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FreeRealms -SimpleReview
Foxkoun
Member Posts: 96
Having gotten an invite to beta, my first impressions are that it comes close to being WoW on minigames aimed directly at children 
Visually it looks decent, though as said the graphics are intent on keeping kids entertained, but in my opinion the player-models(humans mostly) look better than the chunky-built WoW humans.
Sounds are half traditional, half cartoon.
Classes are accessed through an on the spot menu and split up, unhinging the tradition classification of adventuring and crafting into their own seperate class. Many of which are reliant on minigames to further them while showing no obvious benefit. If expanded upon, the classes could very well be as many as 100's provided they go that far with it.
Overall it's fair, but best left to the younger kids. Even then I can't say wether that will really deter everyone else, nor can I forsee it rising or falling in popularity.
Comments
Free Realms is an exercise in how far cash shops can be pushed on the public. $5 for a monthly subscription $10 for a family account. This opens up all the jobs and all the quests. Well except for pet trainer because you have to spend additional Station Cash to buy a pet for you to fully play this class. A pet doesn't come with a subscription.
Then there is the cash shop in form of the Station Cash Marketplace. From here you can buy a full set of equipment for any job (read class) and weapons plus extras like special racing karts that lets you easily beat those pesky players that doesn't want to spend rl cash on a cash shop. This goes twice for the TCG where you can buy booster packs to get ahead of everybody else who also don't feel like spending rl cash, outside what they already spent on a subscription.
The rest of the jobs like race car driver destruction, derby driver, card dueller, well even combat if you want to duel will give a significant advantage if they take advantage of the Station Cash Market.
For a fully equipped combat character bought with SC would be around $50. Would people pay that much? Yes they would if it would get them ahead. People already pay that kind of money for aimbots like MXS , bot programs such as WoW glider and generally buy gold online from various gold farmers. So yes people are willing to pay rl cash to be able to beat other players.
There are only 3 types of job playstyles to choose from
Co-op
Solo
Duels
- Cooperative mode is combat only. There is nothing else in the game that promotes you to play alongside eachother. Jobs such as Brawler, Warrior, Wizard, Medic,Archer, Ninja. If i have left one out then i apoligize again. I would say this is 20% of the content in Free Realms
- Solo is the biggest part of the game. Everything that isn't combat is solo only. If you hope to play the game with your kids but want to skip the combat jobs you are out of luck. None of the quests can be accomplished with a partner. I would say more than 50% of the game is geared towards solo.
- Duels include racing, combat, card duelling, destruction derby, checkers, chess. If i have missed something then i apologize. This is also something you will do solo against other players. There is no team content. I would say this comprises of 30% of the game.
That leaves you with 20% content where you are able to play with a partner geared strictly towards combat.
My conclusion: The game caters too much towards solo play and too little on cooperative play. For people who likes to solo this is great. For those that wish to play with others this is not a good thing. You really have to give yourself in to combat if you want to have that experience. Plus Station Cash in free realms is more or less praying on the weaker minded players in our society. Our kids.
game goes Live today, 04/28
www.freerealms.com/
EQ2 fan sites
I've been playing beta well until the servers were turned off, the game is solid and really really fun and addictive.
For once in a MMORPG you can actually do what you want when you want, you have no contraints, there is no mobs that will jump you while exploring which makes for a fun experience, even if you not a kid. The fact of the amount of different things you can do is astounding, from making food that not only makes your health go up or restores it, it can turn you into an animal, to fighting in dungeons that regulate its level to the levels in your group, to racing in a kart race similar to Mario Kart.
The community is really friendly on the forums and in game, but lack of a global chat means you don't really speak to many people unless you see them while you are doing a game like pet training. The minigames are really fun and are like Puzzle Pirates in ways, mining is where you have to get the ore out of the puzzle by breaking the blocks that are connected to 3 or more, then to smelt the ore, it is a cooking moma style game where you have to do certain things to the ore to make it into bars.
The game does have a few bugs, well it did before release, but we have been promised most if not all will be sorted in the mega patch they are applying.
The statement about cash shop getting you ahead in the game is rather untrue as the game isn't steered towards PvP, the option is there to race or duel but its not something the game relys on. Apart from the pets the cash shop is fine, even the pets are cheap, and at $5 for a subscription, you can save $10 and put tht on cash shop and easily pay for a pet and even a weapon or something, so it seriously isn't much of a deal. You can still play pet training class, as you can rent a pet for 10 mins for free, only to have a pet do you have to buy station cash, which allows people that can't have a subscription the chance of making a one off payment.
Overall this game is really fun to play, not just for kids unless you want PvP or don't want fun and want to grind to the top level to do raids, this game is for you. It has diversity, challenge, and each level opens up more quests and items that will help you along the way. I can't wait for the game to open again!
I was interested, until I heard SOE and Cash Shop.
I also don't like how meaningless classes and jobs are.
I just ran to the Go Karts and played that until I got bored.
Thank you for the expanded review on it, sorry if mine was short ^^;
I'd rather play mabinogi that freerealms anyways.
it was suprisingly fun - bit like a Wii game but online
Ie doing chef mini games - click to chop the greens, move mouse in cutting method to cut the meat.
The good thing about it - its different and very chilled
Theres no inbuilt rush to be uber because it doesnt matter.
However its very cutestyand definitely aimed at younger players, parental controls for starters are a give away.
Yes also the Cash shop - or idiot tax as we could call it.
Buy your way to the top or get beaten by a 6year old with an eliteist complex and daddys credit card.
However its very chilled and good break from the normal setup but with the cash side and the aimed at youngsters its a no go for the regular bunch of players.
A more adult version - perhaps an adult server where theres no cash shop and more mature language ok then it could be an outlet to let all those WOW "ive just been wtfbbqpwnd" feeling slowly drift off into some mini game of demo derby then it could be something as a side game.