Yes, I am playing Free Realms. Yes, I still hate SOE, but I simply can't argue with a quality free games. Yes, I just referred to SOE, game, and quality in the same sentence without any curse words.
After a couple hours of play, I like the basics of Free Realms: do whatever you want, whenever you want. There is competitive, co-op, and solo play galore. Free Realms boils down to a bunch of mini-games connected via a hub world.
So far, I have not run into anything in-game asking for a credit card number, but then again, I was side tracked at the race track with the destruction derby mini-game for most of my playtime. I know micro-transactions are out there and that the card game (which is of great interest to me) relies heavily upon real cash.
I am skeptical that the micro-transaction model can generate enough revenue to support, what seems to be, a traditional game with a significant development footprint. Especially when a lot of game is available free of charge.
My other concern, after a few hours of play on US Server #1, is the lack of socialization in Free Realms between players. I found myself wandering aimlessly, rarely meeting another player in the hub world. In the destruction derby competitive mini-game, it wasn't very clear how to identify other players or how I could communicate with them. On top of that, Free Realms encourages players to always be doing something, which makes it hard to socialize properly.
Oh well, look for me online as Heartless Gamer, male of the human variety.
Welcome to the darkside of fun ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed that there are ninjas, but no pirates. If you want to continue hating SOE, there is your source sir.
Having the ability to switch between being a Ninja and a Pirate would be OP and game breaking: nobody could handle the responsibility of that kind of power!
ReplyDeleteThey tried to add Ninjas and Pirates to the same game, but upon the first swap from Ninja to Pirate, the universe split and two seperate instances were created. One with Ninjas, the other with Pirates.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the Free Realms fun! :) I've been playing for quite a while now, and admittedly, I've spent a coin or two on some microtransaction items, I really find that it's not necessary, only for personal entertainment/enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteRe: your thoughts on whether the microtransaction model can support the game - maybe worth a look: http://bit.ly/LpIEc
For the Demo Derby you will only play with other players if you join or create a game in the Demo Derby Lobby. If you create a game, you have to wait for people to join before starting it. Oh and you don't level in Demo Derby or Kart Driver ( :( ).
ReplyDeleteI bought 2 items (and paid for a month) already. One for my Brawler and one for Warrior. I haven't seen any high level weapons that can be bought for in game coin, but the ones you can buy for out of game coin can be used at level 1 and are pretty much super amazingly awesome and stuff. I highly recommend buying weapons (at 250 station cash a pop, roughly $2.50) if you intend on playing one of the combat jobs for a while.