A look back at a year of Free Realms
To be honest, I was pretty darn happy that I got to write this Free Realms "look-back," being that I have always been a player and fan of the game. It would be more accurate to call me a "follower" or "citizen," considering that there are so many activities to do in-world that have nothing to do with gaming. When they introduced the spring-board bounce game, for example, I knew that many hours would be spent just jumping on those things. (And that theory has been proven correct.)
I remember the first real look at Free Realms, two years ago at Fan Faire (SOE's fan festival.) Within the span of 5 minutes, Creative Director Laralyn McWilliams charmed me with surprisingly good graphics and a virtual dog that pooed and peed. I knew at that moment that Free Realms would be much more than just "a kids game." Let's take a look back at the last year and see if that is so.
Hitting the Million(s) mark
It didn't take long at all for Free Realms to start hitting the mark of a million accounts. Of course, the debate is how many players that number represents, but no one could argue that the current 10 million account number is not impressive. "Freemium" games like Free Realms are a strange beast, allowing players to sample as long as they want, only to one day delete the game off their hard drive or to subscribe. It is my guess that even hard subscription numbers change monthly in a game like Free Realms, so stating anything solid about them would have to be a fluid exercise at the least. Minus all that, 10 million eyeballs on your website can make you money. Just look at the Free Realms webpage and you will find embedded ads, joint ventures with other companies, and streaming video that players must watch in order to grab a piece of virtual loot. 10 million is impressive for a lot of different reasons.
Taking away the "free" part
According to SOE, the "free" part now refers to the freedom a player has in the customization of their experience. Sure, you can play up to level 5 in any of the 15 jobs in Free Realms without paying anything, and yes you can now use in-game coins to buy almost anything (including some very valuable housing items) but we all know all the cool kids subscribe! At only 5 dollars a month, it's really a steal. But next time you're in game, look around at the local conversation and you will hear many players discussing the fact that they are not subscribed. Minus that subscription and you still have as fantastic social game.
A place to call home
What kind of a social game would Free Realms be without housing? Players were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the housing that came out during the holiday season of '09. Everyone got their own free apartment, but could also upgrade to two larger size houses. Immediately player's creativity came out in the form of giant bed spring bounce rooms, massive dance floors in the sky, and bedrooms that would make kings cry. While there are many items to choose from, it should be pretty obvious how many more items that SOE could make and sell to homeowners in the future. The housing in Free Realms is a license to print money.
Getting around faster than ever
At first, it seemed silly to introduce mounts into a game that had instant travel to almost any place on the map. But soon enough it proved to be a very good design decision. Collectors found themselves being able to grab those collections even faster, and using auto-run (with quest auto-routing) got you to your quest even faster. Not only that, but as with many things in Free Realms, a player's purchases reflected his or her own personalities. Some grabbed up the nightmare horse (complete with flaming mane and hooves,) while others went for the amazingly bright rainbow-tinted unicorns. There are pets to match, of course, and mixing and matching is a job on its own.
Mini-games galore
Soccer was talked about, and soccer fields went up way before the mini-game. The biggest question is "How would it play?" Some of us pictured an Atari 2600 version of dots on a screen, (with better graphics of course.) And some of us pictured a foosball table, complete with little human and fairy bumpers. Who knew that the game would have players as actual players on the field, kicking the ball and slide tackling? And of course there would be a quest line introduced with the new job, to help players level up and to gain new goodies. Pirates Plunder is a more recent introduction, allowing players to spar against NPC or human opponents in a game of "capture the booty." Of course, the cash shop is filled with all the proper pirate attire, from clothing and hats to pirate outfits for your pets.
This last year of Free Realms provided enough content to fill several articles. While the game has raised questions about what it is, (A social game? An adventure game? A collectors dream?) SOE was very smart in setting up a world in which literally anything is possible. Imagine developing for a game that had no boundaries.
Of course, the game is not without its moments of drama. One look at the official forums and you will find plenty of complaints about pricing, cash shop items, exclusivity and (one of the most common gripes) the chat filter. The chat filter issues have been cropping up since day one being that many words and common phrases are blocked from local chat, appearing as only a series of pound signs. SOE understands the age range of its game, and had to take steps to insure that the players were safe. That means no handing out of numbers, since numbers can be in the form of real life telephone numbers, passwords or even credit card information. Surprisingly enough, making a game suited for children is dangerous territory.
But after all these changes, patches and new items, the game still shows no sign of stopping. It helps that the game can run on lower-end machines, and that its streaming client can have a player up and running in literally seconds. So the real question is, where is it going to be at after year two? I have a very good feeling that there will be no lack on content for that article, either.
