Brasse's latest on Free Realms thread

[Brasse]

I am weighed down with NDA, but yah. Plan to try Free Realms.

I did write a pretty comprehensive article about the game for Beckett MOG which should be out in mid-March. You know, the MMO magazine that is still publishing...

Without breaking NDA, I can say:
Free Realms is slated for release in EARLY APRIL, 2009 now early May, with beta rumored for mid-April [edited April 1]
There are a LOT of mini-games (2 fully 3D minigames and at least a half-dozen 2d minigames with extra variations).
There are a lot of traditional MMO-style quests available.
Combat is entirely optional, and all combat occurs in instanced zones, you you cannot accidentally aggro a mob.
The pets are very, very cool - however, it looks like they will be purchased with Station Cash. If you play SOE games and still have some of that free 1500 Station Cash they gave out a while ago, you can access that for use in Free Realms. I am SO saving mine for a puppy.
The game is very pretty. Like WOW meets Disney.

Here is a direct link to the official FR videos. Watch them all: http://www.freerealms.com/whatIsFreeRealms.vm

Cost:
Free (60% of content)
Station Pass holders = free FR Membership
FR Membership = $4.99/mo
FR Family Membership (up to 5 people in one household) = $9.99

It is shaping up to be the best kids MMOG to date, going by all that I have seen - and I've seen a lot.
Best thing is... it is FREE, and you only have to pay if you want additional content, certain classes, etc.
So you have nothing to lose.

;-)#
Brasse
who finds herself a FR Evengelist in spite of her jaded nature

[Gildan]

Pardon the ignorance, but what precisely is a Free realms membership for?

[Esri]

Pardon the ignorance, but what precisely is a Free realms membership for?

I'd guess the 40% of the content that isn't free?

[Brasse]

Esri is correct.
Free Realms uses a combination of "velvet rope" and "RMT" (real money transactions) for their revenue model.

Velvet rope comes from the real life nightclub concept, where everyone can access the venue, but you have to be a member to pass the "velvet rope" to the members-only area.
RMT will be used for non-essential items, like pets, premium clothing sets, pet costumes, extra Jobs (classes), add-ons to the racing karts, etc.

I suspect lots of people will play FR and not ever worry about paying a cent.
I just hope that enough do to make it a sound economic model, so that they put out lots of new content after launch!
;-)#

[Gildan]

Ah, thank you both for the replies.  For some reason, my mind had itself thinking that 40% of the content would be RMT based.  This explanation is more palatable

[Brasse]

Updated original post to note the now-announced release date of early APRIL, 2009.
Beta has to go off sometime between now and then!

;-)#

[Rivenya]

....Now would be good.... really... I don't mind... short notice would not bother me at all!  NOW plz?  kthnx

[Mandie]

hrm .. so I've got an entire week holiday next week with nothing to do and nowhere to go .. what's the bet that they'll release the beta the week after that lol

[Arhen]

That absolutely goes without saying Mandie 

You see there are certain people that were volunteered to be part of the "we'll release everything special a week after you've gotten something" and obivously you are part of that group, don't get me wrong, so am I.. So it's obviously the "elite" people that get put into that group  LOL j/k!!

I got an error when trying to sign up for beta, said I already had even tho I had never heard of the game before my better half mentioned it to me.. maybe it's because I'm a Station Access subscriber? any insight you can provide on this Ô almighty Brasse? 

[Rivenya]

Okay...It is now early April...Where's my Free Realms?!

[Brasse]

Free Realms has been delayed, as you no doubt guessed. Best estimates for beta now are around mid-April, with launch rumored for early May.

I am not in the loop on that front, and if I was I couldn't tell ya - so let's all watch for official announcements!

;-)#

[Mallika]

I signed up just to join in the discussion on Free Realms (and of course stick around for the good company!). I am rather enchanted by the game and am quite chuffed to find other older gamers interested in it too. I've been following news about FR for a while, and everything sounds great to me (especially being able to change into every job on a whim, and the mini-games-for-crafting deal).

I think I'm more excited about Free Realms than other "serious" MMO games. Whenever I check my email, I find myself hoping I'll have a beta invitation in there somewhere -- of course, knowing my luck, my invite will probably be in the last batches they send out right before release!

Edited to add: I suppose I shouldn't even bother expecting a beta invite until another couple of weeks pass, but ... well. I can't help it!

[Grumble]

I completely understand your feelings about this game.  Im an older gamer myself, Ive played virtually every MMO since UO, and I can be very hard core.   Yet this game intrigues me for some reason, and I find myself looking for a beta invite.

Why, I dunno.  Its going to mostly be kids running around being kids, and I expect to be searching for the adults online to chat with and socialize.

Maybe I just need an MMO where Im not frantically competing with everyone else, spending too many hours every day grinding to get the best stuff (the.. what do you call it.. RMT actually interests me in that sense, if I want something I can shell out a couple bucks for it).  It might be very relaxing to pop in on this game for a while and visit with friends.

So, Im gonna give it a shot.  However, Brasse if you catch me obsessing over quests or resources or what not.. give me a good kick in the pants, willya?

[Mallika]

Heh Grumble, I hear you on the obsessiveness. I can be that way too, and I also find that one of the reasons I'm interested in FR is the more casual nature of it. Plus, hey, who doesn't like interactive pets? (And this coming from someone with three cats at home. They will probably snub me if they found out I'm going to have a virtual kitty or *gasp* a dog.)

I suppose being on this forum is a good start to finding other adult gamers to talk to and things like that.

[Brasse]

Better yet, you can have 3 cats and a dog in game!

[EDITED to correct info]
Pet Trainer is a Free class (I had it listed as a Member-only class before)... but at $5/mo (or free, included in Station Pass) it's pretty darn cheap anyway.

The pets themselves will be sold through the Marketplace (Station Cash), and I am happy to donate to the dev's kids' college fund for a companion or two. having four dogs, a cat, lizards and snakes at home, I can hardly NOT have a pet in FR.

I should probably start a bunch of different threads for different parts of the game. =)
;-)#