According to Massively, Free Realms, SOE’s kid-friendly game, will be out in April for the PC and some time in the fall for the PS3.
I would love to be more excited about this game. I looked at it at the Fan Faire and it is beautiful with fantastically whimsical art direction. What I didn’t see was a story. Now, maybe they have a story to pull everything together and make Free Realms less of a 3D MMO-ish minigame portal and more of a destination for adventure that I didn’t see – and for darn sure I’ll be trying out the beta if I get in, because I’m always looking for new ideas in MMO play.
I felt Neopets had astoundingly deep play for what seems on the outside to be a Flash game portal. Wizard 101, another kid friendly MMO, I recommend without hesitation to anyone looking for an MMO which has nothing to do with WoW at all but also comes with challenging and strategic play – and tells a very strong story as well.
I’m not one to dismiss a MMO just because it is aimed at children, but I do ask for a reason to be in that world and to advance through it. All I ask of any MMO is a story that I can be part of.