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Free realms is not a good game.
Zathoral
Member Posts: 110
Firstly I would like to say that I understand that the goal of this game is not to be like other mmorpgs. This game is supposed to be like an online theme park in which you and your friends can socialize and have fun. To me that goal was not accomplished. To me the game has almost no content what so ever, for any purpose. There aren't games to keep the game playable. The only minigames that really have replayability are the kart racing, derby, and TCG. The TCG however would get terribly dull without spending a significant amount of money on getting new cards. The two driving minigames are okay, but because they're one of very few things to do in this game, they will get boring to most players.
Crafting in this game took a step forward in some ways. Crafting is actually mildly fun, although it does get boring after harvesting for a few hours in one day. Granted this game is not supposed to be played for hours each day. The crafting is entertaining to some extent, and I give them credit for that, however the fact that there is no shout function or auction house in the game means that crafting is really only useful for equipping yourself rather than selling to others, which leaves little motivation to spend a significant amount of time crafting at all. I would like to see more skill-based or mini-game based crafting mechanisms in other mmos, so it was nice that free realms actually made it slightly fun to craft instead of the typical mind-numbing grinds. Unfortunately there just is little reason to craft other than to equip yourself with mediocre gear that is essentially the same as what you get in any soloable instance in the game.
Combat. I was skeptical at first, but the combat in free realms is actually pretty fun. The instances are each good for a few run throughs, however there is no raiding or PvE content that seems to really take any effort or give any really good rewards. Correct me if I am wrong.
So in summary. It seems to me that there is really very little content in this game to actually keep people playing once they reach level 20. Crafting is for the most part pointless. Kart racing is fun for a little bit. TCG is expensive but I suppose could be fun if you are willing to pay a lot for it. Combat is decent, but people don't want to run the same easy instances over and over again, and there seems to be no challenge at all. I used to play a game called toontown online about 4 years ago when I was younger, and frankly it blew this game away. It had way more content, better mini-games, and there was actually an end result that made things worth doing as opposed to this game where there really is no content beyond leveling each job. The chat and community functions in free realms are also laughable because the game is meant to be a community and social oriented game, yet its chat functions are lacking compared to even many much older mmos that are not focused on socialization.
Overall this game was a disappointment to me. I will probably continue playing it for about a week or so as I have nothing else to do, but there is just no content to me that allows for long term playability.
Comments
Is it safe to assume you are within the target age range, i.e. children? If not, then what is boring to you could be loads of fun for children.
I'm 16, but I remember when i was 11 or 12 playing toontown was much more fun than this game. TBH that game blows this game out of the water. I don't think children over 10 would really find this game that fun, and anyone who has played an mmorpg before won't find it fun. Some things in this game actually have a level of depth that I don't think kids under 10 can really understand. Crafting and harvesting may be too confusing for some kids, and managing gear as well as leveling up skills with stars could also be slightly confusing. The TCG is undoubtedly too confusing for almost any kid.
I think the OP's review is pretty fair, but I don't think the title of this thread really matches. It's a young game still, but I don't think the title "not a good game" is really fair. It's on par with toowntown if you dont sub, and if you DO sub, there is a lot to look forward too.
A few points to consider, especially in a VS Toontown-type debate:
Toontown is much more limited in the area of exploration imo. But I haven't seen the entire world yet so can't say for sure. FR "feels bigger" to me.
Many of the features in toontown were placed over time, and is a much more "mature" (sorry, couldnt find a better word here
) game. Its been around a lot longer and has features like housing (which WILL be coming to Free Realms at some point...so they say).
Also, my kids are of age to play either, and Toontown can quickly become tiresome if you don't sub. I think both games are very similar in this regard, you will be limited if you do not sub. Content is sort of a wash if you plan to play without a sub, either game suffers in a sense.
FR will also eventually have specializations for people who hit max lvl 20 and want to sub-job off of that main job.
Also agree that many of the mini-games themselves too closely resemble each other, portraying a lot of different mini-games -- when in fact many are similar or EXACTLY the same with just different graphics. The mini-games need more variety and maybe even some randoms...just to keep it fresh. At first the mini-games are clever, and not long after, repetitive..even for my 5 year old.
Overall we are all enjoying this game, even though we have not subbed yet.
Edit: My typing is horrible today...is it Friday yet?
While the game is made for lower ages and families, I have to say that I've had a lot of fun in my time in beta. Its not bad for a free or $5 dollar game. I think it has loads of potential. If you want a game like this that focuses more on combat you may check out Fusion Fall by cartoon network.
I think both games suck if you don't sub. It seems like 80% of the content in the game is sub only, and you can't even try half of the jobs if you don't sub (I did sub btw). The bejewled type mini-game was way overused though. It seems like most of the mini-games are all the matching games with different little objects in them and slightly different ways of scoring. They all get very tedious after a while. I'm not saying this game won't be bad in the future. It has potential. I'm just saying that to me it feels like they launched it with very little content. Toontown had a decent amount of content in it at launch. It actually took time to level up, and combat was rewarding. There was also housing in toowtown on day one (or so I remember). The mini-games were muhc better as well. I do agree that free realms feels like a much bigger world though, but exploration is only fun until you've explored everything, and there isn't enough in free realms to explore for that long. You might be able to explore for a week or two (playing casually) if you decided to get all the collections, but that might be pushing it. You could probably explore the entire world and get all collections in less than 24 hours of play.
I'm going to have to disagree with the OP when it comes to ToonTown. I beta tested both FreeRealms and ToonTown and as it stands right now FreeRealms has MUCH more content than ToonTown had at release. Give FreeRealms as much time to evolve has ToonTown has had and I think you find find FreeRealms is the leader in content. When released ToonTown DID NOT have the cart game nor did it have player housing. All it had was the mini-games for jellybeans and combat, combat, combat.
I agree with you for the most part Zath. Although I think when Toontown came online for the first time, the amount of games you could play were very limited. My son would just be...ok....guess Ill go get some more gags. That got tiring too after a spell (and we subbed then too).
I think if free realms tries to make more in these areas, it can be a great game for kids:
1) Better and/or more varieties of mini-games.
2) Expand the pet system and/or make it easier from the start. My youngest has problems here, and quite frankly, I have still yet to figure this out...lol (shhhhh)
3) Kart racing in this game is awesome, stop making me walk all over the place for it. Showcase it already!
4) Deeper job system
5) A housing system (it is a little shameful it doesnt have this at launch, my girls are ALL over that)
I could think of a few more probably, but yeah. The good news is all of these are doable, so my family is taking the standoff approach for now. We're having fun with the "free" part for now and not "investing" too much in it. We'll see what's going on in about 6 months. If it's a healthy growing game with a better feature set and family pricing, we're in!
correction
there are 15 jobs -- 10 are available with no membership, plenty more than half
Brawler, Ninja, Chef, Miner, Demolition Derby Driver, Kart Racer, Card Duelist, Postman, Pet Trainer and Adventurer.
paid subscriptions: Blacksmith, Archer, Medic, Warrior and Wizard
EQ2 fan sites
correction
there are 15 jobs -- 10 are available with no membership, plenty more than half
Brawler, Ninja, Chef, Miner, Demolition Derby Driver, Kart Racer, Card Duelist, Postman, Pet Trainer and Adventurer.
paid subscriptions: Blacksmith, Archer, Medic, Warrior and Wizard
From what I've read, I'd say Pet trainer doesn't really count as a free to play job, i read that you only get a 20 minute trial pet, and that you have to buy one after that.
Sorry if I'm wrong.
I agree that Pet Trainer having to use a rental pet is lame excuse and should be member job
but even if you counted Pet Trainer as one
--- thats 9 free vs 6 paid
EQ2 fan sites
I'm a long time, jaded MMORPG player. I know not to judge this game on the same standards I would judge most MMORPGs. What I do judge it on is fun factor and play appeal. I'm having a lot of fun and I can't wait to play. Of course, it's only been a couple days, but first impressions are very favorable.
I've had to chuckle at the fact that this game seems to have a good number of power levelers. If any MMORPG should be more about just enjoying the game, rather than the need to power through levels, this should be it. If that's where some people find their fun, go for it, but it seems like a waste to me.
If you take your time, try different jobs, sample the quests and explore, there is a ton of fun here. I'm actually a little overwhelmed at all the content. I've played a good number of hours and have only sampled a very small portion of content in the very early areas.
I did notice, when my Brawler job brought me to level 5+ zone, that there were a number of subscriber only quests that were being added to the mix. Still plenty to do for free, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I upgrade to the $5/month option.
As to challange, between levels 5 and 7 Brawler last night, I found a number of the Level 5 instances to be very challanging. I also have found some nice rewards as well. It's actually been a lot more challanging PvE content for me than I've seen in WAR.
Exploration is rewarded. There are "collection" items you can find randomly scattered around the zones and there are special Exploration Collection icons in every zone in hard to find or reach parts of the zone. Combined with mining, I find my self taking zig-zagging routes to my destination to find goodies along the way.
I'm sure power levelers will find a way to zip through the game and complain about "end game". The thing is, it isn't that kind of game. You play it to have fun and there is a lot of fun to be had.
Technically, I have had a few crashes and the load time waiting for content you haven't experienced before can be a bit annoying, but it's a pretty polished game. The game world is well designed, fun to explore and has many cool "points of interest" along the way.
If you can get out of the power grind mentality, I can see this game providing enjoyable diversions for some time. Great for when you need a break from a more serious MMORPG, or while waiting for the next AAA title to come along.
For kids, I think the game play and content will be very enjoyable, but I couldn't help thinking that my niece and nephew probably wouldn't have much patience for the times when the game has to pause to download 30 MB of content before you can access something new. They really need to add a trickle background downloader to preload content to your PC over time.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
This game is a typical Free 2 Play game in disguise.
Everything revolves around the Station Cash shop.
Why no auction house? Because they want you to spend money in the Cash Shop
Why no free pets? Because they want you to spend money in the Cash Shop
Why no good gear in dungeons? Because they want you to spend money in the Cash Shop
And we can go on and on....
... but it all comes down to the Cash Shop.
The $5 membership only unlocks a bit more content and a couple jobs, but for all the rest... from potions to clothing to armor to pets to whatever.... Cash Shop.
Free Realms is basically John Smedly's RMT wetdream come alive.
Pay a monthly subscription fee PLUS spend lots of money in the cash shop.
It's exactly how he wants all his future games to be. So get used to it.
I won't get used to it. But then again... I'm not and won't ever play SOE games anymore.
Cheers
You seem to forget that you get this game "for free"! Yeah pets cost 4 bucks but for a new game you have to shell out 50 or more bucks to start playing. You can buy $20 in Station Credits and play 6 month as a member for the same money a new MMORPG costs! And the best thing is you don't have to spend anything if you don't want to and play this game for free for as long as you want to.
Played Free Realms today the game is suprisingly refreshing , polished and fun, the derby track is a load of fun with friends, I can see myself playing this game from time to time just for the fun of it, but I can also see that this game (like someone else said above) is all about RMT, sure the game is free but most of the features are actually hiden away behind the membership and Cash Shop, on nearly every menu there is a "Membership" button to try and get you to subscribe with the usual "get more!".
All in all I think SOE hit the nail in the head for what they were aiming for, this is the type of game that is appealing to children, the game is mostly streamed so no massive installations/downloads, I can really see a bunch of kids asking Santa for "Station Credits" next year.
A full fledged MMORPG ala WoW, War, EvE, etc etc etc also offers a lot more content for those 50 + 15 a month. It doesn't really matter if you get something for free here if the content doesn't cover much which in my opinion it doesn't specially compared to a real MMORPG. I would say i would get a better deal paying and playing WoW even though i hate that game than i would playing for free in Free Realms.
Granted this game is geared towards kids but i find the comments here pretty retarded when people say "Well you are not their target audience", unless those remarks are made from the actual demographics of kids which i doubt. If you are an adult and enjoy Free Realms you really have no merrit in telling people the reason they dislike it is because they are not a kid. If that was a good argument then you, the adult wouldn't be enjoying it either. The fact is that you do means the game appeals to kids and adults alike. If it didn't then adults wouldn't be playing including yourself.
Yes, the payment and cashshop is fucking horrible.
But this game has huges amounts of potential, not someting most games have.
It just came out, give it two or three content patches, then judge it.
The instances are fun but generally very basic. What a lot of people are not aware of is the fact the instances scale up with you to provide a challenge for your level and group. For example, going into an instance with a full group will be much more challenging than going solo. In some instances there are bosses that will only spawn when a full group enters.
If you never intend to play anything made by SOE then Why are you even posting here. You might stop trolling.
A full fledged MMORPG ala WoW, War, EvE, etc etc etc also offers a lot more content for those 50 + 15 a month. It doesn't really matter if you get something for free here if the content doesn't cover much which in my opinion it doesn't specially compared to a real MMORPG. I would say i would get a better deal paying and playing WoW even though i hate that game than i would playing for free in Free Realms.
Granted this game is geared towards kids but i find the comments here pretty retarded when people say "Well you are not their target audience", unless those remarks are made from the actual demographics of kids which i doubt. If you are an adult and enjoy Free Realms you really have no merrit in telling people the reason they dislike it is because they are not a kid. If that was a good argument then you, the adult wouldn't be enjoying it either. The fact is that you do means the game appeals to kids and adults alike. If it didn't then adults wouldn't be playing including yourself.
While people enjoy alot of games, naturally.
But if one are looking for a game that replaces WoW/EQ2 type of game. Uhm... well I am puzzled.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
A full fledged MMORPG ala WoW, War, EvE, etc etc etc also offers a lot more content for those 50 + 15 a month. It doesn't really matter if you get something for free here if the content doesn't cover much which in my opinion it doesn't specially compared to a real MMORPG. I would say i would get a better deal paying and playing WoW even though i hate that game than i would playing for free in Free Realms.
Granted this game is geared towards kids but i find the comments here pretty retarded when people say "Well you are not their target audience", unless those remarks are made from the actual demographics of kids which i doubt. If you are an adult and enjoy Free Realms you really have no merrit in telling people the reason they dislike it is because they are not a kid. If that was a good argument then you, the adult wouldn't be enjoying it either. The fact is that you do means the game appeals to kids and adults alike. If it didn't then adults wouldn't be playing including yourself.
While people enjoy alot of games, naturally.
But if one are looking for a game that replaces WoW/EQ2 type of game. Uhm... well I am puzzled.
You would be surprised how many people coming from those types of games that's completely burned out from them because they have become a second job. I saw a lot of posters on the Free Realms boards coming from more adult oriented MMORPGS that were simply tired of raiding 5 days a week. It's natural for such a gamer to seek out the complete opposite when they are burned out. i can't really do much to raise your understanding of things or people but i can tell you there is quite a large group that enjoys games such as toontown, wizard101 and free realms because they have gotten sick of the pressure in other games. A lot of those are adults.
Now that that's out of the way i was merely commenting on how 'Free' doesn't equal great value. That's entirely in the eyes of the beholder and the product itself. I have yet to see a 'Free' game able to compete with a P2P game when it comes to content. This is specially true for Free Realms even if you do decide to persue a premium membership or not.
You would be surprised how many people coming from those types of games that's completely burned out from them because they have become a second job. I saw a lot of posters on the Free Realms boards coming from more adult oriented MMORPGS that were simply tired of raiding 5 days a week. It's natural for such a gamer to seek out the complete opposite when they are burned out. i can't really do much to raise your understanding of things or people but i can tell you there is quite a large group that enjoys games such as toontown, wizard101 and free realms because they have gotten sick of the pressure in other games. A lot of those are adults.
Now that that's out of the way i was merely commenting on how 'Free' doesn't equal great value. That's entirely in the eyes of the beholder and the product itself. I have yet to see a 'Free' game able to compete with a P2P game when it comes to content. This is specially true for Free Realms even if you do decide to persue a premium membership or not.
Thanks, I think you understood what I meant. And I may have misentrepr*.* what you meant initially. We ment the same thing.
And the other thing I can't really argue about that.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
I did upgrade to the member's account, but don't really see the need for the cash shop.
All the potions I have needed I've received as loot or purchased with the in game currency. I have found my gear obtained through game play to be sufficient. Also, there are rare loot drops in game. I have two already, nice stats and visual weapon effects.
The biggest advantage the cash shop offers are items that provide a star (xp) bonus. I'm in no rush to power level, so I don't feel I'm missing much.
For people with money to spend, or unable to resist temptation, there of course is the potential to spend quite a bit. I do have trepidation about this model, knowing that there will be people who will spend more than they should or can afford. However, the game can definitely be enjoyed with out the cash shop.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
People who spend a lot of money in an item mall or over spend are not the problem of the game. It is a problem with the person. Nothing in Free REalms or any mmo I have played that had an item mall would force a person to over spend. Some have suggested SOE does this to make people over spend. That is nonsense. If used wisely you will actually spend less in Free realms and its item mall then a typical 14.99 subscription. Free Realms is a great value if played wisely. However if not used wisely that is not SOE fault it is the fault of the player.
This is why I play Free Realms. It is just deep enough and varied enough to keep me interested for awhile. It is a nice change. I would disagree with your comments on the value of Free Realms. So far there is a lot of content and I find it a great value. If this will hold over the next few months is yet to be seen.
This is why I play Free Realms. It is just deep enough and varied enough to keep me interested for awhile. It is a nice change. So far there is a lot of content and I find it a great value. If this will hold over the next few months is yet to be seen.
Ditto here...I'm in my 30's and enjoying this very much. I'm very tired of only having fighting, or questing which involves fighting and a tacked on pointless crafting system. I used to like those really deep and crazy difficult MMO and RPGs, but lately they're all so similar but in a different setting that I don't feel I'm getting a quality experience or overall fun. {recently adopted another Lab puppy so that cuts time from my schedule again!}
FreeRealms to me stands for FreedomRealms, and the $4.99 a month of which I have paid and having a blast with medic is quite a good deal. At first I wasn't sure I was gonna like this during beta, but I came back after launch and having more fun than ever in a long time. There are really just so many different things to do besides just fighting, the crafting and harvesting is a very refreshing change, all the little mini-games like "Feeling the Beat" and the various "Tower Defense" games which I love as well as the "Trading Card Game" I may eventually delve into.
This game is flourishing with tons of short events that are all fun and something anyone can get into in a few minutes and have a good time with, or spend countless hours scouring the landscapes looking for collection piece spawns and rare exploration locations.
Anyway.....even though this is suppossedly targeted at a younger crowd; I'm having a very good time and enjoying every minute of it at my age! Some of those combat instances and named fights I've gotten into are tough and quite the challenge even for me.
I'm very surprised I'm thinking and saying this yet again cause of my long time dislike of Sony but they've gone and won me over exponetially with FreeRealms!