People tend to forget that SOE is out there to make money. Just like you and i go to our daily jobs.... Sure you may like what you do, but would you do it for free? I highly doubt it. SOE doesnt either.

What does it matter to you if folks use RMT? The base game will be free, fluff wont. As in real life, you folks who bitch about RMT, do you bitch because the guy next door has a corvette and you dont? Life isnt fair and gaming isnt either! Get over it.

Originally posted by Guillight

 

It has nothing to do with SOE haters. We know what the F2P model is.

And if you think it's free, then you are naive my friend. SOE is no charity organisation and they don't spend millions on developing this, so you can play for free.

They give your kid the minimum amount of content and minimum amount of features and stuff.

So your kid will finish the content in, lets say, within a month.

Then your kid, addicted to the game, will start nagging you there is nothing more to do in the game, but if daddy waves his precious creditcard for him, then daddy can buy more content and stuff for him, so he can continue playing.

And then my friend.... then you will see how expensive venture this is going to become for you.

And that it will be a lot cheaper to let your son play a normal P2P subsription based only MMORPG like WoW instead (wich comes with full fledged parental controls as well (profanity filters, time limits, etc)...only shame hardly any parent bothers to use them).

That is all... no SOE hate... just a reality check on the so called F2P model. 

      Yep you jsut keep believing what you want and players like me will keep playing the f2p games for free.....The item shops are zero temptation for alot of us and we play for free so dont tell us we dont lol.

ok not for nothing yes i was bitter about what soe did with swg, but even I can set aside my vile disdain and actually try to enjoy soemthing. free realms looks like a better  There.com. Even art wise it looks similar. I just want a casual game I don't have to spend hours grinding on...as a 32 yr old full time employee i just don't have the time anymore.  I'm eager to see how this game runs and how fresh they keep it

One thing I'd like to add to the discussion is that in a recent interview their Head of Development stated that 60% of the game would be absolutely free, while 40% would be "paid content", likely covered by what "they" call "mini-subscription" of 4,99 USD. This will also give you additional char slots, etc.

I'd prefer it to be all free with additional items in RMT, but that's not the path they have chosen. However, I am still mighty excited about the game. I so can't wait for a real casual MMO that can be played with friends and family members, who would never be interested in a regular fantasy game, hehe.

Originally posted by Guillight

Originally posted by Ekibiogami

My God there are a Lot of Soe hateing trolls in the world..

And as a 30 year old man Im looking forward to trying it out :p

Hay its free, cant go wrong with that

 

It has nothing to do with SOE haters. We know what the F2P model is.

And if you think it's free, then you are naive my friend. SOE is no charity organisation and they don't spend millions on developing this, so you can play for free.

They give your kid the minimum amount of content and minimum amount of features and stuff.

So your kid will finish the content in, lets say, within a month.

Then your kid, addicted to the game, will start nagging you there is nothing more to do in the game, but if daddy waves his precious creditcard for him, then daddy can buy more content and stuff for him, so he can continue playing.

And then my friend.... then you will see how expensive venture this is going to become for you.

And that it will be a lot cheaper to let your son play a normal P2P subsription based only MMORPG like WoW instead (wich comes with full fledged parental controls as well (profanity filters, time limits, etc)...only shame hardly any parent bothers to use them).

That is all... no SOE hate... just a reality check on the so called F2P model. 

 

What annoys me the most is people like you that have nothing better to do but go into a forum about a game that you don't even like just so you can increase your post count.  How about you take you bashing party to another game forum and bash the games that are P2P where the developers don't give a rat's tin but about you or your suggestions.

My son plays Wizard 101, even with the restrictions because he hasn't talked his parents out of their credit card (whattaya know, some parents can say NO), and I think he'll probably like Free Realms too.

To anyone who would know: Does it have an option for chat restrictions on younger kids? Just curious.

There are so many CLUELESS posts on this thread it is hilarious.  Sorry to impune on your perfect world, but these kids find many interesting ways to spend lots and lots of money on these f2p games.

Just the other day I was reading about a 10 year old who borrowed his grandmother's card and spent $1000 on a game.  She could not pay her bills for the month. 

Oh yeah, this f2p games are so great for kids....NOT.

Wake up and figure it out, dumping huge loads of cash in these games is not hard, nor difficult for an enterprising teen.

Perfect World has a $300 pet.  Guess what, you see alot of them and it is the kids that are buying them.

If you are not making negative comments about RMT games, you should be.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

There are so many CLUELESS posts on this thread it is hilarious.  Sorry to impune on your perfect world, but these kids find many interesting ways to spend lots and lots of money on these f2p games.

Just the other day I was reading about a 10 year old who borrowed his grandmother's card and spent $1000 on a game.  She could not pay her bills for the month. 

Oh yeah, this f2p games are so great for kids....NOT.

Wake up and figure it out, dumping huge loads of cash in these games is not hard, nor difficult for an enterprising teen.

Perfect World has a $300 pet.  Guess what, you see alot of them and it is the kids that are buying them.

If you are not making negative comments about RMT games, you should be.

Really really intelligent.... Blame companies for kids stealing stuff. How about you point the blame where blame is due? Parents? Yeah you're right, you're pretty clueless too.

MMO developer are in it to make money, WHOA!!! you dont say! Shame on them, how could they???? If you as a parents, guardians and such are too dumb to control your own wallet, then how the heck can you control and raise a kid?

Originally posted by senadin

Originally posted by Ozmodan

There are so many CLUELESS posts on this thread it is hilarious.  Sorry to impune on your perfect world, but these kids find many interesting ways to spend lots and lots of money on these f2p games.

Just the other day I was reading about a 10 year old who borrowed his grandmother's card and spent $1000 on a game.  She could not pay her bills for the month. 

Oh yeah, this f2p games are so great for kids....NOT.

Wake up and figure it out, dumping huge loads of cash in these games is not hard, nor difficult for an enterprising teen.

Perfect World has a $300 pet.  Guess what, you see alot of them and it is the kids that are buying them.

If you are not making negative comments about RMT games, you should be.

 

 

Really really intelligent.... Blame companies for kids stealing stuff. How about you point the blame where blame is due? Parents? Yeah you're right, you're pretty clueless too.

 

MMO developer are in it to make money, WHOA!!! you dont say! Shame on them, how could they???? If you as a parents, guardians and such are too dumb to control your own wallet, then how the heck can you control and raise a kid?

 

 

You would be suprised how many parents fail in that task. 

A perfect example is World of Warcraft.

It has all the parental tools a parent could wish for to cut down and keep control on their kids gaming time, so it stays within limits and not affecting the kids education, social education and that he so spends some time with friends outside too, catching some fresh air.

Problem is, that these days most parents don't give a jack about their kids and having them spending litterly 24/7 on a game like WoW is just exactly what they want.

It's safe (as he doesn't go outside and might harm himself or do something stupid) and the parents don't have to entertain him, so they can go their own bussiness, without having to worry about their kid(s).

Welcome to the parents of today. 

(and ofcourse it's not all parents..... but a great lot of them are)

EDIT: And to the posters above. If you even bothered to actually read my post, then you would have read I wasn't bashing the game at all. Just explaining what F2P MMO's with Item Malls are.

If SOE can create a world environment compelling enough to make you want to buy virtual goods, then I say fair play to them, and I wish the well in this endeavor.

If turns out to be shit, then RMT or not, it won't matter to us.

The juicy question therfore is, can SOE make a game that compelling?   They've had some good titles (EQ1, EQ2, SWG, Planetside) and regardless of how those compare to WoW today, SOE are still a major MMORPG force to be reckoned with.

In my personal opinion however, it seems like SOE are more interested in paying the bills by coming up with interesting ways to spend money, instead of interesting ways to make you want to buy their games.  It seems like the accountants are the ones designing their games nowadays.

Originally posted by neschria

My son plays Wizard 101, even with the restrictions because he hasn't talked his parents out of their credit card (whattaya know, some parents can say NO), and I think he'll probably like Free Realms too.

To anyone who would know: Does it have an option for chat restrictions on younger kids? Just curious.

This info can be found on the Free Realms "For Parents" section, here is what they say:

Children under thirteen (13) are restricted to Quick Chat only. Parents cannot enable unregulated chat for players under the age of thirteen (13). However, parents of children age thirteen (13) and over can limit their child's interactions by switching Open Chat to Quick Chat on the Parental Controls page.

Quick Chat is a version of real-time text conversation that gives the user choices of pre-populated phrases and words. Players under the age of thirteen (13) are NOT able to insert or view any user-generated content and will only be able to select and view text from the list created by Sony Online Entertainment.

Basically it sounds just like Wizards101's option, which my family plays currently. After they saw the video for Free Realms though, they immediately wanted to switch to that. I have to admit that I'm eager to see this game comeout as well, it looks like a blast.

One of the reasons I don't think it will be heavy RMT is they want to compete with Rune Scape. They realize how large the market is for these type games and want a chunk. I personally hope its good, I want to give it a shot. RS was my first mmo and I'd like to see an updated version.

Originally posted by Arioc

Sorry to point out yer obvious ignorance, but SOE has only recently added RMT for two of it's games. The items available are fluff items, (House pets, appearance armor with no stats).

The LON cardcame is a completely optional and seperate facet of the game with fluff item rewards and nothing more. Any item from LON has a superior version in actual game loot aside from novelty.

I'm tired of people joining the lets bash Company X bandwagon with no firsthand experience themselves. And if yer still butthurt about SWG; QQ some more and find a new game.

I agree :D.

SOE seems to be making a game similar to Wizard 101,but the fact that SOE is behind it,means a LOT more content.Kids nowadays are not stupid,many are very smart ,so no sense for games to hold back and make a cheap simplistic game,kids just like adults want content.I am VERY confident SOE will deliver and at the very least be on par with any other game in the genre.

Originally posted by Ekibiogami

My God there are a Lot of Soe hateing trolls in the world..

And as a 30 year old man Im looking forward to trying it out :p

Hay its free, cant go wrong with that

Its sad that so many people feel the need to hate SOE. Its like theres some sort of Sony hate club out there and people think its actually smart of them to be a part of it.

SOE is a great company within the Sony Corporation. They are willing to do what other developers are not and are honestly more true to their player base than any other mmo development company, They, unlike the others, have a large assortment of titles under their belt.

Now before someone blows a casket, you have to understand something about SOE. SOE was literally controlled by Sony's film studio. This means, producers, hollywood "big shots", and general hollywood businessmen were calling a lot of the shots, and/or hindering the company as a whole. The film industry is known for making stupid decisions all the time, the approach to success is much different, and thus they were unqualified to influence mmorpgs. Blame them for the titles that fell short under SOE. They treated it like a film production and failed.

The good news is, is that Sony has gone through a much needed re-structuring process. The current CEO of Sony is a westerner and he's been getting rid of the bad, while focusing on the good. Ken K. sabotaged the PS3, or tried to, because he didnt like this new CEO. The earlier problems with the PS3 can lead back to Ken K, who is no longer working for Sony much less on the PS3, thank god.

SOE has been moved over to Sony's game division, and are now in a position to get out from under the hand of foolish film producers and execs. Since then, games like Vanguard have been ressurected and quite well I might add. Its a great game, one that no one would have expected to be good. Other titles are coming out that are very smart and full of quality. The agency, DC Universe, Free Realms, HOME...ect Sony is leading the console market into the much needed online interactive world. No other console maker is doing that, in fact they lack innovation.

Anyways, SOE doesnt deserve any hate. Peeps need to get off this "soe hate bandwagon" and be happy that a company is pushing for more innovative and open to all online gaming, even if its not for you, its helping greatly the genre you love (or else you wouldnt be here.)

 @BaronJuJu -- Thanks! That's just what I wanted to know.

I find it funny that the appeal so far for this game is quite widespread. I mean here we are talking about some casual aim at teens and younger game yet older folks are interested in it.

That tells us a lot about how well this game will be received.

star wars galaxies!!!!!!!

I'm curious about the game as well. I have a 7 year old son that enjoys games. It would be nice to play a game with him (if only I could afford another computer to do it. :)

F2P is fine...But if its F2P you can't expect to have everything without paying for something. In all reality SOE could slap a 14.99 a month charge on it.... would they get subscribers.. some.. would it hit their key market. No..

As a father I can't justify paying monthly for my son to sit in front of the computer.. He needs to do homework and go outside and socialize... however, I'm not against getting him the cool looking thing-a-ma-gig for 4.99 every once in a while. Also he wouldn't know that he's not getting 40% of the content either...

Although I gave up on Wizard 101 because I'm not that into card-based games, what I did love about it while I tried it out was the mini-games.  I've never played Puzzle Pirates (don't like the avatars), but I know that's the appeal of the game as well.

And that brings us to Free Realms, which is chockful of many, many mini games, most of which look like they're a lot of fun... for ANYONE.  I'm 38, and my mom is in her 70s, and she loves Yahoo! Games, Pogo, etc. Free Realms is a MMORPG that even someone as far from "8 to 15" as she is, could actually get into and enjoy endlessly.  And for me, I'm looking forward to Free Realms as a casual game that when I feel like taking a light break, play a few mini-games, knock around some monsters, and play dress up, it will be a quick and fun game to pop in, and enjoy without much stress or grief.

As for the paid options... if you compare it to the $15 monthly fee for most Western MMOs, if we do expect the average price to be $5 for each item (or whatever they charge for), you could basically budget for yourself three upgrades a month, and stay on par for what you pay for a game like WoW, LOTRO, DDO, WAR, etc. Or you could never pay... but I think the game will be so addictively fun that even the most casual players will want to indulge themselves every once in a while. And there's nothing wrong with that.

In a nutshell, Free Realms is a potential behemoth on its way to be "the next big thing." 

P.S. Nice to see MMORPG finally added Free Realms to their site... why didn't they do that like 9 months ago ? : )

Suffice it to say that: anyone who can't understand the anti-SOE sentiment, or the SOE-skepticism hasnt been in MMO gaming for very long. And THAT is why SOE is targeting a younger generation of pee-wee gamers.

That aside: I'd never play FreeRealms becasue to me playing a game that is so directly focused on younger gamers is sort of like, some older guy hanging around the playground saying... "What?!  I just like how the teeter-toter feels!.... no really....".

Creeeee-eee-eeeepy! I just couldn't bring myself to play it; not when there are so many other great alternatives for older gamers out there all ready.

All's I can say is that I really hope SOE is ready to instate very heavy in-game moderation for this product. In the past they have had extremely poor in game CS or rules enforcement. That is at least one thing that SOE will have to change if they are going to create a place online for large numbers of kids to gather. If they dont heavly moderate Free Realms then... well thats just irrespnsible.