It asks to install a client when you press "Play".

you can only play Free Realms from your browser -- theres no game app you can launch

the "install download" is less than 100 MB

You start it from the browser.

But the game clients folder contains gigabytes of data.

What is a browser game in first place?

The game runs in a browser, therefore it's a "browser-based game".  The file you install is a plugin that allows Free Realms to launch in your default browser.  That being said, "browser-based" is confusing, because it has traditinoally meant that nothing needed to be downloaded or installed.  In this case,  I have close to a gig of data downloaded to my machine in order to run Free Realms, so, IMO, Free Realms is really a client-server game that simply uses the browser as the client interface.  Players who think they don't need to install anything, download anything or have necessary system permissions are sorely mistaken. 

~Ripper

Originally posted by rhinok

The game runs in a browser, therefore it's a "browser-based game".  The file you install is a plugin that allows Free Realms to launch in your default browser.  That being said, "browser-based" is confusing, because it has traditinoally meant that nothing needed to be downloaded or installed.  In this case,  I have close to a gig of data downloaded to my machine in order to run Free Realms, so, IMO, Free Realms is really a client-server game that simply uses the browser as the client interface.  Players who think they don't need to install anything, download anything or have necessary system permissions are sorely mistaken. 

~Ripper

does it run in a browser though? I ask becuase when the game is running, FreeRealms.exe is running. I can close all my open browsers and verify none are running in task manager and the game is unaffected. Aside from installing and launching from the browser, it doesn't seem to be "browser based" beyond those functions. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a command-line switch to run the client directly.

Not really an argument mind you. Just things I noticed becuase I wondered what makes a game "browser based" as I tend to think of your typical MSN game or something like that when I hear the term.

why does it matter really....does it lessen the value of the game?

Originally posted by felore

why does it matter really....does it lessen the value of the game?

I don't think anyone is really making implications regarding the quality of the game based on it's classification. That said, what's wrong with a little academic conversation? Does a topic have to really matter? If so, this site would have a lot less traffic...

Originally posted by mklinic

Originally posted by rhinok

The game runs in a browser, therefore it's a "browser-based game".  The file you install is a plugin that allows Free Realms to launch in your default browser.  That being said, "browser-based" is confusing, because it has traditinoally meant that nothing needed to be downloaded or installed.  In this case,  I have close to a gig of data downloaded to my machine in order to run Free Realms, so, IMO, Free Realms is really a client-server game that simply uses the browser as the client interface.  Players who think they don't need to install anything, download anything or have necessary system permissions are sorely mistaken. 

~Ripper

 

does it run in a browser though? I ask becuase when the game is running, FreeRealms.exe is running. I can close all my open browsers and verify none are running in task manager and the game is unaffected. Aside from installing and launching from the browser, it doesn't seem to be "browser based" beyond those functions. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a command-line switch to run the client directly.

Not really an argument mind you. Just things I noticed becuase I wondered what makes a game "browser based" as I tend to think of your typical MSN game or something like that when I hear the term.

It runs in a browser window.  The executable is the plugin, which instatiates the game in a browser window (the window is secured, you can't open new tabs or do anything else browser related in it)..  I have Free Realms  in windowed mode and it's easy to see that it's running in a browser that way.  In my case, I do all my browsing in Chrome, but have firefox set to my default browser.  When Free Realms launches, it's clearly in a Firefox Window, due to the UI.

Actually, I take that back. In windowed mode, it looks just like a Windows window. I can see why your questioning the label "browser game", because it's not obvious.  It really seems like more of a hybrid browser/client game.  It is launched from the browser and instantiated through a browser plugin, but there's also a ton of data downloaded and stored on the client. /hmmm

~Ripper