Free Realms Creative Director Laralyn McWilliams talks to MMORPG.com only hours after the game's launch about how it went and what the game's about.

“Free Realms is really not about the grind to get to max level, but getting into a virtual world and having fun,” said McWilliams. The game, while hard to define is cartoony and full of quirks. “[It’s] very light hearted, lots of pop culture references, having a sense of humor about ourselves as well as MMOs in general.”

The game can be broken down into four distinct kinds of gameplay.

The most obvious is combat and adventure, which should be more familiar to fans of traditional MMOs. Players can explore the world, fight bad guys and level up their toon.

Read the full interview here.

Good interview. I hope this game succeeds and helps other developers realize that games shouldn't be totally focused on grinding and mob killing.

While I was somewhat bothered by the amount of instancing and lack of community based gameplay ( It really feels like a solo based game except that you would be more inclined to play a bit with RL friends. ) But a great game nonetheless for those of younger age.

I'm older and the game is great... don't think it's geared towards just kids... and so far I haven't seen an instance yet... other then the battles.

It's not a bad game at all. I'm thinking of getting my oldest kid to try it. Wizzard 101 is what my kids play, this is way better.

So, what's in the item mall?  They basically say you need station cash but won't tell you what you need it for until you're in-game.

pets cost 250 station coins. theres a neat kart racing game and destruction derby in it too!

Though the game felt kinda empty in the beta but then you couldnt just tell your friends and have them join in. Now that its live you can tell your friends to join in since its free to play. I've told my mom to join in with me. After teliing her to stay away from WoW though she loved warcraft series. Just new the people and competative feel the game impses on you to play would not be for her.  This is finaly one we can play to gather. And ice told some ofmy opther freinds about it. Most of them play wow so most won't join up but some will cause it doesnt cost anything to check it out.

FYI for parents:

Sony had this game where people spent a lot of time and money taming pets.  People got attached to these, were promised new pets in an expansion and were promised improvements to pet taming as a profession.  Immediately after purchasing the expansion, people learned that pet-taming would be deleted in less than two weeks time.  Sony deleted the profession and those that tamed pets could only stare at pets they could no longer interact with in their inventories.  Needless to say, many people were upset.

Now Sony wants to market a game to kids that is free to play, but sells them a chance to have pets.  They claim they've learned from their past experiences, but the EULA for the new game suggests otherwise.  It seems that they reserve the right to take money from your kids for pets, and then promptly delete them any time they choose, at their sole discretion.  Here's a quote from the EULA:

"You further acknowledge that SOE can and will, in its discretion, modify features, functions or abilities of any element of any of its games or any Virtual Goods (which may, among other things, make the Virtual Goods substantially more valuable, effective or functional, or less valuable, effective or functional, more common or less common, or eliminated entirely). You acknowledge and agree that all Virtual Goods represent a limited license right governed by the terms of this Agreement, and are not redeemable for any sum of money or monetary value from SOE at any time." (from the official site, red font added for emphasis)

Why am I posting this?  Is it because I hate SOE and want them to disappear?  No, absolutely not.  I'm posting this so that parents are informed about what SOE may do to your kids if they choose to play this game, purchase pets and get attached to them. 

I suggest you actually read the EULA in its entirety before deciding whether or not this is a good investment for your kids.  You may want to look at how your child's use of your visa is handled, how information is collected, how much access you're giving SOE to your PC, and how complaints will be handled.  This is just a heads up folks.

look sfun, going to give it a try..

I'm incredibly impressed with this game.

I checked it out, and was simply stunned.
There's an incredible amount of content for F2P game, and one that streams over a browser none the less.

I spent six hours playing tonight.  Just lost track of the time.  It's been a long time since an MMO, or any game for that matter has grabbed me and got me lost. 
I had to buy some station cash when I saw that you could get cybor parts for you pet.  I had to have a cyborg dog! 
Another guy ran over and challenged me to a duel; so I gave it a shot.  What a shock when it actually dropped us into a little wilderness instance to fight.  Nothing spectacular about the fight itself, mostly just a lot of who could click faster then the other, but it was fun.
Kart racing reminds me of Mariokart.  I'm gonna have a lot of fun in the demo derby playing against other people.

I gotta get a second computer now so that my girls 12 year old and I can play together.
My brother who's a year older then me gave it a go; I'm 32.  He was having a blast too.
I think I may even be able to get my girl to play.  The mini games are just her thing.

I spent the 4.99 to become a member. 
Of all the MMO that have released in the past couple years I gotta say, Freeworlds def. gives the most bang for your buck.

Kids game or not, it's a lot fun.
I'm looking forward to wasting the last few days of my vacation in Freeworld. 

Originally posted by ArcAngel3

FYI for parents:

Sony had this game where people spent a lot of time and money taming pets.  People got attached to these, were promised new pets in an expansion and were promised improvements to pet taming as a profession.  Immediately after purchasing the expansion, people learned that pet-taming would be deleted in less than two weeks time.  Sony deleted the profession and those that tamed pets could only stare at pets they could no longer interact with in their inventories.  Needless to say, many people were upset.

Now Sony wants to market a game to kids that is free to play, but sells them a chance to have pets.  They claim they've learned from their past experiences, but the EULA for the new game suggests otherwise.  It seems that they reserve the right to take money from your kids for pets, and then promptly delete them any time they choose, at their sole discretion.  Here's a quote from the EULA:

"You further acknowledge that SOE can and will, in its discretion, modify features, functions or abilities of any element of any of its games or any Virtual Goods (which may, among other things, make the Virtual Goods substantially more valuable, effective or functional, or less valuable, effective or functional, more common or less common, or eliminated entirely). You acknowledge and agree that all Virtual Goods represent a limited license right governed by the terms of this Agreement, and are not redeemable for any sum of money or monetary value from SOE at any time." (from the official site, red font added for emphasis)

Why am I posting this?  Is it because I hate SOE and want them to disappear?  No, absolutely not.  I'm posting this so that parents are informed about what SOE may do to your kids if they choose to play this game, purchase pets and get attached to them. 

You may also want to read the EULA for information on privacy rights that you may be asked to waive, for information on whether or not you are assumed to authorize your child to use your visa, the amount of access you are granting SOE to your PC, and for information about refunds and taking legal action if you feel your consumer rights have been violated.

For the love of god.
Get a life!

No kidding.  Worry much?

Now go put on your mask and watch for the swine flu.

Originally posted by Letsinod

No kidding.  Worry much?

 

Now go put on your mask and watch for the swine flu.

Criticize all you like, I'm simply posting accurate information that may be of interest to parents who take an interest in their kids' well-being.

Feel free to go back to recommending this game.  It's your right to express your views, just as it's mine to do the same.

P.S. In light of the recent escalation in alert status regarding the possible pandemic, I think your comments are short-sighted and possibly insensitive.  I take no offence personally, but that's only because no one close to me has been affected.

Also, I think my chances of catching this flu strain at this time are very low.  In contrast, based on past behaviour, I think the chance that SOE will take money from parents and then make unwanted changes to the things they purchased for their children is higher.  All I've suggested is that parents carefully read the EULA before making such purchases.  I wasn't aware that reading the EULA for a game your children might want to play is a bad idea.

Originally posted by ArcAngel3

FYI for parents:

Sony had this game where people spent a lot of time and money taming pets.  People got attached to these, were promised new pets in an expansion and were promised improvements to pet taming as a profession.  Immediately after purchasing the expansion, people learned that pet-taming would be deleted in less than two weeks time.  Sony deleted the profession and those that tamed pets could only stare at pets they could no longer interact with in their inventories.  Needless to say, many people were upset.

Now Sony wants to market a game to kids that is free to play, but sells them a chance to have pets.  They claim they've learned from their past experiences, but the EULA for the new game suggests otherwise.  It seems that they reserve the right to take money from your kids for pets, and then promptly delete them any time they choose, at their sole discretion.  Here's a quote from the EULA:

"You further acknowledge that SOE can and will, in its discretion, modify features, functions or abilities of any element of any of its games or any Virtual Goods (which may, among other things, make the Virtual Goods substantially more valuable, effective or functional, or less valuable, effective or functional, more common or less common, or eliminated entirely). You acknowledge and agree that all Virtual Goods represent a limited license right governed by the terms of this Agreement, and are not redeemable for any sum of money or monetary value from SOE at any time." (from the official site, red font added for emphasis)

Why am I posting this?  Is it because I hate SOE and want them to disappear?  No, absolutely not.  I'm posting this so that parents are informed about what SOE may do to your kids if they choose to play this game, purchase pets and get attached to them. 

I suggest you actually read the EULA in its entirety before deciding whether or not this is a good investment for your kids.  You may want to look at how your child's use of your visa is handled, how information is collected, how much access you're giving SOE to your PC, and how complaints will be handled.  This is just a heads up folks.

yep. i recommend not getting too attached to your pet because there is a good possibility of you logging in one day and find it gone; just like it happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away; when all pets cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.

Originally posted by ArcAngel3

FYI for parents:

Sony had this game where people spent a lot of time and money taming pets.  People got attached to these, were promised new pets in an expansion and were promised improvements to pet taming as a profession.  Immediately after purchasing the expansion, people learned that pet-taming would be deleted in less than two weeks time.  Sony deleted the profession and those that tamed pets could only stare at pets they could no longer interact with in their inventories.  Needless to say, many people were upset.

Now Sony wants to market a game to kids that is free to play, but sells them a chance to have pets.  They claim they've learned from their past experiences, but the EULA for the new game suggests otherwise.  It seems that they reserve the right to take money from your kids for pets, and then promptly delete them any time they choose, at their sole discretion.  Here's a quote from the EULA:

"You further acknowledge that SOE can and will, in its discretion, modify features, functions or abilities of any element of any of its games or any Virtual Goods (which may, among other things, make the Virtual Goods substantially more valuable, effective or functional, or less valuable, effective or functional, more common or less common, or eliminated entirely). You acknowledge and agree that all Virtual Goods represent a limited license right governed by the terms of this Agreement, and are not redeemable for any sum of money or monetary value from SOE at any time." (from the official site, red font added for emphasis)

Why am I posting this?  Is it because I hate SOE and want them to disappear?  No, absolutely not.  I'm posting this so that parents are informed about what SOE may do to your kids if they choose to play this game, purchase pets and get attached to them. 

I suggest you actually read the EULA in its entirety before deciding whether or not this is a good investment for your kids.  You may want to look at how your child's use of your visa is handled, how information is collected, how much access you're giving SOE to your PC, and how complaints will be handled.  This is just a heads up folks.

Look man, I'm just trying to help when I say this, but realize that EVERYONE in the mmo community is sick of the bitching about the NGE fiasco. That was so long ago that most of the management and developer positions have probably sitched anyway.

Don't we have a forum for you guys?

Originally posted by mechtech256

Originally posted by ArcAngel3

FYI for parents:

Sony had this game where people spent a lot of time and money taming pets.  People got attached to these, were promised new pets in an expansion and were promised improvements to pet taming as a profession.  Immediately after purchasing the expansion, people learned that pet-taming would be deleted in less than two weeks time.  Sony deleted the profession and those that tamed pets could only stare at pets they could no longer interact with in their inventories.  Needless to say, many people were upset.

Now Sony wants to market a game to kids that is free to play, but sells them a chance to have pets.  They claim they've learned from their past experiences, but the EULA for the new game suggests otherwise.  It seems that they reserve the right to take money from your kids for pets, and then promptly delete them any time they choose, at their sole discretion.  Here's a quote from the EULA:

"You further acknowledge that SOE can and will, in its discretion, modify features, functions or abilities of any element of any of its games or any Virtual Goods (which may, among other things, make the Virtual Goods substantially more valuable, effective or functional, or less valuable, effective or functional, more common or less common, or eliminated entirely). You acknowledge and agree that all Virtual Goods represent a limited license right governed by the terms of this Agreement, and are not redeemable for any sum of money or monetary value from SOE at any time." (from the official site, red font added for emphasis)

Why am I posting this?  Is it because I hate SOE and want them to disappear?  No, absolutely not.  I'm posting this so that parents are informed about what SOE may do to your kids if they choose to play this game, purchase pets and get attached to them. 

I suggest you actually read the EULA in its entirety before deciding whether or not this is a good investment for your kids.  You may want to look at how your child's use of your visa is handled, how information is collected, how much access you're giving SOE to your PC, and how complaints will be handled.  This is just a heads up folks.

Look man, I'm just trying to help when I say this, but realize that EVERYONE in the mmo community is sick of the bitching about the NGE fiasco. That was so long ago that most of the management and developer positions have probably sitched anyway.

 

Don't we have a forum for you guys?

Smed still runs the show, though.

---

Originally posted by ArcAngel3
Here's a quote from the EULA:
"You further acknowledge that SOE can and will, in its discretion, modify features, functions or abilities of any element of any of its games or any Virtual Goods (which may, among other things, make the Virtual Goods substantially more valuable, effective or functional, or less valuable, effective or functional, more common or less common, or eliminated entirely). You acknowledge and agree that all Virtual Goods represent a limited license right governed by the terms of this Agreement, and are not redeemable for any sum of money or monetary value from SOE at any time." (from the official site, red font added for emphasis)

---

Looks like very very standard EULA boiler-plate. I haven't ever seen a EULA for an MMO without pretty much the same clauses.

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT - WHERE GAMES GO TO DIE

In other issues: Wth are stars for in this game? That's not explained anywhere, they don't exactly make it easy to find help...typical sony...someone needs to go bomb them.

Originally posted by Teran1987

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT - WHERE GAMES GO TO DIE

 

In other issues: Wth are stars for in this game? That's not explained anywhere, they don't exactly make it easy to find help...typical sony...someone needs to go bomb them.

You must be kidding me, even my 10 years old nephew figured out that the stars are used to make skills better. He just jump into games and figures things out for himself and he almost never need to read instructions. Maybe he is this way because he started playing games since the age of 4. He couldn't read very well at that age and needed to figure things out for himself or ask adults. I even tried the game for some hours and to tell you the truth if you would just click the icons and read the descriptions and take some time, you will learn how to play it. Btw i'm like my nephew too, i almost never read intructions guides ;p.

Guess Sony left some BAD taste in peoples mouth that they will use the simplest things to bash it.

To the guy who is whining about the EULA, have you never read a EULA before? I assume you didn't, because if you did, you wouldn't have posted this. EULA are basically all the same. The gist of any EULA, wether its World of Warcraft or second life, is "in this game you don't own anything, you don't own any of the virtual items we create, you don't have a right to anything we create, we can ban you or lock your subscription at any point,we are in charge, we are the masters of our own universe, we can do in our game what we like". That's not new to Freerealms, it's how these EULA's work across the board. And it make sense too, because if people would have any rights to virtual items the creators could never change the game or rules as they see fit without getting lawsuits up their ass.

If you don't like that, don't play MMO's. If you want a sense of real ownership of your virtual items, make your own MMO, cause all those other MMO's out there make sure in their EULA's that they can do anything to their game without having to fear customers using legal action to stop them.