Free Realms: Closed BETA

For years now, I’ve been on the hunt for a massive title that I can convince my girlfriends to play.  I’m so envious of players that have static groups of friends adventuring together in MMOs.  That used to be me with my kids.  *Sniff*  Even then I still wanted something to play with my BFF other than re-telling each other our The Sims tales.  Back when we both blogged about our Sims shenanigans our gaming felt a little connected.  Now that neither of us plays the Sims, there’s nothing gaming related to share and I miss it.

My BFF’s chief dislike of the MMOs I play is that you have to kill things to advance in the game.  She’s also not of fan of being assaulted by mobs when she’s walking along minding her own business.  If you could have heard her screams and shrieks over the phone when I was trying to show her how to play World of Warcraft, you’d have bust a gut.  Our adventures in WOW didn’t last very long.

Ever since Free Realms (FR) was first announced I’ve been keen to know more about the features.  The idea that you can advance by killing or NOT immediately got my attention.  The early images and videos showed fantasy and non-fantasy settings too which would be another boon.  She doesn’t get my love affair with fantasy either.  And even though I’m not a fan of mini-games, I know that my BFF does play a few.  The early game information left me wondering if this was the answer to my prayers.

For myself, FR doesn’t scream, “Whoa, I must try this game!”  I’d be happy with liking it just enough to enjoy running around with her.  Both of my daughters do the casual mini-games in flash and such.  FR might be a place where I can get them to come spend some time too.  If I can find something I like to do there and they would play, I’m willing to bend my normal MMO gaming standards.

I might not have to bend my preferences too much.  I enjoyed Wizard101 immensely even though it targeted a younger audience.  W101 includes optional strategic opportunities for mature players that keep things nicely balanced.  If FR is designed with similar considerations in mind, I might find something I like to do there too.  I don’t play social games.  I don’t enjoy mini games – much.  I play word games on my cell phone if I’m sitting in an airport, doctor’s office, stuff like that.  If FR is mostly Habbo Hotel with mini-games and the ability to slay monsters off somewhere in a corner, it won’t be to my liking.

I’m glad to see the Free Realms Closed BETA has arrived.  I may or may not be participating in such an event.  I wouldn’t be able to discuss it if I was but would be very pleased at an opportunity for an early peak and help flush out some bugs.

Comments

[Beau]

It may or may not be fun. A LOT of fun, but I cannot tell you this.

:)

Beau

[Hudson]

Not up my alley at the moment.

If I had kids they would love it!

I may or may not be playing this right now. *cough*

[Alysianah aka Saylah]

@Beau - Geez, how do you get to play so many games. When I'm playing something other than my one or two games, I feel like I'm cheating on them. *Smile*

@Hudson - Sure, sure, you're all can't wait for Champions Online. Now that's a genre that holds no appeal for me. I'm happy to watch a super hero movie but it's not the setting I enjoy for gaming. I wont be running into you two anywhere since we might be playing a game where I had to leave my usual names behind. :-)

[JoBildo]

I may or may not agree with Beau.

[Tesh]

I think the designers are aiming for that "non-MMO-mainstream" crowd, so here's hoping they can pull it off.

I'm pretty sure they are still taking applications for the closed beta, by the way.

[Alysianah aka Saylah]

@JoBildo - I would say a joke about maybe not seeing you too. But since we were in a guild together and I never saw you then, not seeing in a BETA that we might be playing wouldn't be anything new. LOL

@Tesh - Yes, they are still taking BETA applications. I hope it's not too far off the mainstream that typical MMO players would be completely put off by it.

[Beau]

Well, all the F2P's have no sub, so I don't have that time limit distraction. Also, it helps to have the attention span of a 3 month old puppy.

You'll get in, I'm sure of it. Just be aware that you cannot talk about that which you cannot admit to talking about.

Ow, my head hurts now. :)

Beau

[Gail]

I never thought of playing with my kids (who are still small). Its an interesting thought though :-)

[Nef]

Yes, you may or may not like it... and you may like some parts especially. ;)

As far as sim based MMOs go -- how about a simcity type one? www.citiesxl.com Looks promising.

[Alysianah aka Saylah]

@Gail - I get a blast out of running around in games with my kids. They're not kids anymore but the fun of running around in a virtual world together hasn't diminished. I wish for it even more now that they've grown up and no one is living at home anymore.

My youngest daughter who's in her 2nd year of college and living in the dorms came by and tried out Rune Factory on the Wii. She liked it a lot and said it's been on her mind. She's going to drop by and play some on the weekend. I'll watch her play and that's fun too but not nearly as cool as being in a virtual world together.

@Nef - We didn't play Sim City games. I don't find that fun but I'll check out the link in case it's something more about Simulating characters than building cities.

[Wade]

Quite a few places are giving away beta keys such as mmorpg.com among others, had 528 left last time I checked. *cough* :D

[Blacknimbus]

http://www.keenandgraev.com/?p=2262

They dropped the NDA. Sounds like an interesting diversion.