The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
Please vote in the Forum Structure Poll. Polling will close at 2PM EST on January 21, 2025.
[FREE REALMS] RELEASED NOW. :O Because you can be a wizard
Aldo
Hippo HoorayRegistered User regular
Hippo HoorayRegistered User regular
Why has no one made a thread on this? Now I have to do it. Why? Because it's balls to the wall awesome.
Tycho's thoughts on the whole ordeal:
Anyway, it's in beta at the moment, and a new wave (full of PA'ers, I can only assume) just got in. So we need a thread!
Free Realms
For those already in beta:
- IN GAME NAME: Not going to list those yet, as there are no friendslists available yet
- GUILD : also not in yet
- HOW DO I PLAY __?: After you've checked the in-game help you can always ask here.
General Information
As Annarchy explains this is not a game for adults, which makes it perfect for us, because seriously, if we wanted to act like adults we would be gossiping at work or worry about our taxes or raise our middle finger in traffic.
If there is one game you can compare Free Realms to it is Puzzle Pirates: everything you do in-game is done in the form of a puzzle/mini game. However, it is slightly less complex than Puzzle Pirates, something as mundane as beating a goblin is done in a classical MMORPG way, so no fucking tetris there, for example. There are also NPCs who take you by the hand and the economy is not completely player run.
Mac? PS3?
Currently the game is only available for Windows users. A PS3 version is supposed to come out at some later point in time (tba). Mac should be possible with some creative bootcamping and what have you, but is currently not supported
What games can I play?
I don't know. At the moment I have played:
Cooking (various mouse gesture/click games)
Brawling (mmorpg)
Racing (Mario Kart)
Destruction Derby (crash into other cars)
Chess
Checkers
Tower Defense
Raising pets (various mouse gestures/no idea)
Farming (connecting various tiles to harvest them)
Running from place to place (FedEx quests/check point to checkpoint running)
Trading Card Game (Tycho loved this one)
Weapon training (mouse gesture/click game)
Leading an orchestra (mouse gesture/click game)
I also saw, but haven't been able to play:
Football (soccer)
Mining
Weapon crafting
There are supposed to be more games available now and even more coming up in the future.
How do I start?
Sign up with your SOE station account or create one and then wait for a beta invite. Mine took a week to go through, but yesterday some folks in D&D [chat] reported getting in within half an hour.
When you get in you get to create a character on the website, decide between two races: zany pixies and surprisingly normal looking humans. After you pick a name you get to play. First it downloads a small ActiveX element and then it starts the game itself. Everything is streamed in to your PC, starting with small chunks for the intro and later on some 30MB+ files for certain games. After the first time you've played it this downloading goes a lot faster. After that it is as simple as following the quest NPCs/green dots on the mini-map.
How do I progress
Play a game a lot. At the moment only cooking and fighting net you exp, though.
Membership?
Said to be at 10$, opens up some extra mini-games and classes and gives you access to content before the free players can.
Screenshots
I'm lazy: http://www.massively.com/photos/free-realms/
--
This OP is going to get updated once I figure out more/get information from you maggots.
Tycho's thoughts on the whole ordeal:
Ever since we saw the first trailers for Free Realms, we've been simultaneously repulsed and fascinated - our rapid travel between these poles has generated tremendous energy. I received a beta slot in an email yesterday while checking my phone, and cried out in triumph - holding the device aloft like some ancestral blade.
You might recall that Disney's ToonTown developed a certain cache among the hardcore, either as a purely ironic act or because it was genuinely amusing, and there's an opportunity for that here as well. I don't think your guild is going to come over to Free Realms instead of run Ulduar, but that doesn't mean the game shouldn't exist. The breadth of activity they're aiming for is so plucky, so hilariously unmoored that we've kept an eye on it.
The lion's share of play is tied to something like a "class," and within twenty minutes of playing I had a suite of seven such classes I could don at any time - each with custom wardrobes and equipment. It's a game in the Korean style, so you're talking about something that is a) heavily instanced and b) supported by a tiered playerbase that has the ability to subscribe or purchase game content a la carte. Minigames abound, ones you may have seen before in another guise, but it's the meta element (re: Puzzle Quest) that lends them the meaning inherent in a larger structure. It's cute, and perhaps not for every reader of this site, but games that deliver their intention well have no enemy in me.
We installed it at work because we've always longed for a game that blended ninja pets and metallurgy. Plus, we felt certain it would be profitable from a strip perspective. I installed it again at home because the mining minigame skritches my neurotransmitters and because the fucking card game in this thing has got meat hanging off the bone.
It's got SOE Denver written all over it, and if you're familiar with some of their basic ideas it'll give you a leg up. Mechanically, it's a who's who of every idea I've loved in the genre: the battle lines of an Astral Tournament, the card flip/dice roll mechanic from Sabertooth's Warhammer 40k CCG, and WoW TCG's Quest Cards alongside their own potent bathtub hooch. Compared to the rest of the minigames, most of which follow the form "click here to succeed," this thing is like falling down a well. Fortunately for them, this is a sensation I actively seek out.
(CW)TB out.
You might recall that Disney's ToonTown developed a certain cache among the hardcore, either as a purely ironic act or because it was genuinely amusing, and there's an opportunity for that here as well. I don't think your guild is going to come over to Free Realms instead of run Ulduar, but that doesn't mean the game shouldn't exist. The breadth of activity they're aiming for is so plucky, so hilariously unmoored that we've kept an eye on it.
The lion's share of play is tied to something like a "class," and within twenty minutes of playing I had a suite of seven such classes I could don at any time - each with custom wardrobes and equipment. It's a game in the Korean style, so you're talking about something that is a) heavily instanced and b) supported by a tiered playerbase that has the ability to subscribe or purchase game content a la carte. Minigames abound, ones you may have seen before in another guise, but it's the meta element (re: Puzzle Quest) that lends them the meaning inherent in a larger structure. It's cute, and perhaps not for every reader of this site, but games that deliver their intention well have no enemy in me.
We installed it at work because we've always longed for a game that blended ninja pets and metallurgy. Plus, we felt certain it would be profitable from a strip perspective. I installed it again at home because the mining minigame skritches my neurotransmitters and because the fucking card game in this thing has got meat hanging off the bone.
It's got SOE Denver written all over it, and if you're familiar with some of their basic ideas it'll give you a leg up. Mechanically, it's a who's who of every idea I've loved in the genre: the battle lines of an Astral Tournament, the card flip/dice roll mechanic from Sabertooth's Warhammer 40k CCG, and WoW TCG's Quest Cards alongside their own potent bathtub hooch. Compared to the rest of the minigames, most of which follow the form "click here to succeed," this thing is like falling down a well. Fortunately for them, this is a sensation I actively seek out.
(CW)TB out.
Anyway, it's in beta at the moment, and a new wave (full of PA'ers, I can only assume) just got in. So we need a thread!
Free Realms
For those already in beta:
- IN GAME NAME: Not going to list those yet, as there are no friendslists available yet
- GUILD : also not in yet
- HOW DO I PLAY __?: After you've checked the in-game help you can always ask here.
General Information
As Annarchy explains this is not a game for adults, which makes it perfect for us, because seriously, if we wanted to act like adults we would be gossiping at work or worry about our taxes or raise our middle finger in traffic.
If there is one game you can compare Free Realms to it is Puzzle Pirates: everything you do in-game is done in the form of a puzzle/mini game. However, it is slightly less complex than Puzzle Pirates, something as mundane as beating a goblin is done in a classical MMORPG way, so no fucking tetris there, for example. There are also NPCs who take you by the hand and the economy is not completely player run.
Mac? PS3?
Currently the game is only available for Windows users. A PS3 version is supposed to come out at some later point in time (tba). Mac should be possible with some creative bootcamping and what have you, but is currently not supported
What games can I play?
I don't know. At the moment I have played:
Cooking (various mouse gesture/click games)
Brawling (mmorpg)
Racing (Mario Kart)
Destruction Derby (crash into other cars)
Chess
Checkers
Tower Defense
Raising pets (various mouse gestures/no idea)
Farming (connecting various tiles to harvest them)
Running from place to place (FedEx quests/check point to checkpoint running)
Trading Card Game (Tycho loved this one)
Weapon training (mouse gesture/click game)
Leading an orchestra (mouse gesture/click game)
I also saw, but haven't been able to play:
Football (soccer)
Mining
Weapon crafting
There are supposed to be more games available now and even more coming up in the future.
How do I start?
Sign up with your SOE station account or create one and then wait for a beta invite. Mine took a week to go through, but yesterday some folks in D&D [chat] reported getting in within half an hour.
When you get in you get to create a character on the website, decide between two races: zany pixies and surprisingly normal looking humans. After you pick a name you get to play. First it downloads a small ActiveX element and then it starts the game itself. Everything is streamed in to your PC, starting with small chunks for the intro and later on some 30MB+ files for certain games. After the first time you've played it this downloading goes a lot faster. After that it is as simple as following the quest NPCs/green dots on the mini-map.
How do I progress
Play a game a lot. At the moment only cooking and fighting net you exp, though.
Membership?
Said to be at 10$, opens up some extra mini-games and classes and gives you access to content before the free players can.
Screenshots
I'm lazy: http://www.massively.com/photos/free-realms/
--
This OP is going to get updated once I figure out more/get information from you maggots.
Aldo on
0
Posts
So my question is, and I'm not looking for NDA breaking details, will this thing be fun for older/jaded gamers? Does it have challenge, does it have things that will scratch that itch that gamers might have for leveling/crafting/gathering/etc...
What was your first impressions with how they put all this together?
EDIT: also, shouldn't this be in the MMO sub-forum?
Listen to our podcast, read our articles, tell us how much you hate it and how to make it better
Anyway, it certainly contains challenges besides the 'now kill 1000 wolves to progress!' idea that is considered the 'challenge' in many a MMO. Some of these mini-games are pretty difficult and they all have secondary objectives and 'elite' objectives for extra rewards. There is also the fact that you're not just fighting against the computer, rally, destruction derby, chess etc are all going to be multiplayer. So even if you'd be good enough to beat the computer there's also the challenge of beating other players who are good enough to beat the computer as well.
Don't be fooled, though, this game is first and foremost aimed at casual gamers: there is supposed to be enough content for the more serious gamers, but it's clearly not the focus, they're gonna give you a kitty and a rally kart and a cute fairy and not a spreadsheet and huge dragons with ten phases to fight through.
My friend and I were having a discussion just yesterday and I was saying how I was kind of bored of the typical grind and formula of most MMOs and that someone needs to come out with something off-the-wall and crazy. Like some bizarre MMO where you have to collect pets and use them in some board game but when you fight it's like a 2d fighter or something, and then the crafting is some mini-game that's completely different. Just something crazy with tons of different types of gameplay to engage the player.
And freerealms seems like they are actually trying for something like this.
Listen to our podcast, read our articles, tell us how much you hate it and how to make it better
Sadly there is still a typical amount of MMO grind there, forcing you to repeat the same minigame over and over to get the items you need. That's still more engaging than clicking away at the same monster or going AFK while your character does their thing. I'm already well on my way to becoming a master chef!
I want more cards! The card game is so simple but fun!
The videos on the site scream "World of Warcraft for kids!*"
SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
Listen to our podcast, read our articles, tell us how much you hate it and how to make it better
And the game is nothing like either WoW or Second Life. Think more along the lines of Neopets if you want to put a negative stamp on it without having played the game.
Hey I wasn't intending to make any negative stamps. Those were just my initial impressions after spending 30 seconds looking at it.
SC2 NA: exoplasm.519 | PA SC2 Mumble Server | My Website | My Stream
Ah, right ok. My reply was my initial impression of looking at your post for 30 seconds. :P
Free Realms: ACTIVE
Free Realms Unlimited Play
Which leads me to believe I am somehow in the beta
Listen to our podcast, read our articles, tell us how much you hate it and how to make it better
I was kind of wondering how combat would work out with the different jobs in the game. I never saw a single roaming monster when I was playing. It definitely seems like more of a neo-pets kind of game with some typical MMO elements mixed in. It's still a neat idea that everything isn't focused around combat and you can level up your job just by playing minigames and doing quests.
The Tower Defense game was pretty fun, not very complex hitherto, but you know, enjoyable.
By the way, is there a guild system in this?
LANCE BEARSURFER!
I've also gone through the tutorial. Seems pretty basic, and the presence of pixies annoys me to no end. But I'm willing to give it a shot. But for now it's back to work.
TBH, this is the only MMO I've ever played, so I don't have a lot to compare it to. I am having fun with it though. I am rather impatiently waiting for some of the bugs to get fixed (the main quests for several joblines are bugged out at the moment). I've been having fun the past couple of days running around trying to get some of the location collections filled in.
I'm glad I've finally found all the warpstones and everything. (I spent faaaar too long trying to figure out where the ninja trainer was, since I didn't look at the forums right away. In-game all it says is that he lives near the water, so I spent ages wandering around Seaside. In particular there's a house way out on the south edge of town that looks like it could be a ninja house...which you can't get into. So naturally I figured, "Oh, this must be the place. It's a ninja thing, there must be some trick to it," and swam all around the coast and ran around the mountains trying to get in. Der.)
My in-game name is Eva Galespire. I think I'm on Server 2, though I'm not sure if it matters.
THere are no guilds or friendslist yet, but they're upcoming. exp is only enabled for cooking and brawling.
Rusty Powerbandit is my character. I don't know what kind of grouping is possible but I thought I'd post.
I haven't found any meaningful ways to work together with others, it seems most multiplayer things aren't well implemented yet.
I'm on server 1, pending name approval. Seems like a fun diversion so far though.
I spent forever trying to find the stupid berries I needed, only to discover that the marker was full of lies and they were in a different field somewhere else.
I'm still waiting for things to get unbugged for some of the quests (though I'm glad they finally got the ninja one working), but I had fun yesterday running all over Blackspore, collecting fossils and some of the rare locations items. Woo exploring!
Also, the thread title is pretty amusing since at the moment you can't be a wizard, unless you're a Sony employee or you get lucky enough to get randomly flagged as a member.