Free Realms Message Board

All good things must come to an end. Even MMOs, and – at least, these days – especially MMOs. Between shifting business models and “there ain’t room enough in this town for the six thousand of us” syndrome, niche standouts are finding it harder and harder to keep their heads above water. That sorry truth curling up like a cold, uncaring cat on our hearts and minds, let’s bid farewell to Vanguard, Wizardry Online, Free Realms, and Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.

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Do whatever you want, like ride a T-Rex with laser eyes, in Free Realms.

Hi Everyone!

It’s been three years since Free Realms first came out, and what better time for a reminder of all the fun to be had in Free Realms than…our third birthday! Yes, that’s right folks – Free Realms officially turned three this weekend. Can you believe it? No? Neither can we! Time flies when you’re having fun!

As the first massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) for the PlayStation 3, it has been an exciting journey for us thus far and we have been beyond thrilled with the response we have gotten from the community and media. For those that haven’t jumped into the action, Free Realms is a free 3D online world for all ages where you can do whatever you want, whenever you want.

From building and decorating your own house, to inviting your friends over for a dance party, the fun is limitless in Free Realms. As the go-to place to join up with friends, you and your friends can do everything together including battling enemies throughout the year, searching for lost treasure, dueling with other players, cooking up meals, or racing cars.

With Free Realms’ birthday upon us, all of Sacred Grove is in a tizzy getting ready for the big celebration. Join Queen Valerian’s special cake bake-off where the best chefs are invited to compete for the honor of serving their special cake at the final Birthday Bash; you’ll have a handful of daily repeatable quests that will prepare you for the big birthday party, and also a new piñata pet!

Lastly, it wouldn’t be a birthday without Cakenstein! The Frankenstein of a cake returns to ruin the Birthday Bash, and as part of the birthday’s world event, it is up to you to stop him!

We think this will be a birthday for the record books. It has more than two dozen main story and daily activity quests as well as Cakenstein world event; however, at its heart, it’s about joining up with your friends to discover, explore, compete, chat, and share achievements and just have fun!

We’re a year older, yet, we’re only three and there is definitely more to come! So come join us in Free Realms; all you have to do is download the game on your PC or from the PlayStation Store, and log in! Also, keep up with all things Free Realms by “liking” our Facebook page and following us on Twitter! Hope to see you in-game soon!

Nothing says love more than the Stone Abomination right? No? Oh… well… that’s probably because you have yet to hear the tale behind the Festival of Hearts in Free Realms. Sure, everyone knows that Festival of Hearts celebrates love, but not many know the tale of how the festival originated. This is a tale of love that transcends time, and has been retold from generation to generation all around the land.

Long ago, two young pixies – Rylan and Arianna – met while adventuring in the place we now call Merry Vale. Upon first glance, they were smitten with each other and planted a flower together at the spot where they first met. The two young pixies vowed to see each other every day, meeting near their flower in Merry Vale. Every time they met, Rylan would bring a present to his sweetheart; sometimes flowers or chocolates, other times balloons or hand-printed poems. Their romance was the stuff of legend, until…

But I’d better not spoil the fun. I’ll let you guys find out for yourselves starting February 7th! Log into Free Realms and find out what happens to these two lovebirds. And of course, don’t forget to check out the new Valentine’s goodies in the PlayStation Store; there are surprises for everyone.

For those of you who are new to Free Realms, you can jump into the game for free. We are a Free-To-Play MMORPG and you can find us in the PlayStation Store under the PS3 Games category, under the letter F. Get the game and you can play and make new friends online in Free Realms, or you can play with your current PSN friends who have also downloaded the game for free!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone and be sure to share your Festival of Hearts adventures with the team on our Facebook page and Twitter handle @FreeRealms!

Do you love the winter snow but not when it comes to shoveling it? Are you tired of holiday shopping? Take a break and see what awaits you under the Gifting Tree as we celebrate Snow Days in Free Realms! Snow Days brings to life the legend of the Gifting Tree. Known as the oldest pine in Sacred Grove, the tree is the enchanted center piece of Snowhill and blooms with presents every winter. Folks from all over Free Realms are encouraged to gather around its base every day while it is in bloom to receive an abundance of magical gifts, and until all the presents have fallen from its branches. The selfless nature of the tree spread the spirit of giving throughout Sacred Grove, and began the tradition of Winter Holiday.

You can begin your quest by meeting Candi Ivy, a Winter Holiday celebrator who looks after the Gifting Tree in Snowhill. After providing you with the Gifting Tree’s history, Candi Ivy will launch you into a fun quest to collect the presents under the tree. Additionally, for those of you who are members, you will have a chance to earn even more gifts by displaying your giving spirit and helping others through the holiday activities.

For those seeking high-intensity fun, Winter Holiday brings two activities that are pulse-pumping and action oriented. “Snowball Fighting” debuts this Winter Holiday to give players snowball abilities and revolves around player-vs-player battles. You can jump into a snowball fight by simply running over snowball “power ups” placed throughout the battle arena. And you can’t miss the “Snowman Showdown” – it’s the Winter Holiday’s main event! The Showdown pits players against the Abominable Snowman and holiday robgoblin – snowmen whose sole purpose is to snatch presents from the Gifting Tree. You and your friends are charged with defeating the snowmen and the Abominable Snowman in order to claim your reward.

It’s going to be a fun and festive season in Free Realms and we hope you can join us! Thank you, and welcome, to all of our new players. We hope to see more of you in game soon. I mean, why not jump in and try it out? It’s free! You can find us in the PlayStation Store under the PS3 Games category, under the letter F (for Fun, Friends, and Free Realms of course!). Happy Holidays, everyone.

Sony Online Entertainment has been an unfortunately named business these past two weeks, when its catalog of MMOs were taken offline following the PlayStation Network security breach. Fortunately, the servers of titles like Free Realms, EverQuest 2 and Clone Wars Adventures slowly but surely started to come back online this past weekend -- each including a little incentive to try and lure back their disconnected player bases.

These incentives include XP bonuses, free rare items and special events, all of which are laid out on this handy chart. If you're an SOE account holder in "good standing," you'll also get 45 days of in-game time on-the-house. If you're a lifetime subscriber, though, you'll get just the extra super special in-game bonuses. Also, everyone gets 500 Station Cash, a currency players can use to purchase even more in-game items. This outage might just be the best thing to ever happen to your online adventurer's lootsack.

#itonlydoesoffline As the custodians of games that are completely unplayable during Sony's massive network outage, Sony Online Entertainment has an especially tough job winning back MMO players who have sat idle for 22 days and counting. SOE has now posted its full list of goodies for subscribers to nine MMOs; free subscription time, in-game content and special XP events are all planned. More »

Uh-oh. While Sony Online Entertainment had assured its customers last week that, "to the best of our knowledge, no customer personal information got out to any unauthorized person or persons" during last month's breach into Sony's systems, the MMO division today suspended its games and services, including its websites and Facebook games.

"We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily," the group said in a brief statement this morning. "In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately."

SOE added that it would provide an update later today. In the meantime, the notification page suggests you play some casual games to distract you from that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Today officially marks the two year anniversary of Sony Online Entertainment's (SOE) free-to-play online virtual world Free Realms on Windows PC! To compliment SOE's two year milestone celebration, Free Realms also recently surpassed 17 million registered users on the PC, MAC and PlayStation 3 plat...

#dcuniverseforone The extended outage currently afflicting the PlayStation Network isn't just stopping people playing Call of Duty and FIFA. It's also stopping people from playing persistent, entirely online games like DC Universe and Free Realms. More »

With the NBA playoffs upon us, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has released official in-game jerseys of today's top stars from all 30 NBA teams for Free Realms PC gamers! Check out the below list to see which of your teams players are now available with this all-new NBA promotion from SOE...

The days of "kill-ten-rats" and kitschy collection quests are numbered. Virtual world, hunter-gatherer existence has evolved and agriculture has once again come to the forefront of [online] civilization with the introduction of FARMING to the popular free-to-play, family-friendly virtual world game,...

What's up, World of Warcraft? You think you're so big and bad with your 12-million-strong-and-then-some player base? You won't be quite so intimidating if Sony Online Entertainment head John Smedley's vision for Free Realms comes to fruition. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry, Smedley said, "I think it could take five or six years - that should give you some idea [of the time frame we're looking at]. But I don't see any reason why it can't go to 100 million [players], because there are so many kids out there."

The game's current player base stands at 17 million, which should increase naturally with the game's recent launch on PS3. However, though we appreciate Smedley's "children are our future" outlook, we think it's gonna take a little something extra to net the other 83 million he's hoping for.

That's right. It needs more unicorns.

#rumor Sony Online Entertainment, makers of D.C. Universe Online and Free Realms, closed three studios and will lay off nearly a third of its workforce, Kotaku has learned. More »

Sony Online Entertainment's Free Realms MMO finally arrives on PS3 today. We really don't have much to say about the free-to-play hit, but it gives us a fantastic excuse to post a picture of purple horse with wings.
Another big arrival today is Moon Diver, which at one point was called Necromachina, but before that was known as ... Moon Diver. Anyway, original point: it's like a four-player Strider. Considering it was designed by Kouichi Yotsui, one of the leads on Strider, that makes the lift kosher in our book.

There's a lot more to be found in the full update details after the break.

Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list:
(Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

#cupcaketime Sony Online Entertainment's family-friendly, free-to-play MMO Free Realms hits the PlayStation Network today, a fact they celebrated with a dozen family-friendly, free-to-eat cupcakes. More »

Set sail for some prized booty in the Pirates minigame within the Free Realms world!

Choose your profession and then get around the world in style on one of the many mounts available.

Roam the snowy hills and go on a shopping spree for items, pets and more in this gameplay from Free Realms on PS3.

The mining, racing and Soccer minigames shine in this montage of gameplay from Free Realms on the PlayStation 3.

Free Realms has been a hugely popular MMO on PC for a couple of years now. Its free-to-play business model and kid-friendly content have made it a hit, especially among parents. Now Sony Online Entertainment is making the obvious move of bringing the game to the PS3, and the experience is largely the same as on the PC...

Nearly two years ago, Sony Online Entertainment released an MMO entitled Free Realms. Unlike many MMOs, Free Realms was and is completely free to download and play on your PC, though you can purchase an optional membership that will open up various modes and options that are disabled or locked for non-paying players...

#playstation3 After nearly two years in operation on the PC and Mac, Sony Online Entertainment finally brings it's family-friendly, free-to-play massively multiplayer online game Free Realms to the PlayStation 3 on March 29, making it the first free-to-play console MMO. More »

Sony Online Entertainment has announced a release date for casual free-to-play MMO Free Realms' arrival on the PlayStation 3, and it's just a few weeks from now, on March 29. The game was originally brought out on PC a few years ago, and is breaking new ground: "We'll be the first free-to-play casual MMO ever offered on the PlayStation Network," lead designer Stephen Bokkes told Joystiq.

SOE already has a major console MMO on the PS3 in the form of DC Universe Online, but Bokkes says that development of Free Realms ran separately from the superhero game. "I can't say that we took any cues specifically from DCUO" in terms of controls or design, he said. Bokkes' team developed console-style controls for each minigame in the title, from pet-raising to kart racing, and even rebalanced them for console-specific gameplay. A lot of technical work was done as well: "We actually had to port the renderer over," says producer Ryan Wells.

The PS3 version won't allow players to team up with their friends on PC, however. "It was certainly considered," says Bokkes, but in the end was too difficult to pull off correctly. "The difficulty comes in with linking the accounts." Another difficulty was setting a schedule for updates -- the team says it would like to do simultaneous updates across platforms, but "it becomes really hard when you're going through multiple approval paths," according to Wells. Free Realms has been relatively popular on the PC, and it'll be interesting to see how a console audience reacts at the end of the month.

Well, everyone has heard about the bird…but have you heard that Free Realms is coming to the PlayStation 3?

That’s right, Sony Online Entertainment’s popular online virtual world is making its way from PC to the PS3 on March 29th! The entire Free Realms team is super excited as this will be the very first casual, free-to-play MMO ever to be offered on the PlayStation Network. So, grab your controller, grab your friends, and prepare yourself for an adventure unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Free Realms offers an amazing array of gameplay activities all rolled up into one massive, seamless, virtual world. Hop on the back of your trusty T-Rex and explore the countryside; discovering strange lands, rare collectibles, and exciting quests. Brave the dangers of forgotten dungeons and battle hordes of mythical monsters and bad-tempered beasties.

Fancy a bit of friendly competition? Free Realms has tons of games that allow you to pit your skill against other players. From kart racing and demolition derby, to soccer matches and pirate ship battles, Free Realms offers a wide variety of fun multiplayer games and a simple to use matchmaking interface to get you in and playing with no hassle.

Or maybe puzzles and minigames are more your thing? No problem. We got you covered. Free Realms has a wide selection of Flash-based minigames to choose from. Match 3 mining, cooking, forging, tower defense, checkers, and chess: if you’re into minigames, then Free Realms is the game for you.

Yep, we got it all. Exploration, collections, quests, combat, minigames, holiday and community events, virtual pets, virtual housing; Free Realms offers something for everyone. What’s more, our unique job system allows you to be whoever you want whenever you want. Choose from 15 different professions, each offering their own distinct look and gameplay experience. All jobs are available at any time, so feel free to try them all. Be a wizard one minute, then a ninja, chef, or kart driver the next! Customize your character as you see fit. With over 30,000 unique clothing and equipment options, you’re truly free to be who you want to be.

Did I mention that Free Realms was free? Yeah, I said it…free. Don’t believe me? Well, try it yourself. On March 29th, download Free Realms for free from the PlayStation Store and immerse yourself in a rich fantasy world perfect for sharing with family and friends. All jobs are available through level 4, as well as over 800 quests and countless minigames. Upgrade to a membership and get unlimited access to all job levels, as well as additional premium content and features.

So, mark it down on your calendar. March 29, 2011. Free Realms. PS3.

Come be a part of a whole new online gaming experience for the PlayStation 3, in a world where YOU RULE!

Another MMO for Mac.

Though PS3 owners are still waiting to hear about when they'll get their oft-promised opportunity to embark into the free-to-play environs of Free Realms, a Sony press release has revealed Mac owners will be able to join the game's 14 million-strong community later this fall. Mac players will be able to congregate freely with their PC-playing brethren -- a heartwarming feature which might help settle the bloody Civil War that's divided this country for the better part of a decade.

Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley explained the port is an answer to "the overwhelming player demand for Free Realms on the Mac platform." We thought Mac owners were too busy editing movies and listening to cool music while hanging out with Justin Long to play MMOs, but apparently we were mistaken.

#sonyonlineentertainment As Sony Online Entertainment reveals plans to release the free-to-play MMO Free Realms on the Mac later this fall, fans are still wondering what happened to the PlayStation 3 version. We tapped SOE for an update on the console port. More »

Listen here, you Free Realms freeloader, you. If you've been thinking about throwing some money at Sony Online Entertainment's MMO to get the full experience the game has to offer, you can now get a lifetime membership to the game for a one-time lump sum of $30.

#sonyonlineentertainment Sony Online Entertainment draws back the curtain on Clone Wars Adventures, taking the successful formula established with its free-to-play, family-friendly MMO Free Realms to a galaxy far, far away. More »