Free Realms News - Gold Nerf !!

Free Realms and the 6/22 patch. My, My, My. What a can of worms they opened up with that patch. On one hand they implemented guilds into the game which was awesome and well received by all. But, very sneaky and on the sly, they completely nerfed the gold rate drops and by back prices merchants pay for items. They did this totally unannounced, which is sooo Sony (Hello EQ nerfs) and left it for the players to find this out on their own. If this wasn't enough, the longest thread over at the Free Realms community boards has been going on for 3 days now with no word from Pex, the community manager, or any Dev at all. In other words, again so typical of Sony, they are aware of the outrage from the player base, but do not care and are not communicating anything to us, the PAYING Customer. It seems they only care about these World Records Free Realms and SOE are receiving, players be damned. Here's a new record for you, World Fastest decline in an MMORPG...

So, I was reading through the posts over on the MSG Boards and came across a very good post of how this effects the players in game...posted by stefferweffer.

Just something real quick on the math, cause I'm a number cruncher at work I saw someone earlier say they dropped what you get by 40%. This would be bad enough, but the drop was TWICE that amount. They dropped how much you get by 80 PERCENT!

Let's make it simple. A level 20 piece of armor, in this example, costs 10,000 gold (in game they are actually around 9500) from the vendor. Before this change the vendor would give me 5000 if I were selling him one of these - half the cost. In other words, I could sell him 2 level 20 pieces I had acquired and have enough to purchase 1 of my choice. Not too bad.

Now, after these changes, instead of giving me 5000 gold the vendor gives me 1000 gold!? Now I would have to acquire and then sell him TEN of these just to purchase ONE that I want. I'd also have to sell TWELVE of them to have enough money to purchase my level 20 weapon (which I feel I should get for free by the way - just for getting that far).
It's like taking your used DVDs to a guy in town who gives you $5 a piece, and sells them for $10. Good for him. Now imagine that the next time you bring him a video he says he now gives only $1 per video, but still sells them for $10 each. Wouldn't you be ticked off?

There can be one, and only ONE reason I can think of to make it harder for players to get money, and that is so they will pay REAL money for Station Cash items (that always have even better stats, have you noticed, than level 20 gear). I did it myself almost immediately when I started playing, but I can afford it. MANY CAN'T, and that is what bugs me about this the most.
So just know that if you say "Forget this 'grinding' stuff, I'm spending $5 or $10 for the BEST stuff, and be able to use it at level ONE!", you are doing exactly what you are "supposed" to do.
Just my humble opinion.

Now you may ask yourself why am I making a big deal about this change in the game?
It is because I really like and enjoy playing Free Realms on a casual basis. I think Sony has struck gold with this game and how the implemented it. As a long time gamer and old EQ player from '99, I really want this game to succeed because it was fresh, fun, cutting edge, and has tons of potential to change the genre. We expect changes to be made to the game along the way, like the Bruno nerf. This is expected.
But as paying customers, we do NOT expect a change so drastic it changes the way the game is played. It went from a nice casual game experience to a Grind Fest. Which is not what we signed up for.

Dev's. Did you know this changed your game?
From casual to Grind...

Yes the world is the same, dungeons the same , and quests are the same, but the game is now not a fun casual game. To gain any progress as a character in trade skills or certain job professions, one must now Grind to do this.
If the amount of gold in the game was too much, then implement a way for people to spend there gold. Introduce new weapons and items. Introduce the player housing, which I imagine noone will be able to afford now as I'm sure houses will cost an astronomical amoutn of gold. How are we going to be able to purchase a house when we can't even afford the upkeep of our pet??

In short, this change was too drastic and changes the style of play. And, for the sanity of your players, announce the changes you are making to the game. This has been stated many times in the past.

Oh, and thanks for introducing the tier 1 story line to the game. That was much needed.


Thanks you for viewing my Blog, and check back daily for updates on Free Realms and Everquest.