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Free Realms reaches 9 million registered players
With the constant influx of things being added to the game such as player housing, soccer, new pets, and most recently mounts, Free Realms has been going strong. Now, we've gotten word that in less than a month they've managed to attract another 1 million new players to sign up and check out the game -- not too shabby! "With Free Realms, we've been able to reflect the needs and wants of our players by keenly listening to their suggestions and feedback," said John Smedley, president of SOE. "We believe the persistent exercise of capturing in-game research inside Free Realms has been a huge contributing factor as to why we've attracted over nine million players in less than a year. It truly helps us give our players a game where they can do and be whatever they want." With the addition of technologies like NetModerator to help keep kids safe, fun games that players of any age can enjoy, and the periodic television marketing campaign, Free Realms is in great shape to continue growing. Of course, the fun in-game parties and occasional giveaways certainly don't hurt, either.
Free Realms introduces T-Rex and flying dragon mounts
Traveling in Free Realms just got a whole lot cooler. Today, the team at Sony Online Entertainment dropped a shiny surprise into the cash shop -- mounts! Currently only available for paying members, these new T-Rex and Dragon mounts come in several different colors for players to pick from. When you consider that SOE treated players to some free Station Cash as part of the recent ConnecDING promotions in EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Free Realms, members may even have part (or all) of their mounts paid for already. (Assuming you haven't spent it, anyway!) In any event, we suspect Free Realms will be full of many dinosaurs and dragons soon -- and perhaps some new members itching to pick up their very own mounts. For a complete list of features on these new mounts, keep reading beyond the cut.
The Daily Grind: Are unlimited trials more tempting?
Free trials can be... stressful. We recently even had a piece about trying to make the most of the limited time in them, if the point must be stressed. That's no doubt the reason why several companies have begun moving away from unlimited access for a brief time, and started to spread their trials out for as long as the player wishes. Warhammer Online, Champions Online, Free Realms, and Alganon all allow players a chance to try a limited portion of the game for as long as they want. And for someone without a lot of time, it's a perfect way to expand your window of playtime. Of course, if you've got plenty of time to devote to the trial, it's a bit obnoxious to hit a hard limit before having really gotten to explore the meat of the game at all. For some players, the fact that they're giving away the starting area or first few levels tends to imply they're not good enough to pay for in the first place. Do you find unlimited free trials more tempting or less than the traditional model? Or do you see it as a sign that the game is in trouble or otherwise undesirable?
Free Realms hosts Pirate Party and doubles the dubloons, mateys
Yarr, mateys! If ye be not knowin' what tomorrow is, then ye obviously must be a bunch o' scalawags. Fer, ye see, tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day, don'chaknow? In order to celebrate th' day o' piracy properly in Free Realms, ye need to be haulin' yer keel to the Pirate Invasion Party this evenin' in the cove just south of th' Seaside warpstone. Th' pirate booty-shakin' fun will begin today (Friday, Sept. 18) at 4PM Pacific, with th' timber-shiverin' goin' on until 6pm Pacific. There be dancin', trivia, an' other merriment planned at th' party, too, for those brave souls willing to wander near Davey Jones' locker!As if that weren`t enough for ye, this weekend be also th' time when Sony Online Entertainment be offerin' double th' value fer any Station Cash cards ye redeem. So that means if ye pop by an' pick up one o' th' 1000 Station Cash cards fer $10 (which will also net ye a pretty nifty red buccanneer dog hat in th' mix) ye`ll land $20 worth o' Station Cash fer use in Free Realms, EverQuest, or EverQuest II. Pirate fun and double yer dubloons in the Station store? Now that's enough to make any freebootin' privateer dance a jig - without a noose 'round their necks, even.
"Speedway Thunder" update coming to Free Realms next week
At E3 we found out a little about some future improvements to the racing side of things in Free Realms. Now IGN has learned that a racing-centric update with the title "Speedway Thunder" should go live next week if all goes to plan. Kart Drivers and Demolition Derby Drivers will be able to progress to level 20 through new quests, two new racetracks are going to be added and two new cars will be purchasable. The Garage interface that was previously discussed will be implemented for players to make use of different parts to tune up and customize their rides.While some upgrade parts will be purely aesthetic, others will be performance-enhancing. The upgrades themselves will be obtained through questing, in-game merchants and from the Station marketplace. Other notable tidbits from the IGN interview include a mention of an "Expert" difficulty level for minigames that is in development, as well as this quote regarding the possibility of player housing: "It's something that we've been discussing internally, and... we'll just leave it at that."
E3 2009: New classes, prestige classes and more coming to Free Realms
Are you one of the folks who has leveled your classes all the way to max in Free Realms and are kind of wondering what now? Well, if you're the type who loves progression and really building your character up to be better, you're in luck. The folks at SOE are planning to introduce Prestige classes (much like the aforementioned racing ones) that will allow players to level their jobs to 20, and improve them through further play.Along with this interesting development, they are adding in some new jobs to the game, like the Pro Racing class - and perhaps a new class to go with the Soccer game (Soccer player? Footballer?) since SOE has let us know that they are finally bringing those fenced-off soccer fields into play. Added to these new tidbits will be further expansion on the backstory of Free Realms, which will explain a bit more about the lands and inhabitants of this crazy fun casual MMO, as well as opening up more story-driven quests for players. Sounds like a bunch of exciting news coming in the next few months! We can't wait. Massively was on the ground in Los Angeles last week and covering all the latest E3 MMO news coming from the convention. Check out our breaking coverage (or all the Joystiq network E3 reporting) and keep your eye on Massively's front page for the latest developments.
Free Realms brings new "super ego" commercial online
Sony Online Entertainment is continuing their Saturday morning stampede with an all-new, terribly silly commercial. This new video is called "super ego" and offers a look at one particularly stuck-on-himself Free Realms character. Along with the above particularly large-and-in-charge character, this video also gives us a quick glimpse of the Free Realms trading-card game, which we understand is selling very well. If you're curious to see more, and see just why they call this one "super ego", click on past the break and check this second video out.
SOE podcasters speak freely about Free Realms
Always an interesting listen, the most recent Sony Online Entertainment podcast, #59 offers a bunch of new information on their hot upcoming title, Free Realms. A large part of it is a great interview with the Free Realms Community Manager, Jason "Pex" Ryan, who talks a lot about the different systems at work, and ways that their game sets itself apart from other games. There are tons of great tidbits, including a "Top 10 list on Why you should Play Free Realms", talking about the closed beta, and more background on the game. Aside from that, you'll hear about who shouldn't be drinking coffee, what class Alan "Brenlo" Crosby normally doesn't like playing, Fan Faire talk, more about EverQuest II, Twitter and email silliness - and even more. Be sure to download it and check it out! It will certainly make your daily commute fly by.
A new look around Free Realms
The Free Realms beta is underway, and if any of the people we know who are in it are to be believed, it's a lot of fun getting to explore, swap around your different 'classes' by changing outfits, etc. We're still waiting patiently to be let in on the Free Realms love here at Massively, so whenever a shiny new video comes out, we're glad to see it. This time we're treated to a romp around the various areas, including a look at a new zone called Merry Vale. According to SOE: The land where Merry Vale now sits was once barren, mountainous, and unexplored. One day (and no one can truly pinpoint which day), the mountains erupted, and a bright rainbow sprang forth. Curious travelers and adventurers went to investigate, and found the settlement of Merry Vale - home of the fairies. It was as though the place had been around for ages, but was hidden by magic. Now, there is something sinister going on here, but there are too many pretty lights and cool dances to keep most people distracted. At the center of Merry Vale, the fairies put on an elaborate show around the ever-rainbow. "Mayor" leads the ceremonies, but then vanishes - presumably to his office as there's always more to do to attract more visitors. Really, he is the leader of a secret cult.I'm staying away from the obvious cult-of-MMOs comment here, and will simply invite you to check out the shiny new screens below, and the trailer after the break! %Gallery-12980%
New Free Realms screens give us a sneak peek of Briarwood
With Free Realms now in closed beta, many are very curious to see how things are progressing in this new family-friendly SOE MMO. We here at Massively have been lucky enough to see it on several occasions, and are thrilled at how this project appears to be coming along. So we were extremely glad to see the Free Realms team released seven new screenshots and a bit of information on one of the many zones we're looking forward to experiencing; Briarwood. If you, like us, are interested in some of the backstory and things we'll be seeing in Free Realms, be sure to check behind the break for their description of Briarwood. Also, be sure to pop over to the gallery and check out the seven new screens, with a bonus of all the previous screens and concept art we've compiled about this great upcoming family-friendly title too! %Gallery-12980%
E308: Social networking and web-games in Free Realms
For a game that's not actually browser-based (though it will only require a small download and stream content in the background, Free Realms is a client-based game), Free Realms will have an unprecedented amount of browser-based content. Free Realms will have all of the web content you would expect from a modern MMO... and some of the web content you would expect to see in a social networking application like Facebook. Each player will have an online player profile listing all of their in-game friends (with links that will launch the game client and take you right to your friends' location) and newsfeeds that give you information about what's going on with your character. Not even Free Realms' game elements are restricted to the client. Many mini-games will also be playable via the web -- and give you in-game benefits for doing so (as long as you're logged on). So if you played the Bejeweled-esque mini-game via the web during your lunch break, your character in-game would gain ore and experience.In-game, characters will connect through a non-traditional guild system. When we asked Lead Designer Laralyn McWilliams about guilds at E3, she informed us that SOE is "exploring other kinds of social arrangements, like different types of friends. So you could have your BFFs, your regular friends, and your family." They're also exploring a "club" system. McWilliams said, "Guilds are exclusive -- so we'd like to really recognize the fact that someone might want to be in the gardening club and the dog-lover's club and the ninja club. Those would all have collections associated with them because Free Realms is ultimately a collection. There's a collection of jobs, a collection of clubs... we're all about letting you collect things in the game and show off your achievements."%Gallery-27758%%Gallery-27753% Interested in Free Realms? Then check out all of our E3 coverage of SOE's latest free-to-play online game!
E308: Combat in Free Realms
Because it's not required in order to advance (characters will be able to level up without ever killing a monster), combat in SOE's upcoming free-to-play MMO Free Realms is a bit different than you may be accustomed to. When we sat down to chat with Lead Designer Laralyn McWilliams at E3 this week, she described the combat system by saying, "Combat is our biggest mini-game." Monsters will never attack you as you're exploring the world -- only when you enter clearly marked combat zones. "We took a very Disneyland apprach," said McWilliams. "You're walking around Disneyland, you see Space Mountain, it looks awesome, and so you think, 'I want to go on Space Mountain!' Our content broadcasts itself to you." In the screenshot above, you see the entrance to a combat zone: a gate clearly proclaiming danger. So like any good MMO player, what do you do but walk up to it and see what dangers await you on the other side? Interacting with the gate, like launching any other mini-game in Free Realms, will give you a choice of several different combat encounters associated with the area.%Gallery-27758%%Gallery-27753%
E308: An overview of Free Realms
At E3 we had a chance to sit down with Laralyn McWilliams, Lead Designer for SOE's upcoming Free Realms game, who gave us a demo of the game and talked about how it's changed since we saw it earlier this year at CES. For those of you who don't know what we're talking about (and since SOE doesn't yet have a web page for Free Realms, the game isn't exactly shouting itself from the rooftops), it's SOE's answer to the success of casual, free-to-play games targeted at kids, like Club Penguin, RuneScape, Webkinz. The result of their efforts? A game that provides players with endless possibilities: allowing them to level up without ever killing a monster (if that's what they want to do!), allows them to switch classes at any time with the click of a button, and provides players with an unprescidented amount of web integration, including mini-games that can be played in the game world or on the web.Of the MMOs we've seen at E3 this year, Free Realms is the closest to launch, with a beta scheduled for September and a launch scheduled for early 2009. (For those of you wanting in on the beta, attending Fan Faire this year will be a sure way to get in to closed beta.) Curious yet? Let's take a look at the world of Free Realms.%Gallery-27758%%Gallery-27753%
E308: MMOs for your PS3
Touring SOE's swanky E3 press room, we noticed a trend while chatting up various developers: the PlayStation 3. Though up to this point, console MMOs haven't been the norm, Sony seems to be pushing hard in that direction. The three major titles SOE is showing off this week -- DC Universe Online, Free Realms, and The Agency -- are all planned for release on the PlayStation 3 as well as the PC. DCUO and The Agency are both currently planned for a simultaneous PC/PS3 release (though that may change) while the Free Realms team is planning to make sure they have a smooth PC release before making the jump to PS3. Everyone we talked to seemed to recognize there are some hurdles to overcome to bring an MMO to a console market -- but they were also confident about overcoming them.
Sony Online Entertainment shows off its first video blog entry
The folks at Sony Online Entertainment have offered up their first in what sounds like it will be a series of video blog entries. This first is being hosted by the Vault Network at IGN. Courtney Simmons, the head of PR for the company, chats with SOE CEO John Smedley about the big plans the company has set for this summer. The two talk about E3 announcements, the Comic-Con coming out party for DC Universe Online, hints at what's coming for The Agency and Free Realms, and (of course) a few words about the company's Fan Faire slated for mid-August. The full video is available below the cut - go check it out.
Exalight brings a new term: MMORG
In the world of MMO development, the pursuit of The New is a hard road to travel. French broadband provider Neuf Cegetel, however, is not only driving down that road, but racing along it. Jointly developed with virtual world development company F4, Exalight is a massively multiplayer online racing game -- an MMORG -- with an aesthetic and game mechanics that differentiates it from, say, Nexon's Kart Rider.From the referring site: 'Each player takes on the identity of a racing driver chosen to personal taste from the members of the three clans that populate the Exalight universe. A highly sophisticated customization system means that each player's avatar gets a unique appearance. Players' experience, talent and skills increase as familiarity with the Exalight universe builds up, and as more races are run. The very challenging racetracks require drivers to show tactical intelligence, making perceptive use of special powers and, above all, outsmarting the traps laid for them and the manoeuvres of rival runners.'More information is available at exalight.fr, but keep in mind that the site is in French only.[Via easybourse.com]
