SOE Free Realms

[Grimwell]

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

[Shatter]

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

Also applicable to half the people on this board 

[Bandit]

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.   

The pirate game is pretty well done, it's actually worth a peek (much more than the soccer).

[Signe]

Yes, the pirate stuff is fun.  You can choose three different ships:  a big lardy butt one that holds mucho loot, a medium balanced sort of one, and a fast one that's small and turns sharper but doesn't carry much so you have to run back to your dock often.  I can't find any difference between the small one and the medium one in regards to handling though, so I use the medium sized ship.  

I have a peg leg now!  No parrots though.   

[LK]

Is Free Realms... advocating piracy? 

[Lantyssa]

Yarr?

[Mrbloodworth]

Free Realms Makes It To The PlayStation 3 For E3

[UnSub]

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.

[Slayerik]

So I have been playing this a bit with my kids and it's pretty cool. My house I have turned into a playground for the kiddos, complete with huge slide as high as they allow ya to go, and an obstacle jumping course.

I am Don Powerhelmet.

[Ard]

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.

[Bandit]

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.

...or Everquest Online Adventures (Feb 2003)

[Ingmar]

Technically speaking weren't those both Xbox/PS2 MMOs, not Xbox 360/PS3 MMOs?

[Ard]

I specifically mentioned Final Fantasy XI since it got an Xbox 360 port not too horribly long after the 360 launch.  Yes, MS has done a lot of counterproductive crap since then to scare away MMO's, but they've bent the rules once already to even get this on board.

[Dtrain]

Given the ammount of time that Square/Enix had FFXI on PC and PS2, the XBOX 360 thing is a bit of a red herring. Sure it was a feather in Microsoft's cap, but that was more indicitive of a blossoming relationship with Square/Enix. When you consider all the attempts they've made, and how they obviously want a break out MMO success, it's almost laughable that they haven't had even a moderate one yet. And this goes all the way back to True Fantasy Live Online on the original XBOX (and damn, I still can't get over how retarded that name is.)

But really, if you want to laugh at Microsoft and MMOs, I have only to say 1 word. Starts with a V. Ends with ANGUARD BITCHES!

I think Free Realms has a good shot at being something special for the PS3 and SOE.

[UnSub]

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.

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.

[Dtrain]

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.

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.

Can anyone blame them? If your dates kept telling you about their plans for marriage, then screwed you and walked away, you'd stop taking your clothes off eventually. Well I would. You might be some sort of a slut. Basically, what I'm trying to say here is that the Xbox Live management are probably not sluts.

[Xanthippe]

Played this again today for the first time since last summer.  Wow, what a bunch of new stuff added.  I'm so lost I have no idea what I'm doing.

Deleted all my old quests, and am playing with fishing.  I love fishing in games.  I don't know why.

[Signe]

I like fishing games, too, although FR fishing doesn't seem done to me.  I think it's because fishing is soothing, especially online because you don't have to clean out anything's innards.  That's a biggie for me!  Word of caution since I don't know how long it's been since you've played, but don't delete characters because most jobs only go up to level 4 unless you're subbed.  And you lose all your bought stuff - which they should really make account based, those greedy bastards.   I'm still Twee Paramore (gah!) in game and I have a ton of birthday stuff you can have if you want!  Some extra balloon weapons (which are awesome), birthday t-shirts and other birthday junk.  Other people here can ask me, too.  I have three or four extra of some of the weapons and up to nine extra of a few of the shirts. 

I blame bad drugs or food poisoning for the stupid character names!  I don't even play Signe Salamander anymore - what the hell is up with names and me?  Signe might be my real name but the salamander is a red herring. 

[Xanthippe]

It's only 5 bucks, if I'm going to play a little, I'll subscribe.  At least I will once the game lets me, it had some problem earlier.

I only have one character, Sadie Frigidscowl.

The player base is so much nicer than the WoWtard cretins.  I've just had it with those asshats.  I tried to do an Eye of the Storm flag cap with my orphan today, and some miscreant grabbed the flag and just held it (despite our very large winning margin) so that me and another person couldn't get our achievement.

And that is completely typical behavior in my battlegroup.  I'm so sick of the griefing. 

/rant off

[Lantyssa]

I gave up on the mount because of bad luck in the battlefields.  I don't play games to get frustrated.

In Free Realms I'm reclusive, but I have noticed people are a lot nicer.  I also have some birthday and Valentine's stuff if somehow Signe is lacking.  No spare weapons, unfortunately.

[Xanthippe]

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

[Signe]

No, you're not missing anything.  They buggered up the combat in my opinion.  Even the kiddies complain about it and that's why they did it.  Also, the loot on the wheel is pretty bad and it's the same stuff over and over.  I only do the combat during events to get the special weapons and stuff.  If there's any way to get event stuff other than with combat, that's what I go for.  Someone on a forum said they thought the mobs were a little bit harder with this update.  Harder mobs don't bother me, it's everything else about the combat.

As for FR on PS3, I'm all for that.  In fact, I'm totally with the people saying they should have just made FR what Home is now.  Playstation Home is just awful.

[Mrbloodworth]

RE: PS3, existing accounts had better dam well work.

[Lantyssa]

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

As Signe says, it's pretty bad now.  There are small parts of it I like, but I think they vastly underestimated what kids are capable of.  It's really nothing more than spam 1 as much as possible with a 2 thrown in every minute.

My Medic can't even heal.

[Grimwell]

Bah, nah :) 

[Bunk]

I have to say I was a little shocked when I loaded this up for the first time in months and saw the combat change. The old combat was simplistic, but if you picked the right dungeon it was at least a little engaging. The new combat... 

So now I run up to a gang of 20+ ruffians and start shooting my bow. At the ground five feet in front of them. Apparently, I can't actually shoot at them until they start attacking me. Clicking on a monster does nothing. There doesn't appear to be any way to pick a target. Nope, now you run up and rattle 1. You shoot everything in site until it's dead, which is good since you can't actually aim at anything. Best I can tell, there isn't really any difference in any of the combat classes now, as the best strategy is now run in to the middle of the pile and rattle the button.

Oh well, I still get an urge to play the silly mining games once in a while.

[Lantyssa]

Ugh.  They changed the class selection interface screen and it's terrible.  Now it's on a rotating bar along with equipment slots.  You have to rotate through all of it to select classes and you can't see what level you are.

Grim, if you're still in contact please smack someone upside the head for me.  And tell them to make their UI designer take some classes on functionality.  Ugh.

[Signe]

I know.  I even complained a little on their forum about the new equipment UI.  I thought I had done that here, but I guess not.  Did you notice when you rotate through it to change your stuff, your character constantly change clothing?  It's truly terrible.  The only thing they really NEEDED to change (although I'm all for good change!) was making everything nice and sortable, especially when you're trying to sort and sell.  This game is not only becoming less fun (mostly due to combat changes) but kind of a pain in the ass to play, too. 

[Xanthippe]

Yeah, I don't see a point in playing the combat games at all.  It's just terrible now.

I'm surprised they changed it from fun to awful.  I'm surprised they changed it at all.  It was already pretty simple, now it's not simple, it's just stupid.

[Grimwell]

I'm no longer in viable contact on such points, and it would be a little presumptive and rude for me to send them anything and say "Really, check this thread it's important to your future success!"

Though I hope nothing but the best for FR :)

[Bunk]

I know that I for one have no impact on their future success. I'm a 38 (err 39 in a couple hours) year old guy occasionally dabbling in a game aimed at 12 year olds.

I just found it suprising that they seemed to change the target demographic of the combat games from 12 to 5, because I can't see anyone over 5 finding the new combat remotely engaging.

[Lantyssa]

It is hard to understand since there are ten year olds that manage WoW.

[UnSub]

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'.

[Xanthippe]

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'.

Nothing wrong with making things more fun, but to have missed the mark so completely with regard to combat and then not change it back when it's so obviously such a fuck up is something else.  I thought SOE was smarter than that now.

[Ollie]

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.