Originally posted by Daffid011

Originally posted by Wighty

Originally posted by Rednecksith

Originally posted by joker007mo

Originally posted by Romanjisan

Free Realms is now only free up until level 4.  If you want to get to level 5 or do anything that progresses any "job" to the next level will require you to cough up $4.99/mo.  So much for the "free" in Free Realms.  Amazing, simply amazing.

/shakes in wonder at the ridiculousness of it all

yea wizard 101 is like that too only my brother says it was lvl 9 in that

any way to make a buck these days it seems

To be fair, W101 uses a model similar to DDO, last I remembered. You pay for an area one time and your whole account has access to it forever.

Free Realms is a fun time waster on occasion, but sure as hell isn't worth $5/mo.

 
$5 a month too expensive? Where are you a third world country? Hell I think even the people walking barefoot and picking the bugs out of each others heads can afford the $0.17 a day... I mean seriously... For the record I don't play the game but I did try it at one point and seemed well worth the amount.

 

It is this mentality that is driving the production values of games down... by the same scale if a MMO is $15 a month a 2 hour movie should cost $0.0416666 but you will gladly shell out $8 to $12 depending on where you live and probably hork down another $10-$20 in snacks...

 

Games by far are still the cheapest form of entertainment out there, yet everyone wants to play them for free, with no cost what-so-ever...

Romanjisan isn't saying they cannot afford to spend five dollars for a game subscription.  He(she) is saying free realms is not worth $5 a month for what it offers.

Furthermore, if game companies are struggling with production values and revenue due to people expecting everything free, then perhaps they should brand their game "free realms" and then blast advertisments all over the internet and television proclaiming it FREE TO PLAY.   That sounds like a pretty basic concept to me, but who knows what passes for logic in the gaming industry these days.

 

 

 

 

 

i would bare in mind the fact that if the company has the cash to blow on shitty commercials im pretty sure they can afford to stay alive

they are making loads of cash off little kids mommies and daddies and they know it

Originally posted by joker007mo

i would bare in mind the fact that if the company has the cash to blow on shitty commercials im pretty sure they can afford to stay alive

they are making loads of cash off little kids mommies and daddies and they know it

Making loads of money from what?   Based on some press release that they have millions of players? 

The game still has the same 10 empty servers it had in the first month and how many millions of people have signed up and played since then?  What game could possibly add 7+ million players and not need more servers?  I think it is pretty obvious that free realms cannot retain players, otherwise they would be adding more servers.  The current servers would struggle to put 1,000 players online at the same time, because the game world is so freaking small. 

If the game was making so much money, why was there a need to change the subscription model?

Read this article where Smedley talks about free realms prior to the subscription model change.  LINK

What is he saying?  Kids don't play free realms very much and they are not buying items from the store.  The game isn't very good and soe doesn't understand why.  That is the gist of the discussion. 

If thier players are only averaging 20 minute play sessions that says it all.   If kids are playing a game they are enjoying it would take a prybar to get them away from it. 

SOE might be blowing cash on shitty commercials just to get in bed with other companies to make kid games.  The look look, we got 10 million people to try our game!

OP is splitting hairs, so I'll do the same.  The game is totally free, until level 4 or whaterver.  The name is not "Totally Free Realms" or "Forever Free Realms" or even "Unlimited Free Realms" so why did anyone expect them to never to charge their customers anything to keep the game going?

I have a friend and her 3 children play Free Realms totally for free.  My friend pays the 4.99 fee for herself and her eldest child, but the two little ones don't even realize they're limited in any way.

Sure, its a marketing gag, but then again look how many games call themselves "Free to Play" and in the end, its not really practical to play them that way. (though I realize some folks do and just do without the benefits the cash shop imparts.

Holy crap!!! You mean F2p doesnt mean its totally 100% free? who knew *shrugs*.

It is the name of the game, "Free Realms" - that doesn't mean it's free.

It's like complaining that "Final Fantasy XI" is not the final game of the series...

Originally posted by scuubeedoo

It is the name of the game, "Free Realms" - that doesn't mean it's free.

It's like complaining that "Final Fantasy XI" is not the final game of the series...

 That's exactly what I was thinking.  Anyway, it's a kid's mmo designed around turn-based card combat.  Why do so many ppl here care what they do?  It's like ppl feel the need to look for things to bitch about.

I knew as soon as someone pointed out that the game was originally promoted as a completely F2P MMO, with microtransactions (as in, you can pay for stuff if you want, but dont' have to.. the rest of the game is free), there would be the spin-doctors, rationalizers and apologists immediately rushing in to the defense...

I'm glad someone linked that Smedly interview as it's mentioned, at least twice and on the first page...

Free Realms, a free-to-play MMO, launched in April this year,

and farther down the page...

As a free-to-play game, Free Realms primarily relies on microtransactions, with some selective advertising.

So to everyone saying the equivalent of "nuh uhh.." to the "free to play" aspect... There is it... in an article/interview with Smedley himself, going back to September 16, 2009.

Clearly stated.. It was free to play and its revenue would come from microtransactions and some advertising, thus answering the "how are they supposed to make money, huh?" question I've seen asked in this thread.

Yes... Free Realms was promoted as a completely free to pay MMO. Yes, yet again, Smedley and co. went back on their word and changed it to a sub-based past a low level. Just like they said they'd never add RMT to their existing MMOs (EQ, EQ2, etc) and then did anyway... they did the same thing with Free Realms. They just keep squeezing their players any way they can, lying all the way, and people just keep cheering them on for it.

Amazing.

Originally posted by WSIMike

I knew as soon as someone pointed out that the game was originally promoted as a completely F2P MMO, with microtransactions (as in, you can pay for stuff if you want, but dont' have to.. the rest of the game is free), there would be the spin-doctors, rationalizers and apologists immediately rushing in to the defense...

I'm glad someone linked that Smedly interview as it's mentioned, at least twice and on the first page...

Free Realms, a free-to-play MMO, launched in April this year,

and farther down the page...

As a free-to-play game, Free Realms primarily relies on microtransactions, with some selective advertising.

So to everyone saying the equivalent of "nuh uhh.." to the "free to play" aspect... There is it... in an article/interview with Smedley himself, going back to September 16, 2009.

Clearly stated.. It was free to play and its revenue would come from microtransactions and some advertising, thus answering the "how are they supposed to make money, huh?" question I've seen asked in this thread.

Yes... Free Realms was promoted as a completely free to pay MMO. Yes, yet again, Smedley and co. went back on their word and changed it to a sub-based past a low level. Just like they said they'd never add RMT to their existing MMOs (EQ, EQ2, etc) and then did anyway... they did the same thing with Free Realms. They just keep squeezing their players any way they can, lying all the way, and people just keep cheering them on for it.

Amazing.

What it sounds to me like is they're changing or rather have changed their plan. Maybe no one was spending in the cash shop? Maybe they had too many people complaining about the cash shop? Many would rather pay a small fee than deal with micro-transactions.

SOE is the only company I know of that no matter what they do, they are evil. Keep in mind I'm a SWG vet who was pissed about the NGE. However, it's been years and I don't give a crap about it anymore. Anyway, if any other free-to-play went to a 5$ premium they'd be praised, and it would be viewed as a value.

Since it's SOE it's automatically evil. It couldn't be that their plan wasn't working out. It has to be that they were scamming everyone. God knows SOE isn't like every other company who will  try every approach possible to maximize their profits. Nope SOE is the company that satan built, everything they do has a villainous scheme behind it.

Originally posted by Malickie

. Nope SOE is the company that satan built, everything they do has a villainous scheme behind it.

 

 

And that villian is named Smed.

Had he "moved on" and the same crap kept heppening, one could blame it on wholly on corporate priorities. But since Smedtard has been there, in the big chair, for all of the broken promisies across multiple games, I blame him primarily.

Corporate behavior reflects leadership, and his nameplate is still on the door.

Do you honestly expect them to spend money making the game and not expect anything in return....as a company?  If you do, then you are dumb.

5 bucks a month and occasionally taking advantage of a special offer on some Station Cash so my 10 year-old can play something targeted toward his age level. Sounds like a bargain to me.

People has to be responsible (or the parents for underage players). If you don't want to pay for a game, there are several games where you can play without paying money provided you get handicapped in many aspects.  If you don't want to pay to play mmos then take the consequences and don't come later complaining when something is not free anymore, that looks pretty bad.

Originally posted by Romanjisan

Free Realms is now only free up until level 4.  If you want to get to level 5 or do anything that progresses any "job" to the next level will require you to cough up $4.99/mo.  So much for the "free" in Free Realms.  Amazing, simply amazing.

/shakes in wonder at the ridiculousness of it all

you can always play silkroad online!might have to grind a bit tho!(grin!ok!ok!grind a lot!since lvl110 is very far and the death penalty can hurt even the sturdiest of gamer!)

but it  is free!

Frankly, I think not having totally free access to the game is a good thing. Given the fact that the game is designed and targeted for pre-teen children, paying for the membership helps keep some of the adult freeloaders out who have no business being there in the first place. I find it more than a little disturbing when someone in their 30's is playing a game made for little kids. I'd pay twice the sub fee for the setup they have in Free Realms.

Originally posted by joker007mo

Originally posted by Romanjisan

Free Realms is now only free up until level 4.  If you want to get to level 5 or do anything that progresses any "job" to the next level will require you to cough up $4.99/mo.  So much for the "free" in Free Realms.  Amazing, simply amazing.

/shakes in wonder at the ridiculousness of it all

yea wizard 101 is like that too only my brother says it was lvl 9 in that

any way to make a buck these days it seems

Yeah how dare a company make a money on their product. All the hours they put in dveloping the game and all the hard work it was just to please you. You must expect a lot of free things everywhere you go;

I think you are forgetting the parents, they play the game with their children. I don't want to compare this game to Wizard 101 but since I been playing Wizard 101 for so long I realized that most 30 + year old players are either parents are disable people in real life. And if you dare to even try and judge them well then shame on you, where disabled person can not live their life in real world they escape that by living in the virtual world whether it be Wizard 101 or Free Realms.

Honestly they aren't even charging that much money, what a little $4.99 a month...? Compare that to most other video games and you'd be shocked how low that is for what they are offering. Besides, if you are a first time subscriber you can get in on the deal which is $.99 for first month + 250 station cash. I noticed people already mentioned this but no one is listening and they keep dragging this on...

It should also be noted that the "FREE" in this game refers to the player's ability to do anything, be anything within the game system, not limited by classes. It's all about choices ingame, not an open invitation to every freeloader looking for a MMO to play without spending a nickel.

Originally posted by LordDraekon

It should also be noted that the "FREE" in this game refers to the player's ability to do anything, be anything within the game system, not limited by classes. It's all about choices ingame, not an open invitation to every freeloader looking for a MMO to play without spending a nickel.

Not originally, it wasn't.

There are/were plenty of threads of SOE people, including smed, saying the game was to be free to play, with mircotrans and in game advertizers. I am not going to bother digging for or quoting the articles, because they are all over this forum.

Too bad Smed and tard circus didn't figure out that the people playing this game, i.e. 5-10 year olds, would not be able to reach/use mommy and daddy's CC. Also, kids that age will take no for an answer, and, they'll just keep putting along anyway with what they have.

So, No, it was meant to be free, thus the name. Then SOE learned it was not the cash machine they expected. So they changed it to the sub+micro+IGAd model, which makes complete sense, as greedy as we know SOE to be, historically speaking. (Which other company is doing all of these? any? And in a game aimed at kids.)

They ought to change the name to Not-so-free Realms, or $4.99/mo Realms, or BuyShinnysHere Realms.

Free, it ain't.

Originally posted by Burntvet

Originally posted by LordDraekon

It should also be noted that the "FREE" in this game refers to the player's ability to do anything, be anything within the game system, not limited by classes. It's all about choices ingame, not an open invitation to every freeloader looking for a MMO to play without spending a nickel.

Not originally, it wasn't.

There are/were plenty of threads of SOE people, including smed, saying the game was to be free to play, with mircotrans and in game advertizers. I am not going to bother digging for or quoting the articles, because they are all over this forum.

Too bad Smed and tard circus didn't figure out that the people playing this game, i.e. 5-10 year olds, would not be able to reach/use mommy and daddy's CC. Also, kids that age will take no for an answer, and, they'll just keep putting along anyway with what they have.

So, No, it was meant to be free, thus the name. Then SOE learned it was not the cash machine they expected. So they changed it to the sub+micro+IGAd model, which makes complete sense, as greedy as we know SOE to be, historically speaking. (Which other company is doing all of these? any? And in a game aimed at kids.)

They ought to change the name to Not-so-free Realms, or $4.99/mo Realms, or BuyShinnysHere Realms.

Free, it ain't.

 

 Nope, you're mistaken, about several things. Most of the game was going to be limited to the Members, who pay the very reasonable 5 bucks a month. The "free" part was never going to be very extensive, much like the "endless trials" several games are implementing now. There is a lot of "fluff" in the cash shop - house items, mounts, clothing, and consumables. This is where the money gets made. The game is targeted for "tweenagers' age 10-15, not 5 year-olds. From the time this hit my radar, there was never talk of in-game advertising that I'm aware of and the only ads now are for Free Realms. If you can produce definitive info to the contrary, I'd like to see it.

Free Realms is pretty much the same game that I betaed. If the cost is prohibitive for you, then don't play. It was never intended to be a "free" game.

From the official site:

Free Realms is a free 3D virtual world where you can do whatever you want, whenever you want! Jump in straight from your web browser! Once you create your character, you'll be in and playing in just a few minutes.

Decorate your house, then invite your friends over for a party! Teach your pet a new trick or dress them up in a sweet costume! Battle enemies as you search for lost treasure or duel other players, mine for gold, cook up a meal, or race your car! When you're ready for a different kind of challenge, play a wide variety of fun minigames, jump into the trading card game or check up with your friends on your profile page. Free Realms is the place to join up with your friends to discover, explore, compete, chat, share achievements and just have fun! In Free Realms, YOU RULE!

Originally posted by LordDraekon

Originally posted by Burntvet

Originally posted by LordDraekon

It should also be noted that the "FREE" in this game refers to the player's ability to do anything, be anything within the game system, not limited by classes. It's all about choices ingame, not an open invitation to every freeloader looking for a MMO to play without spending a nickel.

Not originally, it wasn't.

There are/were plenty of threads of SOE people, including smed, saying the game was to be free to play, with mircotrans and in game advertizers. I am not going to bother digging for or quoting the articles, because they are all over this forum.

Too bad Smed and tard circus didn't figure out that the people playing this game, i.e. 5-10 year olds, would not be able to reach/use mommy and daddy's CC. Also, kids that age will take no for an answer, and, they'll just keep putting along anyway with what they have.

So, No, it was meant to be free, thus the name. Then SOE learned it was not the cash machine they expected. So they changed it to the sub+micro+IGAd model, which makes complete sense, as greedy as we know SOE to be, historically speaking. (Which other company is doing all of these? any? And in a game aimed at kids.)

They ought to change the name to Not-so-free Realms, or $4.99/mo Realms, or BuyShinnysHere Realms.

Free, it ain't.

 

 Nope, you're mistaken, about several things. Most of the game was going to be limited to the Members, who pay the very reasonable 5 bucks a month. The "free" part was never going to be very extensive, much like the "endless trials" several games are implementing now. There is a lot of "fluff" in the cash shop - house items, mounts, clothing, and consumables. This is where the money gets made. The game is targeted for "tweenagers' age 10-15, not 5 year-olds. From the time this hit my radar, there was never talk of in-game advertising that I'm aware of and the only ads now are for Free Realms. If you can produce definitive info to the contrary, I'd like to see it.

Free Realms is pretty much the same game that I betaed. If the cost is prohibitive for you, then don't play. It was never intended to be a "free" game.

From the official site:

Free Realms is a free 3D virtual world where you can do whatever you want, whenever you want! Jump in straight from your web browser! Once you create your character, you'll be in and playing in just a few minutes.

Decorate your house, then invite your friends over for a party! Teach your pet a new trick or dress them up in a sweet costume! Battle enemies as you search for lost treasure or duel other players, mine for gold, cook up a meal, or race your car! When you're ready for a different kind of challenge, play a wide variety of fun minigames, jump into the trading card game or check up with your friends on your profile page. Free Realms is the place to join up with your friends to discover, explore, compete, chat, share achievements and just have fun! In Free Realms, YOU RULE!

This stuff came from an article another site did after talking to Smed at one of the conventions:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25281

Some excerpts for you:

Free Realms, a free-to-play MMO, launched in April this year, is now up to 5 million users, Smedley said at GDC Austin on Wednesday. It's a particularly impressive feat considering SOE's background.

and

As a free-to-play game, Free Realms primarily relies on microtransactions, with some selective advertising. Again, the kid audience had some lessons to teach SOE. "We found very quickly that kids had their own way of playing a game, but we also need a way to monetize them" said Smedley. "...Commerce to kids is hard -- a lot harder than we thought it would be."

This was before changed their mind and started charging a sub fee after the initial numbers nosedived. All the stuff in that article was directly from Smeds... uh... mouth.

It was meant to be "free" to play, but Smed couldn't squeeze enough from the kiddies in the RMT store. And thus the fee.

The website you cite was changed later to refelct this as well, not botherthing to look that one up... there was a thread about the changes some time back, I just read it then....

Edit: from the same site, after the changes in another atricle from Feb 2010, the game was still being touted as free to play, with the "optional" sub fee offering bonuses.... a direct quote:

The game is free to download and play, with an optional paid subscription conferring various bonuses, as well as in-game microtransactions.

Playing past level 4 is apparently a bonus......