Sony Online Entertainment released their partially free to play MMO Free Realms yesterday. The game mixes the traditional RPG concepts of classes, levels and equipments with minigames based on Bejewelled, Elite Beat Agents, Nintendogs and Mario Kart. There is also a TCG that terrifies me based on a past Magic: The Gathering addiction that I fought and beat.
I have put a few hours into the game and I find it to be a fun diversion from the non-stop action of grinding that usually goes on in a MMORPG, I may even subscribe or buy a few items in the item store if it looks like something I will stick with.
Releasing a game of this nature has created a bit of a splash on the internet, the type that showers everyone with dank sewer water comprised entirely of forum posts. So I thought it might be fun to have a look at what the internet tough guys and forum trolls are crying about this time.
1. “LOL that game is for kids!!1! imma go play CS:S”
Heaven forbid that you enjoy something not targeted at your age group. Not to get all CS Lewis on your ass but a big part of being grown up is leaving behind your infatuation with appearing grown up.
2. “This game is too easy.”
Logged in and just played the tutorials, didn’t you. Tutorials are supposed to be pretty easy, because they, you know; teach you how to play the game. Each puzzle in the game has a difficulty rating from one to three. Try the higher difficulty puzzles before posting your outrage on the internet.
3. “Why is Sony wasting time on this and not fixing Playstation Home.”
In this case the fact that you’re stupid isn’t entirely your fault. Software development is a complicated process and there does come a point where simply “throwing more developers at the problem” doesn’t have an effect. PS Home’s problems tend to stem from the fact that it exists for it’s own sake and makes simple things, like watching a game trailer, complicated.
4. “Any adult who plays this should be on To Catch a Predator”
I see what you did there, pretty clever.
Actually, no. Have you ever seen what gets logged in an MMO? I’ll give you a hint, everything you type. In order to play Free Realms you need a station account, which if you want to spend money on the game usually requires a credit card. So now Sony has all your details and a log of everything you’ve ever typed. You’re right this is a better place to stalk children, rather than say, an unverified IRC channel or MSN session.
Free Realms is a little bit of fun and if you can get over yourself for long enough you might find yourself enjoying it.