Free Realms ~ New Free Codes

Today we have 4 new free codes for you to redeem in Free Realms. These codes are from the fella's over at FreeRealmsInsider. The codes seem to have a theme to them...Milk, it does the body good :)

Crash Crunch Helmet - 6FG8ZT7
Cow Apron - MILKRULES
Cow Hat - MILKROCKS
Bullhorn Ninja Cowl - DRINKMILK



Crash Crunch Helmet - 6FG8ZT7



Cow Apron - MILKRULES



Cow Hat - MILKROCKS



Bullhorn Ninja Cowl - DRINKMILK


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Free Realms ~ Goal Time Update !!

Free Realms Game Designer Chris Molina has posted an update concernign the Goal Time Update which will introduce the new soccer job profession to the game...

Well, we’re just about in the final stretch here at Free Realms headquarters, polishing the final touches of the new Soccer Star job and arcade style mini game. It’s been both an insightful and genuinely fun experience contributing to the new game update. As is the case with creating any new game, soccer has gone through an iterative process that began to really take shape in the last couple months. The biggest challenge was creating accessible soccer gameplay using a mouse and keyboard! Typically this control mapping is found on an arcade or a console style controller which forced us to really focus on how to make Free Realms soccer just as intuitive and fun on a PC.



Thankfully we were able to identify a solid control scheme midway through the development process by gathering data from our in house Usability Lab testing. Watching the different groups of kids get hands on with the game gave us immediate feedback on how to make the soccer controls more user friendly. The A.I. (artificial intelligence) balance was achieved by viewing these play sessions as well.



Overall kids in the focus test groups had a blast playing as a Soccer Star once they got a grasp on the functionality, not to mention the punctuating particle effects really pushed the squash and stretch principals for a nice layer of novelty. This also has a suggestive nature to the Stephen Chow – Shaolin Soccer film; fans of that movie will be sure to get a kick out of Free Realms Soccer. I’ll never forget the nine to twelve age group who were yelling in sheer excitement every time they executed a goal or slide tackle! There was hardly a moment of silence throughout that particular session but, it was reassuring to see the fun factor was in fact present at that point in development.



As a designer coming over from the combat team, the soccer quest line was my first quest progression implementation for the over world. This presented many challenges as I had to learn how the flow and dependencies of the tools affected the many aspects of the core game. Whereas the framework in combat is very much self contained in a bubble or instance which doesn’t have an overlapping presence on Free Realms proper. This was one those sink or swim moments, but luckily my development teammates were always on hand to provide support during any moments of uncertainty.



I’m really looking forward to reading and seeing the reactions of players once soccer launches. I actually found myself getting a bit carried away while fixing a bug the other night. The game got so competitive and came down to the wire that I actually yelled at the opposing team “Ha! I Knocked you down and scored! What are you gonna about it, huh?” Enjoy…

Chris Molina
Game Designer
Free Realms


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Free Realms : Computer Virus !!

This latest post has nothing to do directly with Free Realms, but instead has to do with all PC game players and computer users in general.

There is a new nasty computer virus going around that is infecting Windows rootKit and installing itself in system restore data via Zer-Day flaws. It is particularly hard to remove and is targeting PC Gamers to gain access to their account so they can steal the passwords and seel them on auction sites.

Gamers of EverQuest, World of Warcraft, and other MMORPG should be aware of this virus. Here is the official post on it...

Windows system restore targeted by virtual identity thieves
Thursday, September 24, 2009

The dogrobot virus that plagues Chinese internet cafes is being used to hijack online gaming account credentials, which can then be re-sold online.

The technique used to infect computers with the virus offers a unique advantage to cyber criminals: it infiltrates Windows' system restore functionality, so that computers remain infected even after complete reversion to a previously defined system restore point. This is accomplished via a combination of rootkits and zero-day flaws, which makes dogrobot difficult to clean from infected systems.

Experts say that the malware is a sophisticated delivery system for the dogrobot virus, which has been heavily modified to skirt security software and remain invisible on affected systems. This, in addition to its resistance to removal, makes the malware exceptionally suited to the theft of virtual identities for games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft.

Some online avatars can fetch hundreds of dollars at auction and sales websites, and an extensive market for virtual items and in-game money exists as well. Microsoft anti-virus researcher Chun Feng told ZDnet that the dogrobot group of viruses has cost Chinese internet cafes over $1.2 billion in losses.

--------------------

GENEVA -- Cyber crime gangs in China are penetrating the hard disk recovery cards on computers in Internet cafes and using a combination of zero-day flaws, rootkits and ARP spoofing techniques to steal billions of dollars worth of online gaming credentials.

According to Microsoft anti-virus researcher Chun Feng, five generations of the Win32/Dogrobot malware family have perfected the novel rootkit technique to hijack System Restore on Windows — effectively allowing the malicious file to survive even after the compromised machine is reverted to its previous clean state.

At the Virus Bulletin 2009 conference here, Feng (left) provided a fascinating look at the techniques used by Dogrobot, which is directly linked to the lucrative underground trading of online gaming assets like passwords and virtual property.

According to data presented by Feng, the Dogrobot family has caused more than USD$1.2 billion in losses to Chinese Internet cafes.

He explained that earlier Dogrobot used disk-level I/O file manipulation to penetrate System Restore but, as the malware evolved, it started using a “backdoor” that already exists in the System Restore functionality. A third generation introduced extensive unhooking code to thwart the protection offered by security programs and avoid removal.

Along the way, Feng discovered that newer variants were tweaked to get around security software and strengthen the code’s ability to maintain persistent stealth on compromised Windows computers.

In China, Internet cafes are very popular among the online gaming crowd where the use of USB sticks with account credentials is the norm. Dogrobot takes advantage of this, abusing the USB AutoRun functionality on older machines to propagate.

He explained that the malware author has found success exploiting zero-day ActiveX vulnerabilities and other flaws in Windows OS and third-party software — especially RealPlayer and WebThunder.

The attackers also use ARP cache poisoning to send malicious ARP packets to instruct other machines within the same LAN to download Dogrobot samples.




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Free Realms ~ Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Pex has announced on the Free Realms message boards that the event 'Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs' is coming to an end soon. Here is his message...

I wanted to give everyone a heads up that the Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs quests will be going away on or slightly after September 30th.

I am waiting to see if Helga will remain to give out ingredients or if she is going away as well. I'll let you know as soon as I know.
Pex

So on Sept. 30th, this event will be no more. If you haven's finished it yet, you have a week to do so.

Also, the stealth updates will hopefully end with this announcement...

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Free Realms ~ Goal Time Update !!

Free Realms is getting ready to release the highly anticipated Goal Time update which will introduce the new profession for the Soccer Job called Soccer Star which will have 20 levels.

We are getting various tidbits of info on how the job will actually work. Free Realms Game Designer Margaret Krohn has an article on MMORPG.com that explains alot about this new exciting job.

There will be a quest line of tiers that you and your team will progress through and challenge harder and harder teams. Also, throughout the quest line you will have acess to 2 outfits complete with shorts, jersey, cleats, shin guards, and a bandana. Also you can purchase upgrades through the SC Store. Also, you can spend tickets to get some gear in the vaults.

All your stats will come via the gear and shards. So the choice of gear for your position is definately important. So, you may have multiple sets of gear for the various positions you could play, which makes this job more interactive in nature.

The stats come in 5 different powers: kick power (for strikers), footwork (for speed with the ball), speed (for speed without the ball), toughness (for defensive), and tackle power (for defensive). Also there are dodge and charge abilities. Dodging lets you avoid getting tackled and charge will let you kick the ball hard and do some fancy cool kick animations like Tornado Kicks, Headers, etc.

Here are some of the highlights:

Different uniforms will be available, along with upgrades like special effects "snow frosted particles".

Single player vs computer generated players OR guild vs friends.

It will be a top-down view, always looking at opponents goal, backing up to see your goal.

Some moves are: Slide tackle, Tornado kicks and Headers (these will become available as you level up)

Power boost and speed boosts will be on the field for you to run and grab

Each half will be 4 or 5 minutes long

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Free Realms : Talk Like A Pirate Day !!

Arrrr! Saturday September 19th be International Talk Like A Pirate Day! ‘Tis a day to grab yer best hat and talk like a pirate.
This ‘holiday’ is a fun excuse to don your pirate hat and enjoy a day of Arrrrrs and Thar She Blows! If anyone asks what is happening, just say “Shiver me timbers, matey! ‘Tis ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’.”
What started as a funny idea between friends is now celebrated in countries all across the world. It’s one of those things that is just fun, so give it a try. If all else fails, just add lots of Arrrr to whatever you say.
Enjoy yer pirate talkin’ time, scurvy dogs! Arrrrrr!

Looking for a slick pirate hat for you or your pet? You can find hats for your character, or your cat in the Station Cash store. The red pirate hat for your dog comes as an exclusive item on the 1,000 Station Cash cards available at retailers now.






Also, for you Free Realms players, it's double Station Cash week.

Don’t miss out a chance to get more bang for your Station Cash!
For a limited time only players with accounts in good standing in Free Realms can take advantage of this special offer!

Simply buy any pre-paid Free Realms Station Cash retail game card (excluding Free Realms Starter Cards) at any of our participating retailers and redeem that card during the promotional period for DOUBLE its value in Station Cash.

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Free Realms Hits 5 Million !!

Free Realms reached 5 million users !! Smed confirmed this at the GDC in his keynote. This game is slowly closing in on the juggernaut that is WoW, World of Warcraft. Here is the press release.

Tomorrow in Austin, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) president John Smedley will make it official. The company's free-to-play, kid-friendly PC game Free Realms has passed the five million registered users mark -- and surprisingly, it did so sometime last month, says Smedley.

The news of the game hitting the five million mark -- or rumors of same -- have been part of the game industry lexicon for so long, the milestone hardly comes as a surprise (although it is interesting to note the game tallied its five millionth registered user in August, not July as many game analysts had projected). Still, the accomplishment is a huge win for Smedley and the Free Realms team.

Since SOE released the game in late April, Free Realms has ramped on an exceedingly steep curve, adding a million gamers a month to its registered-user tally.

What might actually come as a surprise, however, is just how hard Sony Online staff works at maintaining the white-hot streak of customer acquisition. According to Smedley, kid-focused MMOs is not a segment for the laid back or investment-averse.

"This is a market where you have to stay fresh, and you have to stay ahead of the competition in a way that you don't have to do with your core MMOs," Smedley told VirtualWorldsNews.com this evening.

Smedley (right) calls the under-13 market which gravitates to Free Realms' unique style of cartoony, adventure-heavy gameplay and questing "definitely a tough market."

One where you need to be proactive as a marketer, unafraid to allocate resources, and constantly on the leading edge as an advertiser, he adds. "You have to be willing to spend the money and stay with your investment," Smedley says.

Smedley, who has been SOE's president since 2001, gives the impression that while he's up for the challenge of maintaining Free Realm's pace, it wasn't fully understood just how committed he and his SOE colleagues were going to have to be to do so.

"Because kids' mind hare is so constantly inundated with new games, new things on TV, it's literally necessary to remind them [about the game] on a daily or weekly basis," Smedley says.

The competition for mindshare, which he is says is on the rise, is mostly other games.

"On TV you see a Free Realms commercial immediately followed by a Wizards 101 commercial, immediately followed by a commercial for Disney's ToonTown or Club Penguin. You see this huge, dramatic amount of advertising for kids and it's definitely something you have to stay on top of."

Part of the problem is the ease of attracting kids. "It's so easy to get kids' mindshare," he emphasizes, "they'll quickly go from one thing to the next. It's definitely a very, very different marketing experience than it is for the rest of our core games."

One element of the business which Smedley believes gives Sony an advantage over other game makers competing for the same audience is the degree to which SOE analyzes gamer data.

"We've instrumented literally every single aspect of Free Realms in ways that few if any game has ever done," Smedley says. "We report every click every person does when they register." As a result of that focus, the team of five full-time data crunchers found (earlier in the launch) that 40 percent of the people registering were opting out on one particular screen. It seems that asking a 10-year-old for his or her birthday was a showstopper. "Ten-year-olds don't know what their birth year is," says Smedley.

But those tweaks are behind SOE now. For Smedley and the game's live team, now it comes down to building on success. First, there's ongoing research: "We are constantly bringing kids into our usability lab and product focus lab…on a monthly basis we have a bunch of new kids coming in."

Then there are brand extensions, which Smedley isn't shy about talking about. Of course, Topps has the Trading Card Game license, but Smedley hints at larger deals yet to be inked. "We are talking to some different manufacturers about working with us on plush and a few other toy lines," Smedley says.

And there is the leveraging of lessons gleaned from Free Realms that can be put against other, new games from SOE. "We have other games in this space that are coming next year." Built on the success of Free Realms, yes, but different games completely, Smedley says.

For the record, Smedley and SOE are releasing some interesting user data tomorrow as well, specifically the top five marketplace items:

1. Free Realms Digital Booster Pack
2. Humongous Health Potion
3. Skeletal Hoodie
4. Humongous Replenishing Potion
5. Humongous Energy Potion

And the game's most popular jobs:

1. Brawler
2. Pet Trainer
3. Demo Derby Driver
4. Kart Driver
5. Chef

Additionally, Smedley updated some of the game's demographics, stating 67 percent of players are male and 33 percent are female. "We were shooting for more females, but that's way better than the MMO audience which is [typically only] 15 percent female," says Smedley. He added that Free Realms stats show females outpurchase males by a 30-40 percent margin, and that 51 percent of Free Realms gamers are under 13, with around 75 percent under 18.


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Free Realms Tiny Head Cheat Code

Another cheat code has been found similar to the Bobble Head cheat code we posted a while back. This one is freaky looking and shrinks your head like in Beetlejuice. These codes only make the changes on your computer screen so all characters with heads will have a large head or a small head. It does not change how others see you, only how you see others. It is a cool cheat code and one I find worthy of mentioning here...

To get this view in simply type in /OMGLILIMH.
And the bobble Head cheat code is /ABSNBD.



Have fun with these codes and check back for more updates.

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Free Realms TCG Expansion !!

Sony Free Realms has announced officially the first expansion set to the hit card game based on the world of their mmorpg Free Realms !!

This definately has me excited as the TCG is what I do most in this game. They have done a good job with this aspect and to me it is the best part of the game, plus I love collecting things :)

Here is the official announcement...


Online Tournament Play Introduced

DENVER, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced that Shattered Past, the first expansion for the Free Realms(TM) Trading Card Game, is now available within Free Realms. Developed at SOE's Denver studio, Shattered Past introduces more than 100 new cards to the virtual playmat and includes virtual rewards in every pack, all of which are redeemable within Free Realms.

"The Free Realms Trading Card Game continues to introduce new and unique gameplay elements to the exciting online world of Free Realms," said Scott Martins, director of development, SOE Denver. "Shattered Past, along with the recently launched print-on-demand feature Duelist On Demand, the new tournament play system and the soon-to-be released Quest Packs, reinforces the commitment we've made to the integration of the trading card game format in SOE's titles."

The Free Realms Trading Card Game Shattered Past expansion features:

New Cards - More than 100 new cards and 30 exclusive virtual reward cards not found anywhere else.
Exciting Gameplay - Shattered Past introduces new gameplay such as Crush Cards, Trickster, Score Manipulation, and more ways to smack down opponents.
Virtual Rewards - Every Free Realms Trading Card Game pack features a virtual reward card redeemable for fantastic items inside the world of Free Realms. Shattered Past offers all-new rewards such as exclusive pets like Duke the Doberman, a five-piece outfit to "Goth out" your Free Realms character, a Hip Hop Boom Box, pet clothing for dogs and cats, special character effects, illusions, and more.
New Starters - Shattered Past adds four new sphere-based starter decks that players can use to begin constructing new gameplay strategies.
Tournament Play - Daily, weekly and monthly tournament events will be held, with great virtual prizes for players to win.

Shattered Past is available for 400 Station Cash ($4.00 USD) per 11-card booster pack and 800 Station Cash per 40-card starter deck and can be purchased at www.freerealms.com.

The Free Realms Trading Card Game lets players pit cool characters like dragons and goblins against one another in fun, fast-paced combat. Half the game is collecting new cards so you are armed with the best lineup of attacks and defenses to prove your might in online play or tournaments. For more information, visit the official Free Realms Trading Card Game site at http://www.freerealms.com/tradingcardgame.

Free Realms is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and up with content descriptors of Crude Humor and Fantasy Violence. To play Free Realms, visit: http://www.FreeRealms.com.

About Free Realms
Free Realms allows you to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, in a lush, living, 3D world, filled with rich landscapes and fun wildlife. Play as a ninja one minute or be a chef the next! From pet raising to mini-games like kart racing, or battling giant spiders and adventuring with friends - there's something for everyone! With scheduled content updates and special events planned there is always something new to see and do in the world of Free Realms. Visit http://www.freerealms.com/ for more information.

Free Realms ~ Kitty Collar Code

A new code has been found for your pet. It is called the Kitty Collar. It's been a while since we've reported any free codes to redeem, and this one may be old, but it is new to me so I'll post it here form you all :)

DXNMJH9 - Kitty Jeweled Collar




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Free Realms DC Comic Delay

We have confirmation from DC that the delayed 2nd issue of the Free Realms Comic will be coming out on Oct. 7th.

SONY teams with WildStorm and best-selling fantasy author J.S. Lewis (the Grey Griffins series) for an exciting adaptation of Free Realms, their new MMORPG! This 12-issue series mirrors the nonstop action of the game, offering exciting adventures, battles with vicious monsters and, of course, the allure of gorgeous fairies!
The story begins when a young boy is abducted and dragged into a darkened forest teeming with twisted monsters. It's up to a relic hunter and a pixie to save him, but their mission is cut short when a horde of troll-like creatures captures them!






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Free Realms ~ Goal Time Update !!

Free Realms is finally announcing the Soccer Job update called "Goal Time". Throughout the world you will notice that there are many empty soccer fields. Well, soon these will become a bustling bee hive of activity once this job is implemented. I for one cannot wait!!

Here is the official announcement from the Free Realms website.

Great news! Goal Time will be the latest game update to come to Free Realms! Goal Time will feature fast-paced, fun soccer action! With the addition of the Soccer Star job, you and your friends will be able to match up on the fields and explore a whole new job together!













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