Free Realms News

Well it is a slow day for Free Realms News. So, instead I'll post some pictures I have taken in-game of the Community Manager Pex, and also a really cool pict of an Battle Axe on fire and cool Battle Armor.







Here is a cool picture of Pex dancing to the Dares when they had their E3 concert in Snow Hill.





Here is a really cool particle effect on a Battle Axe and Ninja Battle Armor.


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

Free Realms Guilds !!

From the Free Realms Twitter we got a glimpse of what the guild names will look like for a character. Basically it's the same as it is in Everquest. Also, this confirms that the guild function will be coming very soon to our favorite game. Good news indeed !!

So, from the looks of this to be the first 'guild' in Free Realms, we can deduce they are testing out the guild functions for a very near future update. YAY !!

Also, Sony Everquest has registered 2 new IP's. This is something that they usually do before they release new expansions and is a 'hint' as to the annoucement and theme of the new expacs.

One is for the original game, Everquest, and the other for Everquest 2.

Everquest: Underfoot and Everquest 2: Sentinels Fate will be the names of the titles, though no other details were given. It is possible that the expansions will be revealed at the SOE Fan Faire next week.

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

Free Realms re-cap

It's a slow day for news in Free Realms, so I will just do a recap of what we can expect coming...


Let's see, tonight we have a 90 min patch with no notes as to what it will be updating.

In July we have the racing jobs being finally implemented so we can reach level 20.
Along with that patch in July, we may see the prestige classes going in to progress our current jobs that are maxed out.
August is slated to see new jobs such as the soccer profession and pro-driver which will unlock new racing tracks and cars.
At some unknown point (fall perhaps?) we will see the game ported to PS3 .
And finally houses, garages to work on your car, and guilds are being implemented in the near future as well.

Wow, thats alot of stuff in the works for the next few months. And this is just the stuff that we know of. I imagine there are also some unannounced goodies we can expect as well.
Whether you like this game or not, we can all agree that SOE is definately pouring alot of resources into Free Realms, which is a good thing, as it is progressing the genre we so know and love.
I think that this experiment with F2P and mini-transactions is a good one to 'test' the waters to see how successful it can be vs. the subscription based model. The only thing that is worrying me, and I'm waiting to see how it plays out, is the temptation to put the powerful items and gear in the mini-transaction catagory. This could seriously undermine the integrity of the game as any shmoe with some extra $$ can purchase their way to uber.






And now, because of the lack of news and because The SOE Fan Faire is coming in July, I thought I'd post a nice comparison of the live EQ Firona Vie and the painted one on the box art.



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

Free Realms Housing News

I found some very interesting news about the Housing situation in Free Realms. this is post over at VirginWorlds.

Now that Free Realms is live - and by anyone's standards, tremendously successful - SOE's Free Realms team (at around 100 people) is busy working on new features and improvements. In September (or October, perhaps) they plan to add in player housing for everyone to enjoy. For those of you who have been pelting them on the forums for a home of your own - your request has been heard! A nice, shiny home in Free Realms should be yours in time for the holidays.

You'll be able to select land, size, and style of house; then really dig in and modify it to make it all your own. The plan is also to create new mini-games involving maintaining your house as well - we're guessing something along the lines of time-management games, perhaps? According to what we've heard, the garage coming out in July will be attached to your house, so you can show off your cars to friends. Neighborhoods will be instanced (currently planned for three buildings per personal plot with no word on neighborhood size) but they expect this will give players a new place to hang out and enjoy their time in Free Realms. There's currently no specifics on what will be available for F2P and paid members, so we'll have to wait and see.


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

Free Realms E3 Update

This years E3 has seen alot of new games and announcements from major players in the gaming market. However, not too much has come out regarding Free Realms except a few snippets of info that we mostly already knew of, but was essentially reconfirmed. Which I guess is better then nothing. So without further ado, I bring you a compilation of the things we can expect to be seeing changed in the near future of our beloved game :)

*Soccer - Finally all those soccer fields will be used when this new job is implemented instead of being the empty pixels that they currently are.
*New Job Progression - Most games today go the route of new levels and AA's to keep players interested in logging in and grinding. I'm sure this is not out of Free Realms future. But for now, instead of getting higher levels for the current jobs we have, we get more jobs to level up to the current levels we have.
*Racing Beyond LV 1 :) - I'm glad to see this is going in as currently racing is fun, but without progression, it's pointless.
*Player Housing - I guess it's ok. But for me is just fluff unless they add something really really cool, like a Monopoly game where I can win other people houses, rent them out, make tons of cash, and open a Resort casino on an island :) The Landlord profession anyone?
*PS3 Compatibility - Cross server compatible is always a good thing for a game that is growing in leaps and bounds. And I think certain jobs would be perfect for the PS3. (word on the street is possibly this fall)
*Login Page Notes - I was always a huge fan of login page notes. I guess this goes back to my EQ days. Now if they just add server population back again :)

Also, we need some more FREE Codes !! It's been like forever since a free code has been found.

And for your reading enjoyment I found a booklet that Sony put out back in April regarding gaming and how it is beneficial for kids to play video games. Also there are some very very interesting facts in it. Example, video gaming is an 18 billion dollar bussiness. That's right BILLION !!
(also it has a picture of Smed at the end)

http://www.soe.com/docs/LTKG_Booklet.pdf

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Free Realms : The Dares : Guinness Book

With the concert at E3 and in the Free Realms game at Snowhill on all servers, The Dares and Sony Free Realms enter into the Guinness Book of World Records for the first ever simultaneous live and real world concert. (I think this has been done before in Second Life.) But, none-the-less, they are now in the Guinness. Cheers !! Here is a photo and some of the videos I promised yesterday of the performance both in game and live on the floor at E3.









I must say, these boys have to be psyched! Word has it they are huge fans of EQII and to be able to have their song as the theme to Free Realms and then being invited to play at E3? WOW !! And on such a huge stage (virtually) with all the press it has received? I know I would be on top of the world if I were them. Congrats to The Dares !! They deserve it 100%!

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Free Realms hosts The Dares Concert

So I went to the concert in Free realms that was supposed to be a live stream of the The Dares performing It's Your world. Instead what we got was a pre recorded animation of the dares performing to their MP3. The first time they came on stage the song ended half way through, then 15 min later they came back on and the full song played fine. I guess Sony made it seem like it was supposed to be a LIVE stream of the song The Dares were performing. Not a pre recorded MP3 of the song.

As posted on Sony's site:
Rock out with The Dares and experience the music of Free Realms in a live streaming concert on the …

So, as expected alot of folks were pissed and started to spam chat bubbles BIG time. That kind of sucked, but hey, when ya get 100's of people online in a space like this and then don't deliver, I guess you can expect that. And, on the Sony Forums people are pretty pised off. And rightfully so. Anyways, here are some of the screens I took and I'll have a video to upload of it all later as well...




And with this huge turn out as seen in the images above, The Dares set a guinness record for the most online for a concert?? Honestly I'm not sure what the actual record is, but they got one :)



Pictures taken by Hammerfel from Twitter @ E3

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Free Realms ~ The Dares Party is under way !!

The Dares Free Realms party is under way on server 1. It is craaazy and there at least 100 toons there. Lots of fun and dancing. Everyone getting ready for the concert in 3 more hours :)

Here are some of the pre party pictures I've taken on server 1.









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Free Realms The Dares concert T-Shirt

Free Realms is now offering Summer Concert '09 T-Shirts for sale at vendors for 100 station cash. That's not too shabby and it is just in time for The Dares concert tonight at 4pm PST / 7pm EST in Snowhill.

The shirts are only available for 1 week and come in a variety of colors.
Blue, red, green, orange, and yellow. FreeRealmsInsider has some images up of all the colors. Here are 2 of the colors and you can see the picture of a microphone on it too.
So see you tonight at the concert. Look for me there on Server 1 and say Hi. Larrz Fackler :)









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

Free Realms Item Codes

We have another Free Realms Item Code you can redeem. thanks to FreeRealmsInsider. Also, there are now images of the party pack player receive.

Chatdy Cap - T86766R (What is a Chatdy ?!?!)



Also reported is the 2 mil. rewards palyers will receive. The Free party pack which contacis the following:

*Hot Cheese Fondue - Increases your matcher's advantage in mini games.
*Super Star Booster - Boosts stars earned in battle and mini games.
*Super Coin Booster - Increases coins found in battle and mini games.
*Kavod Rainbow Candy - Increases your maker's reach in mini games.
*2x Cotton Wool Candy - Turns you into a shaved ewe for 30 minutes
*2x Silver Surf n' Turf - Makes a vortex appear around you for 30 minutes.

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

Free Realms Game Update

Pex announced a game update last night with some minor changes. Mostly to subscription based palyers.

Members Only - Quests and In World Minigames

TCG :
If you've reunited the cardie crew, Sam Potts has a new challenge for you!
Seaside :
Slinky thinks he's got a cute for the hiccups. Want to help him test it out?
If you can catch him, Wernald needs help by his house.
Durango Zoo :
Zannia Sugarzing is offering a sweet reward for anyone willing to help her out.
Snowhill :
Jonathon Forkpath is looking for the next hero to take up his place as "Protector of Snowhill"
Wugachug :
Wootmoot is looking for those with musical talent for additional help! (Special Members Only quest at the end of the quest line.)
General :
Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements.

Personally, I'd like to know what the miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements are. What is it they are tweaking? Does it effect game play? Anyways, this is the update for today. On a side note, I think they should give more rewards for the card game when we beat the quests. Throw up like 10 cards and let the player choose 2 or 3 of them. This does 2 things...it allows players to build their own deck faster to immerse them more in the CCG and it makes it so everyone will not have the same rewards, thus the same exact deck. People will still purchase virtual packs, but for those of us who don't it allows us to get more into the CCG with building our own custom deck.





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Free Realms hits the 2 Mil Mark !!

Free Realms has hit the 2 Million mark !!
Of those users, 75% are under the age of 17, 46% under 13 and 1/3 are female gamers.
“In less than a month, Free Realms has captivated a core player base of tween and teen gamers, while also strongly resonating with MMO gamers,” said SOE president John Smedley.
“We wanted to create a game to play with our families and are excited to have hit the mark with our intended audience.”

In honor of this milestone, all current players will receive a “party pack” bundle of in-game items to help celebrate! The packs will be rolled out in stages over the next two weeks."

So with this announcement I'll bring you a report posted about some nice shortcuts and key commands you can use in Free Realms. Also it has the paths of where the Screen Shots you take are stored.

Here are some more useful keyboard commands to use:

Esc - Opens Game options and exit the game
F10 - Hides the graphical user interface
F12 - Screenshot
C - Opens the Jobs and Equipment window
I - Opens the inventory window
J - Opens the Job selection window
M - Brings up the Game Map
Num Lock - Autorun (really useful for traveling long distances!)
P - Opens the Pet Window
Spacebar - Jump!

Tab - Targets the nearest enemy in combat. Only works on enemies while in a combat instance -it does not select non-player characters (”NPC’s”) or other players
If you hit the Enter/Return key, the Dialogue.Chat window comes up - this is for things you want to speak to others in the game. Like IM, you may decide to say it out loud to a whole channel or privately message someone, or just speak to a group you have created or joined. In order to do this, add a slash ” / ” before what you want to say in text:
/tell This sends a private message or “whisper” only to another specific player. To use this command type /tell then the full player’s name in quotation marks./g or /group Sends a sends a message only to people in your group.

You can take screen shots while playing Free Realms with the following keys:

First remove the user interface so you only see the scenery (optional of course):Clearing the Interface: F10
Taking the Screenshot: F12
Your screenshots are stored in the following locations on your computer:
Windows XP:C:\Program Files\Sony Online Entertainment\Installed Games\Free Realms\ImageCaptureOutput\
Windows Vista:C:\Users\{your account name}\AppData\LocalLow\Sony Online Entertainment\Installed Games\Free Realms\ImageCaptureOutput\







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

Free Realms Item Codes

Today we have new code to redeem in Free Realms for a black baseball cap. It's a nice free item if you have no other head gear or hat to use. Posted from our friends over at FreeRealmsInsider.

XCZG923 - Black Baseball Cap

And here is the cap that all Beta tester received. It is very similar to the free item code today we posted. Except it does not have the Free Realms logo on it.

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

Free Realms Item Codes

I have some new item codes you can redeem for free in-game items.


FROGGY - Froggy Fries to turn into a frog
SANDWICH - Small Sandwich - Shrink Potion
PXNH6HB - Spook Sphere - Turn into a werewolf.












Thanks to FreeRealmInsider for the Spook Sphere !!

Also, Sony announced a new character to its online superhero game still in development. the FLASH !!

Sony Online Entertainment just revealed another hero in their lineup for their highly anticipated upcoming MMOG, DC Universe Online. The hero just revealed is a cult favorite of comic fans and fastest man alive known as 'The Flash'. This hero has been around for decades and is a long standing member of the 'Justice League'.
Sony Online Entertainment Reveals The Flash in DC Universe™ Online!
The Fastest Man Alive, Wally West easily runs at light speed, vibrates through objects, create explosions through friction - and, when at agonizing top capacity, can manipulate time and bridge dimensions. The Flash is a time-honored member of the Justice League. The latest in a long line of Flashes, each with their own unique way of tapping into the primal "Speed Force," Wally is determined to live up to the noble legacies of speedsters such as Barry Allen, Max Mercury, and Jay Garrick.Flash's enemies call themselves the Rogues Gallery. This deadly collection of brutal foes includes Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, and the lethal speedster Zoom - villainous threats not just to Keystone City, but the world.

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

Free Realms Update notes

Free Realms performed an update on all their servers last night and added more quest givers for Members and put in optimization fixes for Video Cards. Hopefully they fix they slide show lag in high popualted areas. It really sloooows the game down for me...


Our latest update has a ton of new stuff. Here are the highlights:

* There are new members only combat, non-combat and collection quests added across the world (see below for details).
* Bristlewood now has its own warpstone
* Added in several new in-world minigames to Seaside
* Pets will stay happy, clean and fed for longer and will also find collection and mining nodes more often
* We've continued to optimize video card performance to allow lower end cards to have higher frames per second in game

Members Only Quests have been added to the following areas:

Merry Vale:
* Ronnie Britesmile is not allowed to play until he finishes his chores. He might give you something cool if you give him a hand!
* If you've already found Mugwopp for Blorple at the Greenwood Camp, he'll have a new task for you.
Briarwood:
* Recruit Agga afraid of getting lost in the hedge maze. Help him piece together a map.
Farnum's Farm:
* Rucks, the farmhand, has thrown down the gauntlet and has a series of challenges for skilled harvesters. Dare you take him on?
Pixie Nursery:
* Blazing Star and Flax thought that if they put a collar on their pet fish, no one would take it from the pond, but it's gone now! Help them find out what happened.
Wuagachug:
* Tugaboom would like a brave fighter to help him solve the rebelling Bixie problem.
Shrouded Glade:
* Cella Cedernook found a baby penguin and need help caring for it. "*Squeel!* It's so cute!"Meanwhile, Emil Jadefish and friend had a little boating accident. They could really use a hand!Tald Daybreaker's friend is lost up in Misty Mountains. Are you brave enough to rescue him?
Sanctuary:
* Auralie wants to invite the queen to her next party, but is too shy to ask. Can you help her deliver the invitation?Feldman wants to be a famous journalist, but need help gathering more information for a story he's working on.
Blackspore Swamp:
* Sirdo "Squirrel Chaser" is embarrassed about his nickname. Would you be willing to help him out so he can overcome his bad reputation?
Seaside:
* Rainchaser has more challenges for you.
* Kendall, the lifeguard, needs someone quick to help him out.
* Mr. Mudd is sickened by the trash on the beach, but has a fun way of cleaning it up.

New combat quests:
If you're a member see if you can help out the following people:
* Spruce Waynehammer's pet, Robin, keeps getting lost in the Bat Caves.
* Susy Cloudrunner by the Briar Patch has a big bear problem.
* Yuri Petaldancer by the rebelling Bixie Hive wants to taste what royal honey is like.
* Blari wants to cure the sickly saplings in Bristlewood Glade, but isn't strong enough to fight off the creatures there.
* Vasher claims he'd like to recover some old explorer bones from Cracked Claw Caverns so he can give them a proper burial.* Buttercup Webbywand's spider was kidnapped by trolls in Grexan's Camp.
* Help Puck Petalpucker near Misty Mountain ace his science project.
* Johnny has an idea for you to try out at the Mushroom Cavern.
* Jimmy Squarefeet's snowman friend has been kidnapped! Seek him out in Snowy Canyon.
* Jenny Greenteeth wants to plant some friendly plants in Treeleaf's Retreat.

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

Free Realms Codes

Free Realms Codes. Today we have a few more codes you can redeem for free items to use on your toon. These came from our friends over at Free Realms Insider.

MPT38B3 - Layered Skirt (for female only toons)
ROBGOBLINBOOTY - Robgoblin T-Shirt

Thanks you for viewing my Blog, and check back daily for updates on Free Realms and Everquest. And try our new search engine dedicated to finding new Free Realms Codes posted anywhere on the Web below.





We also have some game updates to report on the Treasure Vault and Pets from Grimwell over on the Free Realms Community Forums.

Pets:
- Members can now try/buy the ghost cats and dogs located at the Blackspore Pet Adoption Center.
- Players can rent Max the Lazy Dog at the Blackspore Pet Adoption Center.

Treasure Vault:
- The Member’s Only Treasure Vault has received extensive improvements.

Free Realms Party ~ Brenlo and Pex Picts :)

Friday May 15th, 2009 at 8pm EST was the 1 mil. subscriber party. I jumped in and danced with Pex, Brenlo, and some others and took a lot of pictures. They had a boombox blaring some tunes and everyone was dancing and having FUN !!


One all servers the party was in Snowhill under the large Xmas Tree. I logged into multiple servers and they were all packed. I must say, Sony has really made this game alot of fun by going the extra mile for the community. Throwing parties like this really shows they are caring about this game and the players. For now .... hehe.

Here are some pictures I took of the party and Brenlo in his spiffy outfit...



The hotdog outfit is defiantely groovy. I want one !!




And here are some more pictures on Server 3 of the all the players dancing with Brenlo and Pex.







And here is a cool video of the party shot by a player...

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

One Lucky Winner in Free Realms

According to the press release from sony, all users will receive a limited edition in-game T-Shirt, matching shirt for your pet, and 200 Station Ca$h. And the One Millionth subscriber will receive a life time free membership, a 1 of a kind astronaut suit, and 10k Station Ca$h!! Wow thats a nice bonus !!




Free Realms(TM) Soars Past one Million Registrants in 17 days, an Unprecedented Achievement for a new IP

Sony Online Entertainment Celebrates Accomplishment with Lifetime Subscription for Game's Millionth Registrant and Limited Edition In-Game Item for All Other Players

SAN DIEGO, May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) today announced that more than one million unique users have registered for Free Realms(TM), the free, family-friendly online video game that launched on April 28.
To mark this milestone, SOE is rewarding all current Free Realms players with limited edition, in-game T-shirt featuring special graphics. The one-millionth player will also receive a lifetime membership to the game, a one-of-a-kind in-game astronaut suit, and 10,000 Station Cash(TM).

"The excitement surrounding Free Realms, and the positive response the game has already received, is overwhelming," said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. "To achieve this milestone so rapidly speaks to the quality and the fun gameplay experience Free Realms offers to players of all ages."

Along with the limited edition Free Realms T-shirt for their character to wear, 999,999 players will receive a matching pet T-shirt for their four-legged friends, and 200 Station Cash to use toward the purchase of in-game items.

In Free Realms, players can customize their characters, explore, quest, battle monsters, and play a wide variety of minigames in a safe, online environment, packed with stunning visuals, distinctive environments, and social networking capabilities. Players are free to do or be anything: Fight like a ninja, cook a tasty meal, raise a pet, battle goblins, set out on epic quests or connect with friends through a safe, social networking site. Also available is the Free Realms Trading Card Game: a full-featured trading card game, playable both digitally within the Free Realms online game and offline via physical card decks available wherever you buy trading cards.
The Free Realms game starter cards and Station Cash cards, which can be used to purchase a membership, in-game items and more, are available at such stores as Target, Best Buy and 7-11.





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Free Realms Hits Milestone !!

Sony Free Realms announced today it hit 1,000,000 users in 17 days. This has got to be a record for an online game. I don't think WoW has this type of subscription activity. Although this game is free-to-play, a million subs in 17 days is HUGE. I expect on the heels of Sony's success we may see more companies with this type of game model in the future.


Also, Everquest has come out with some new marketplace items that look really cool. You can now summon a puma cub companion and also spiffy up your blades with a nice ornamental blue effect.









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

Free Realms Patch Notes

Here is the patch update from last night.


We are planning a game update tonight starting tonight at 11:30pm PDT. The servers will be unavailable for approximately one and a half hours.
There’s a lot of good stuff in tonight’s update. Here are a few of the highlights:

* Members will now have an increased chance of encountering rich mining nodes
* Member potions and spheres are once again being distributed in-game
* The Marketplace now has a Members Only category
* There are several new items in the Marketplace
* The Briarwood warpstone is once again active
* A pet adoption center has been setup in Blackspore
* Base Ninja health has been increased across all ranks
* Contract: Life and Death Magic and Contract: That'll Teach 'Em are now repeatable quests
* The Changelings in Darvon's Descent are no longer able to keep the artifacts they stole from showing up on the minimap. Players on the quest Stolen Artifacts should have an easier time locating them now.
* The quests “I Love Mushrooms” and “A Thorny Situation” can now be completed
* At the end of a kart race, Portraits, Total Time and Placement now appear properly
* The quest path will now properly update when selecting quests in your Quest Journal
* The lightning bolt bomb powerup is much more zappy than before! It will now blow up enemies from greater distances!
* Quickchat is now available from the Friends list
* Players will now be removed from the acquaintance list once they are added to the Friends list

In addition to the highlights, we’ve stomped out a lot of bugs submitted by our players. Thanks a lot for your help!

Also, posted over at FreeRealmsInsider is that in addition to Blockbuster having Free starter cards, also Best Buy is offering them too. They are the ones that are selling for .99 cents and are only valid with NEW Accounts. Can not be used with an existing account.



It contains 30 day free membership, 250 Station Cash, and 1 Free Magical Potion.
A $7.50 Value for FREE !! Not too shabby.
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