to bust out my mad Hearts and Poker skills (gross oversimplification yes).

"A monthly membership offers additional perks and content to your child's Free Realms experience, such as new parts of the world to explore, the ability to own in-game pets, upgrades for a derby or racing car, or additional new mini-games to master. The monthly membership is $4.99 (plus any applicable taxes). Your child will also be able to purchase individual items for nominal fees if parents choose to place money in his/her wallet."

That bolded part. Yeah that there means if I let me son play I'll have to pay for it. Anytime I let him make a character in any of my games he wants to be a pet class. Looking forward to it though and $5/month is cheap and it really looks like something he'll love.

Anyways, I hate the idea of CCG in any MMOG (microtransaction based or sub based). Now, not only do I have to gear and equip the toon, i have to have a l33t CCG pack? Every time I go explore I need to bust out my mad Hearts and Poker skills (gross oversimplification yes).

Uh, what?

A few mounts, some xp potions, some illusions and cloaks. I see one decent item, a bauble that increases power while reducing power consumption (like 10 and 15%). For a minute. On a three-hour timer. Where are the major buff bonuses? The vast majority is people who want glowy eyes or a cool cloak. Or a 50% mount without needing to join a level 70 or 80 guild.

Hardly required gear. Maybe you can go cut yourself in the corner with Mopps.

Whats with Card Games and MMOGs nowadays?

It's long been proven that people will pay micro amounts of money for ANY type of uniqueness or advantage they can get. So, SOE merely formalized the process.

Free Realms: ACTIVE
Free Realms Unlimited Play

We're excited too! No need to sign up again, we've got your info! Just keep checking for e-mail at the address you gave us during registration for updates and we'll let you know just as soon as you're accepted into Beta.

:hello_thar:

Without kids, I don't see much reason for subscribing to a game like this, personally. 

BTW, if you aren't in and want in soon, register for the beta. Just saying.

Dowloading.

I hope it doesn't auto-register you on a pedophile watch list if you enter a birth date < 1990.

Are the system requirements for this common knowledge yet?  I can't seem to find them anywhere.

As a Free Realms beta tester, you can't talk about what you see as a tester. That means you can't chat about it with your friends, share screenshots or videos, or write about it in your blog or your favorite social networking site. It's important that we have the chance to fix things that are broken before the whole world sees them. Please help us out and don't talk about anything you see in the Free Realms beta test until beta testing ends. You can, however, direct your friends to www.freerealms.com so they can sign up to be a beta tester too!

Watch this twitter feed for more shots at keys.

http://twitter.com/freerealms

In the FAQ, it only says you can't talk about what you see in the game. 


I think saying you're in is okay although after reading stuff on their web thing, it says nothing about whether you can tell people your name - so I won't.

This beta is so easy to get in to that I'm thinking you guys who are rejected must be Pedo-flagged.

You are everywhere in the inner-tubes lately, Grimwell!  I have to say, tons of people are getting keys from all sorts of places. 

For what it's worth, apparently if you have a Station Pass you might already be in the beta.

We’ve lifted the beta NDA!  Now you can talk, blog, tweet, and post videos to share your Free Realms experiences with friends!

Yeah assuming they don't completely screw up the pricing structure, nerf the crap out of stuff between beta and launch, or have a AO-level launch this should make SOE lots of money,

I am not sure "Nurfing" things in this game will...well..matter.

Keen has posted his impressions:

http://www.keenandgraev.com/?p=2262

Actually fairly positive.  I don't really think this game is going to offer much to be honest though.

The way I see my 10 year old daughter play CP

My son, on the other hand, was not interested in CP

I don't get it either, Xan.

Wait.  When did Schild get children?

Sky, a van should be parking near you soon.

I'll give this a shot to see if there's any launch day hijinks, but when's the page going to say something other than "LAUNCHING TODAY!" ? Any ideas?

I am surprised people who didn't get into the beta didn't receive an announcement.

Heh. Siobhan is one of the pregenerated names.

* Graphics are wonky. There's a lighting bug that causes some very strange patterns at the entrance to the cave. In the cave/swamp area, I'm swimming where there's no water. Quite frequently, quest visual cues are cut off; this appears to be graphical instead of functional because sometimes half of the quest cue is visible, sometimes by rotating the camera, it pops in.

There seems to be a bug where almost nobody can chat. Or add friends. Hence the silence.

I heard elsewhere that you can only add friends if that friend is currently playing :S

I heard elsewhere that you can only add friends if that friend is currently playing :S

That's STALKERIFFIC!

It's being done by our staff in San Diego. We don't have any outsourced CS at all these days.

Right now you can't even do that.  Keep getting the friend server is down message.  That probably is impacting chat, too.

I think it's interesting that after hearing for years that there's no way a company could ever approve names on a roleplaying server because it would prohibitively expensive, that we now have a game that requires every name to be pre-approved and does not even have a subscription fee.

Toontown has that feature as well.

I think it's interesting that after hearing for years that there's no way a company could ever approve names on a roleplaying server because it would prohibitively expensive, that we now have a game that requires every name to be pre-approved and does not even have a subscription fee.

Whats with tower defense? no reward for playing?  Or Member Only Job?

Are the tower defense games better than the free ones available all over the internet?

They've definitely got the "how to play" intro thing down.

The constant stream of comments from adults that "this will be great for kids" worries me. But good luck to SOE :-)

I wanted a kitty, you have to pay SC for a kitty. Why did you show me the kitty, then not let me have a kitty? WHY!

FreeRealms is obviously hoping that kids find it enjoyable enough to beg their parents for subscriptions. If it doesn't have that, I don't think it has anything. Not being a kid myself, I can't tell you what the game does or does not do for them.

Most of us seem to be enjoying it as a hub for mini-games, and its pretty good for that - but honestly -  who's tempted to pay for this? Actually, I think I'm over it. I'll probably fire it up now and then for a mini-game or two. There's no stickiness for me, other than having fun in mini-games (which only carries you so far.) Also, we hit on it earlier, but it bears repeating: there's no reason to play it with other people. What does having another person in the game do for you? The game may as well be a single player title.

Maybe it will find it's way to the PS3 and pick up a good following there as well.

Given how popular the mini-games seem to be with adults, I wonder if a game like Warhammer would be better off replacing their PVE grinds with mini-games.

What are stars for?

What are treasure tickets for?

I told her to get to level 10 and then I'll get her a sub.

ZOMG Grindmom!

What is "Maker's reach"?

Free Realms is currently only available on Windows.

I was at Target this morning and saw the Free Realms TCG packs.  $1.99 nets you three trading cards, 50 Station Cash and 1 in-game item. 

Xanthippe:

There's a timer on all the instances, sort of a maximum time to complete thing. Not sure how long it is, but I think it's around 45 minutes. There should've been a countdown on the top of your screen when you got to like the 2 minute mark left.

We're sorry, the website is currently unavailable.

We're working hard to get it back online. Please try again soon!

I want to try being a medic.  No clue where Nurse Naia is yet, but I'm sure I'll stumble across her sooner or later.  Besides, I get sidetracked so easily.  There's so many things to do. 

I want to run faster.  Is there something I can run faster with?

I want to try being a medic.  No clue where Nurse Naia is yet, but I'm sure I'll stumble across her sooner or later.  Besides, I get sidetracked so easily.  There's so many things to do. 

I got my chat back.  I wonder if there's some sort of automatic squelch that happens if someone says bad words.  If so, cool!

Well if it's automated i hope it's more intelligent than it appears, given at the moment it triggers on lot of dumb things -- e.g. saw someone trying to say "grass"... nuh uh, there's an "ass" in it. :uhrr:

It takes forever to even log in to this game now.  Bleh.  I'm too old to start being patient!  Patience is for n00bs!

Protip: If you are thinking about getting started, to to Best Buy and get one of their starter cards! Zero cost, and a few neat things involved. Do this *before* you register the account so you can enter the code and then create and get rewards, etc.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9322191&st=free+realms&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218084658753

3.99 for a CCG pack?  Or is it something else you're talking about?

Oh I know. Mining/Blacksmithing has made me it's pawn. I love those games.

I can't figure out how to break 80k for iron mining. Fuck you, Score 100k At Minigame quest.  :mob:

Wow, you all sound like a bunch of lathering frothtards.  About an MMO.  About an SOE MMO.  Very interesting.  I have no idea what this game is about, but I'm suddenly very interested.

It's because someone finally listened to all our rants and learned something from all the failures.  Like make things fun.

Don't worry about getting the iron, just keep making combos and when you don't see any hit the randomizer thingy.  This works quite well.

I read on the forum that there's a level 20 run buff for pet trainers.

Well, let's be completely fair. 90% of the fun comes from the casual game clones thrown into the game. There isn't any solution to the diku dilemma or anything like that present in Free Realms. It *IS* diku, at the corest of levels, but none of that is fixed. They just dumped piles of Better-Than-Puzzle-Pirates on top of it.

This game screams for paint ball pvp.  Ask Xanthippe.  She'll tell you!

 My mouse doesn't seem to lend itself well for some of the bits, like stirring, bellows, practice dummies, etc. but I've been able to overcome that stuff.  I have a small worry Free Realms might be a quick route to Carpel Tunnel, though.

I am hoping Free Realms is practice for EQ3.  Combine EQ2 dungeon crawler ethos with Free Realm's Polish and Flexibly would be gold.

I pretty much like everything so far.  My mouse doesn't seem to lend itself well for some of the bits, like stirring, bellows, practice dummies, etc. but I've been able to overcome that stuff.

Is there an EQ3 on the slate?

Not that I've heard.  There arn't any sekret SOE games right?  The only thing major I know that they have in development that most people know of is The Agency.  But I don't have sekret infoz.

Has anyone done the quest "No, kitty"?

In the ending text:
I sent a bug report, but I'm wondering if anyone knows more.

You have turned down all the graphics settings, etc. ?

If you are up for it, file a ticket with support. Maybe it's a magical hardware combination  that we need to adjust for.

RMT is a successful model for idiots like me, I could not resist.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v464/barney1969/img_20090514-01-35-29.jpg)

Nothing screams a complete waste of money like a virtual hot dog suit.

Also, for more greatness, the hot dog is not the only fun suit...

The big difference being that you probably did not actually pay for yours, I am guessing.

I've picked them up at Target and Best Buy. Target's costs a dollar, but if it is closer than the other stores... it's a fair trade IMO. Plus, the value of the card is just shy of $10 with all the loots... so even for a buck it's a win.

So what can you do while grouped? Is there a point to it? Is there a party chat?

To celebrate the 1,000,000th registered player in Free Realms™, we are granting a reward to the first 1,000,000 Free Realms players! Log in to Free Realms to redeem your special in-game commemorative T-shirt to mark the milestone (note: it may take a few days for the items to show up in your account). You'll also receive a matching virtual T-shirt for your pet! As an extra benefit, we're kicking in 200 Station Cash™ for you to spend in-game!

You can go into dungeons together and chat together.

What's the command for party chat? I suspect this is something obvious and dumb.

You really should think about transferring over to the marketing department.  Or maybe Schild can recruit you into the the Nothing for Something thread.

    * FACEBOOKFANS01 -- Veggie Surprise
    * FACEBOOKFANS02 -- Froggy Fries
    * FACEBOOKFANS03 -- Goat Cheese
    * FACEBOOKFANS04 -- Shadowblade
    * FACEBOOKFANS05 -- Dynamite
    * FACEBOOKFANS06 -- Checker Charged Helmet
    * KN78CH2 -- Striped Shoes
    * JFRE87J -- Doggy Bowling T-Shirt
    * CMNJGGE -- Spider Snack
    * N4PF9R3 -- Crystal Hammer
    * ROSESFORMOM -- Mother's Day Bouquet (Expires May 17th)
    * 6TNBTGH - Charcoal Bermuda Shorts

All the codes came from
http://www.freerealmsinsider.com/codes

Just letting yall know.

Enjoy SMILEY

Also guys CHECK thier site daily, they do have updates... this just in ROBGOBLINBOOTY - Robo Goblin adventure shirt

But I was left with the incredibly disheartening question today: why the fuck can the art and polish be so good on this but we can't do this with EQ2? It made me sad because I was playing a free trial of EQ2 (rather than sub again) and it's just so ugly and clunky. And I love EQ2. It was kind of depressing.

You have to remember that EQ2 is over four years old now. It was made by different people, at essentially a different SOE. Free Realms is the product of a number of lessons and wisdom gained from everything the company did in the past, as well as things seen in other games. If we made the same old mistakes with this game, people would beat the Hell out of us for it; I'm very glad we didn't and had a solid game at launch. FR still needs lots of attention and love from it's team, and they are still hard at work on it, but I didn't find any of the launch issues to be game breakers myself.

Oh, I totally know. It just makes me a little sad. Nothing would make me happier than sinking cash into making EQ2 not ugly since it really is a good game now but I've no illusions it will happen.

This is why EQ3 needs to be made. But I don't want to derail too far here. Free Realms really is a feat of engineering and my wistfulness for an EQ2 I can convince people to play with me doesn't diminish that. But it needs an AH for real. You could have an inadvertently awesome economics game on your hands since crafting is actually fun.

But the point may be moot anyways, because I'm sure a lot of people think that the fantasy MMO is :dead_horse:

Free Stuffs

Urban dictionary to the rescue:

meco - Cum
alkis - Nothing other than alcoholic came close.
pinga - Spanish for dick
tarte - French for prostitute
tgirl - "One who wishes to be considered by society as a member of the opposite sex." So a transsexual

Pinga is slang for dick. I don't know the rest of them.

Is there something about the racing/demolition derby mini games that i'm missing? No matter which place i take, the class progress bar doesn't seem to advance at all... tried to search free realms forums to see if it's bugged but couldn't find anything.

Ghost pets are now available for members.  I went by Blackspore yesterday and saw them.  Today I'm informed they're now purchasable.

Same. it's making me nuts.

This could be a real boon for me.  I bet I can get some chores out of her.  She's old enough to start cleaning the bathroom, I think.  That's worth a dalmation, or a ghost dog isn't it?

Grimwell, are there any hard numbers on the number of accounts originating from FRBI IPs?  I'm betting 10-15%  :oh_i_see:

jebus fucking pogo sticks that dog in the bee suit.  :drill: :ye_gods: :drill: :ye_gods:  :drill:

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!

That's half a bee costume for my dog, right there!  Or maybe a whole bee costume!

Especially considering $200 is only enough to buy about 5% of what is available. But if you purchase just a little more cash...

Exactly.  Having someone spend their first real dollar on this game is the biggest barrier to them making tons of cash.  If they can get that first dollar out of them, they're considerably more likely to get more. 

"it was so easy!"

"The first one's always free"

"it was so easy!"

Jesus Christ why did I download this.

Minigames that ALSO provide me with ding-grats? Shit!

Still Lantyssa, only on Server 2.  I haven't had much luck finding anyone with two names as the chat system doesn't like to send tells to see if they're on.  I think the few people on my friends list got in contact with me.

How's the card game?

Very simple. Enjoyable. In line with the rest.

I have tried to add most of you too. I have to say, the entire chat/friends system needs some work.

There's another answer too.

I think it's the worst part of the game and generally not very good.

Greetings Nixel,

My name is Lead Referee Charcoal and I am here to help!

I’m sorry to say that currently our mini-games and some combat instances are having issues loading and it seems like the Stolen Away / Troll Summoner is one of them :( It would seem that those silly Robgoblins are causing some trouble again. Not to worry though, we have our experts shooing them off as we speak. I suggest trying again in the very near future and you will more than likely be able to access the mini-games or combat instances again.

Thanks for your patience while we work to chase those buggers off!

If you have any other questions or comments please respond to this ticket at your convenience!

Good Game,

Lead Referee Charcoal
Free Realms Support Department
Sony Online Entertainment

Ah, so it's okay because people from the US won't be offended!

Ah, so it's okay because people from the US won't be offended!   :oh_i_see: 

Also, NiX is from the mythical land of Canada.  Not that it makes his butt more likely to be as risk.  Just sayin.

I'm having a hard time leveling up my ninja. Am I missing some magical way to find good quests?

I have not spent much time on ninja, but my brawler is 16 now.  I think every combat job gets a couple of quests, and then "come back and see me when you're [5, 10, 15, 20]."  What you do to get to that next level is fight in appropriate dungeons.  Each dungeon seems to have nearby quests to do for that dungeon, although I'm not clear on whether one gets points for the combat job or the adventurer job.

One star dungeons are too easy.  Two star dungeons can vary greatly.  A few three star dungeons can be completed (on brawler anyway) at 15/16.

I hope this helps, but I don't know if it will.

Will SOE ever have to reveal Free Realms revenue in an investor's report, or will they be able to aggregate it with other revenue so nobody can ever know, or what?  2 mil in a month is impressive, but I'm still not convinced that only like 50k of those people are buying, and they are spending like 5$ a month. 

Price point on the boosters for the CCG is about twice too high. The CCG game itself is decent, and has enough depth to make for fairly reasonable tournament play, I think, but $4/booster is going a bit far for what it is.

Will SOE ever have to reveal Free Realms revenue in an investor's report, or will they be able to aggregate it with other revenue so nobody can ever know, or what?  2 mil in a month is impressive, but I'm still not convinced that only like 50k of those people are buying, and they are spending like 5$ a month. 

What good does that knowledge do you (or anyone else besides investors)?

Well, knowing it could be an argument (either pro or against) for other developers and investors who might consider this model...

Is wizard one of the sub only professions?

Yeah, that helped. Didn't know there were different sets of dungeons around each town. Now I need to figure out how finding items works.

Some items are randomly dropped in dungeons.  You can also turn in tickets for items under the ramp in Sanctuary.  Some items are earned by completing collections. 

Main bosses drop items almost always (maybe always?).

Here's a list of dungeons.
http://fr.zam.com/wiki/Category:Dungeons_(FR) (http://fr.zam.com/wiki/Category:Dungeons_(FR))

If smelting didn't have the stupid bellows part, I would like it fine. But it does, and I hates it. It may be irrational hate, but I hate it anyway!

Where can i train ninja?

I'm getting better at it. The key seems to be small mouse movements, back and forth. Not long wide jerks. Annoyingly, it seems to be picky. Sometimes I do well, and sometimes.. meh.

I've had problems not spilling any of the molten metal at the end, personally. I want all five bars.  :oh_i_see:

Ya know? I think you might be right there. Even Tanarus is still running, even though they don't collect money for that (nor Cosmic Rift nor that other one).

They're a curious case for sure.

I will try to discover where we stand on long term potential for inversion today.

In other news, 2 million accounts have been registered as of yesterday.  :awesome_for_real:

Yes, registered accounts, not subscriptions. It's a useful statistic, but not one you can derive our level of profit from  :grin:

Wrong turn, hoss?

My daughter cannot chat openly on Free Realms, which means she cannot really interact with people online other than through pre-set chat.  She's under 13, and I cannot enable her chat settings because Sony Online has decided that they are better at making these decisions for my child than I am.

This is a huge bummer for her.  So she mostly plays Club Penguin, since the big draw for her is the social aspect of the game - and there are no restrictions there for her.  I don't know if I will renew her membership.  I'm also unable to change her birthdate so as to make it appear that she's 13.

Frustrating.

Let me look into that next week? I thought parents did have the ability to opt their kids into chat if they so chose. Maybe that didn't make the beta - live cut, who knows? I sure don't (yet).  :oh_i_see:

I can tell you the reasoning behind it being very strict: With all things concerning the kids in this game, we are erring on the side of caution. If that does not make sense, considering who the game was made for, I can't help you there. I see the logic.

Toontown had very strict chat as well, but Toontown had more useful phrases, more of them, and one could actually converse in game with them.

Order our sevice,save your raid time.

40 K Coins= $ 13.72

60 K Coins= $ 20.55

We are a professional offer freereamls coins and powerlevleing

Toontown's quick chat is indeed awesome. It's not a fair comparison though. At launch it was very simple, similar to what we have; the slickness it now presents is directly tied to the years of development and refinement they have been able to invest in that system. I will not debate how awesome it is, it's fantastic and all anyone needs to communicate play needs in the game -- but I don't exactly feel that the Free Realms team did something bad by only being as good as ToonTown at launch. The very basics are covered, time will provide more.

With the age based filtering on open chat, I won't know squat until Monday... but if your kid has not invested any funds in her account and you are comfortable with her not being filtered (you are the parent, your choice), why not make a new account and do it in your name/age and let her play?

If you have invested funds, it's an entirely different matter -- obviously you don't want to walk away from money spent. In that event I will see you on Monday.

Looks like the game has hit the 'big time'  I just got two PMs on the FR forums offering coins and power leveling.  Also there doesn't seem to be a way to report the PMs to anyone.

When my character fights she says, "Hell, yeah!"  and when a troll sneezes he says "ahh, shit!". 

Naughty devs -1, Innocent children - 0.

Why hello, 1997. When did you get back?  :oh_i_see:

Admittedly the report system worked, to a degree. This was always assuming the players -knew- about the command. It always seemed someone would send in a petition, and by the time it got answered, telling them about /report and how it works, the chat was long gone.

What is with the recent trend of having to go through multiple windows to send in a support ticket/petition/what have you? What ever happened to just a simple command like /petition? *sigh*

Re: Age based filtering on chat.

At this point, this is not something a parent can opt out of. I have validated that in function today. I have not spoken with the dev team about their long term plans for this control (or the platform team, or the marketing team, etc... it's never just one team)... but I'll validate that once we know you are under 13 you just aren't going to see the chat by the current implementation.

So alternative measures would be required.

Put me into your town, Signe. I'd imagine you'd do terrible things and it would relieve your stress.

3 million now (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24025), a few weeks after they hit 2 million.

The bigger Free Realms grows, the harder it falls.

You have no idea how unlikely this is. This is exactly the game SOE needed at exactly the time SOE needed it. You could in fact say "props to them" about the entire thing. They went from having a stable of respected but not really cared for MMOGs to the second largest (in terms of people playing) MMOG in North America. I have absolutely no doubt that Smedley will fashion moneyhats for people at AGC if he shows up and if he's asked nicely.

Omitting my next sentence "Unless enough people pay." makes your reply somewhat out-of-context. I sincerely hope enough people are paying.

The bigger Free Realms grows, the harder it falls.

I have like 200 collection items to sort through for any given trade.  Without a filter, I'm not bothering unless it's someone I know.

Have you noticed the new collections filters? 

Anyone interested?  :awesome_for_real:

get inserted

What kind of guild is this?

Guild approval is complete. I'm hanging about Server 7 again today if folks want to hop online and get inserted.

Elsewhere someone had asked for a screenshot of one of the quest dialogs referencing the Station store.  This was the final quest line for racing.  A lot of the newer quests have some kind of  gentle nudge sledgehammer marketing like this.

The whole thing feels like a van with a "Free Candy" sign on it.  It all looks free on the surface, but deep down you know what they're really after. 

Micro transactions in a game targeting children seems a bit unethical to me. 

It seems like it makes it harder to control.  Either I spend time managing my son's hypothetical microtransactions or I just ban the game outright.

All I was saying was... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pok%C3%A9mon)

Can't say I'm a big fan of fairly sexy halloween costumes for the girls in a kid's game.

Does this game have a Friend list yet?  Doesn't seem to and I'm lonely.  Lonely!

Wow. I was going to respond with a comment about how little girl's halloween costumes in real life are getting just as bad, did a google for reference, and a little bit of my soul died.  :ye_gods:

Yes, it does.  Other than seeing Grimwell at the dance party the other day, I haven't seen anyone on.

Name is "Lantyssa" there as well, though I'm not on all that much.

Open the friends tab, enter a name, then hit "+" or "add" or such.  I may need to be online for it to work.

What ingredient?  For cooking?  Most you collect by doing the farming mini-games.

Open the friends tab, enter a name, then hit "+" or "add" or such.  I may need to be online for it to work.

Is your in-game name "Lantyssa" as well? Because I thought it might be.. and if it was, I totally rick rolled you in Snowhill, and you rejected my friend invite and ran away. ;D

.  My biggest gripe is that they turned the basic pet trainer boots from awesome knee-high combats into  floppy open-laced hiking boots.  Grim, if you're reading, I want my boots back, especially now that they are free-style.

Never did hear back anything meaningful about those boots. Sorry :(

My enjoyment is at steak! :cry:

Thanks for trying.  I give you permission to bug them endlessly about them so I don't bug you endlessly. ;D

Mmm I too enjoy steak!   :why_so_serious:

Also, my Pet Trainer boots have been reverted.  I think the color was more of an olive drab, but I'm happy with them.  Thanks Grimwell! ;D

Wait, I'm getting things done now?  :ye_gods: Oh crap!

Oh, nice.  I got tired of declining twenty friend attempts a session.

I'll friend anyone who asks.. They're all mobile teleport locations. Want to go somewhere specific? Just look for a 'friend' in the area, and ZOOM! You're there.

Now they have pirate ships.  You chase other people around and try and sink their ships (or the computer, I think, if there isn't anyone around) and grab booty, dash off to your dock, and do it again until time is up.  You win pirate stuff and coins, mostly, I think.   

That goes with the child demographic though. They respond well to having a lot of options that don't require much to get rolling.

Now they have pirate ships.  You chase other people around and try and sink their ships (or the computer, I think, if there isn't anyone around) and grab booty, dash off to your dock, and do it again until time is up.  You win pirate stuff and coins, mostly, I think.   

First public demo at E3, but no plans to launch just yet. However, I'm sure the PS3 is going to get a MMO before the Xbox 360 given how MS has generally reacted towards the idea.

Final Fantasy XI.  A little late to the party on this one.

Final Fantasy XI.  A little late to the party on this one.

I should have said 'next generation MMO'. Despite several companies promoting that yes, their latest MMO is absolutely going to come out on the Xbox 360, it looks like Xbox Live management has cooled on the idea.

The combat change confuses me.  It used to be fun.  Now?  Not at all.  Unless I'm missing something.

My conclusion from these changes (without ever having played Free Realms) is that players aren't sticking around / paying enough, so in come the modifications to make things more 'fun'.

Have they really done anything to justify that assessment, though? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm asking semi-seriously. Barring FR itself, did SOE pull its act together when I wasn't looking?
 
As per the combat change, it would be nice to hear their internal reasoning for it. If it's intentional, it's a pretty significant shift in the game's target demographic. Assuming, of course, that SOE had the sense to hire someone with a degree in developmental psychology who actually has a grasp on what kind of complexity children of various ages are capable of, and SOE is not just fumbling in the dark here.

I sure hope it wasn't another case of "the metrics told us to." That would be sad. Yes, metrics are important, but it's what you do with the data that counts.

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