ErikPeter (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} voxen) wrote,@ 2009-05-29 18:21:00 |
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My time in Free Realms
I've been playing a lot of Free Realms for the past couple days.
It's essentially an attempt by Sony to take a real bite out of the MMO market, create its own niche with young gamers, and find a decent way to make money off of Bejeweled-style casual gamers: There are a lot of ways to spend money in Free Realms, whether it's on a ($5) monthly subscription to access subscriber-only content or buying virtual items (pets, trading card booster packs). I'm twice as old as the demographic. Despite this, I have gotten a lot of enjoyment without spending a dime.
I feel like drawing a comparison to Puzzle Pirates, but it's not really worthwhile. I'll just say the business model is similar, but Free Realms offers a lot more bang for your (zero) buck(s). Because Free Realms is an MMO.
Players can take on a bunch of different roles, like Brawler, Ninja, Chef and Postman. Beyond the normal mechanic of fighting monsters for loot and completing quests, advancement in some jobs comes from playing a variety of minigames, which is really the genius behind Free Realms from a games standpoint--that and the variety of things to do. Playing the mining minigame in Free Realms gets me iron ore and garnets which can be used to craft things (which (like the Chef job) uses a Cooking Mama style microgame series), not to mention levels in the Miner job (allowing me to mine harder and more valuable minerals). And it works, because mining is fun.
A lot of time in Free Realms feels kind of like you're dinking around. You explore the world, you start a collection of mushrooms, you play a game of checkers, you catch an escaped pig, you fight a ghost. But that's kind of why it's fun.
I like the trading card game that's built into it (My character is already a level 20 Card Duelist) and it's great to be able to play against a computer opponent. It reminds me that CCG's (or TCG's, as they're apparently called now) are enjoyable, as well as an interesting avenue for design.
Is Free Realms going to be my new MMO of choice? No. Free Realms lacks my favorite thing about RPGs--character building--and besides, it's aimed at young teens. But I do see it as a sign of evolution in the world of gaming. The most exciting prospect is that minigames don't have to suck.
Minigames are a good way to replace die rolls with a player's actual skill. As an example, imagine if hacking in Planetside wasn't just an automated process that took 15 minutes, but optionally a minigame that a good player could defeat in 12. A team would want a good hacker, allowing players who are less skilled at the FPS combat to excel in something else. If no one wants to hack (or enemies prevent it), the automated process takes over again. That would be so cool.
Minigames can also help solo players have fun in a multiplayer game. During my short stints in DAoC and LotRO, I was one of the people who sat there for ages, clicking 'go' and waiting for a progress bar to fill up, finally declaring whether or not my crafting had been successful. Having the process be more engaging, let alone actually fun is a huge improvement.
I've been playing a lot of Free Realms for the past couple days.
It's essentially an attempt by Sony to take a real bite out of the MMO market, create its own niche with young gamers, and find a decent way to make money off of Bejeweled-style casual gamers: There are a lot of ways to spend money in Free Realms, whether it's on a ($5) monthly subscription to access subscriber-only content or buying virtual items (pets, trading card booster packs). I'm twice as old as the demographic. Despite this, I have gotten a lot of enjoyment without spending a dime.
I feel like drawing a comparison to Puzzle Pirates, but it's not really worthwhile. I'll just say the business model is similar, but Free Realms offers a lot more bang for your (zero) buck(s). Because Free Realms is an MMO.
Players can take on a bunch of different roles, like Brawler, Ninja, Chef and Postman. Beyond the normal mechanic of fighting monsters for loot and completing quests, advancement in some jobs comes from playing a variety of minigames, which is really the genius behind Free Realms from a games standpoint--that and the variety of things to do. Playing the mining minigame in Free Realms gets me iron ore and garnets which can be used to craft things (which (like the Chef job) uses a Cooking Mama style microgame series), not to mention levels in the Miner job (allowing me to mine harder and more valuable minerals). And it works, because mining is fun.
A lot of time in Free Realms feels kind of like you're dinking around. You explore the world, you start a collection of mushrooms, you play a game of checkers, you catch an escaped pig, you fight a ghost. But that's kind of why it's fun.
I like the trading card game that's built into it (My character is already a level 20 Card Duelist) and it's great to be able to play against a computer opponent. It reminds me that CCG's (or TCG's, as they're apparently called now) are enjoyable, as well as an interesting avenue for design.
Is Free Realms going to be my new MMO of choice? No. Free Realms lacks my favorite thing about RPGs--character building--and besides, it's aimed at young teens. But I do see it as a sign of evolution in the world of gaming. The most exciting prospect is that minigames don't have to suck.
Minigames are a good way to replace die rolls with a player's actual skill. As an example, imagine if hacking in Planetside wasn't just an automated process that took 15 minutes, but optionally a minigame that a good player could defeat in 12. A team would want a good hacker, allowing players who are less skilled at the FPS combat to excel in something else. If no one wants to hack (or enemies prevent it), the automated process takes over again. That would be so cool.
Minigames can also help solo players have fun in a multiplayer game. During my short stints in DAoC and LotRO, I was one of the people who sat there for ages, clicking 'go' and waiting for a progress bar to fill up, finally declaring whether or not my crafting had been successful. Having the process be more engaging, let alone actually fun is a huge improvement.
