Though I’m a day late I now have the second part of my demo of Free Realms, the upcoming tween/teen-aimed Massive game from Sony Online Entertainment. Yesterday I had a full writeup of the demo video and Laralyn McWilliams’ running commentary. Today I have brief notes from the Q&A session that followed and (more enlightening, I think) the full audio of that experience in the form of the MMOG Nation Broadcast #6.

Many thanks to Ms. McWilliams and the SOE community team for the chance to see the game; it was actually kind of inspiring. Read on for the notes, or go check out MNB #6.

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Earlier this month I sat in on the SOE influencer’s event, a unique opportunity to provide feedback on and hear feedback from the Sony Online community team. As part of that experience, all of the folks at the event were shown a demo of the in-development title Free Realms. Our host was the informative Laralyn McWilliams, lead designer on the project . The core of the presentation was a video demo, essentially the same experience that press folks had at CES. What distinguished the demo we were given was that it wasn’t from CES – it was actually from SOE’s in-house open house event held early this year.

Today I have a complete writeup of the demo we were shown, which fleshes out many elements previously only glossed over. In and of itself, it answers a lot of questions previously raised by SOE’s ambitious project. You can learn about your character’s personal Facebook-style website, the features Free Realms has in common with Google Maps, and what bestselling Nintendo DS game is being incorporated as a major non-violent gameplay component. You can also enjoy concept art like the Town Hall above … exclusive concept art never before seen outside of SOE. Fancy, no?

For the fully monty, make sure to come back tomorrow. I’ll have the contents of the Q&A session held at the end of the event, complete with audio! (Also known as a podcast episode.) That session is full of fascinating insights and hints at what this game may offer – as well as the categorical statement above that seems to typify the attitude of the Free Realms development process. The full on MMO experience, aimed at younger folks … and sans the bullshit.

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The developer mixer yesterday afternoon was … fascinating. A great chance to keep my yap shut and just listen for a change, as designers, producers, and developers from teams all across SOE mixed and mingled. Though the player influencers undoubtedly had a good time talking with the folks that worked on their game, I was perfectly happy just to absorb what everyone was saying.

And my goodness the things I heard. More than any other time this weekend the NDA sat like a weight across my shoulders as the blog posts I’ll never write just kept flying past my head.

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It’s becoming a running trend for me not to note MMOG Nation’s birthday (Jan 9th) as it goes past. I was either sick or on the road in early 2007, and this year I was both. I have had the creeping crud lodged in my chest since I got back from CES, regrettably. That’s been really good for MMOG playing, and really bad for things like working. Which, as you may have noticed, is something I enjoy doing.

In any case, to commemorate the site’s second anniversary I thought I’d drop a headpat on few personal favorites things from the past year. I’m not going to even tongue-in-cheek call them ‘awards’ like I did last year; these are just the things that made me well pleased in the past twelve months.

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The death of Vanguard, or rather its slow decline, is a noteworthy point in a number of 2008 prognostications around the blogosphere. I tend to think that’s a freaking shame. If as nothing more than as a testament to all those newbie designers, I really like the idea of Vanguard sticking around. So what can be done at this point?

What can put the brakes on this game’s freefall? In my mind, I think about the only thing left is an influx of new players. A sufficient parachute of players might make this game’s time in the air a little longer – and certainly more interesting.

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It’s not often I stumble over new things. Mostly my life as a writer is about regurgitating previously announced information, or coming at that information in a new (often more personal) way. So it was kind of a pleasant surprise when Smedley passed on word of the “Share the Wealth” program.

I’ve got a two-part interview up on Massively today discussing the future of FreeRealms’ buy-in program, and one of the reason why they raised those damned Station Access rates.

We are having ongoing discussions inside the company about making station access an all-inclusive pass. Everything that we have, you get as a customer. Station Access subscribers would get every expansion pack for every game, as well as future expansions for every game as well. For the same price now, without raising the price. We have two problems, though. One: we have third parties involved in this. LucasArts, for example, will have to buy off on this, as would others. Second is the less obvious one: Promising future stuff is the meat of the problem. We haven’t found the right way to word things yet. To be honest other priorities have gotten in the way. That’s what we want to offer people.

They’ve been working on the right language for that Access program for over a year. Faster lawyers, kill, kill!

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It’s been an amazing year in MMOGs. I think 2008 is going to be just as big a deal, though … and in some ways maybe even bigger. As I did last year (relatively well, I might add) I’m going to try to call some shots. Again, I’m just a guy and this is all in good fun. But I’ll keep myself honest: we’ll see how I did this time next year.

So then:

1. Is It Cold In Here or Is It Just Me? – Wrath of the Lich King won’t come out in 2008. We’ll have a firm release date (of early 2009) for the expansion by late summer, and there are as-yet-unannounced features slated for the content update. Blizzard has Hydralisks to fry this year.
2. Nickel and Dime – The concept of RMT and microtransactions will continue to gain acceptance with North American gamers. This will be reflected commercially by further successes for MapleStory and Nexon’s other games in the US. Other companies will begin to consider alternatives to the flat subscription fee, even if outright RMT/microtransactions aren’t yet on the table. At least one newly announced game this year will feature a non-subscription schema.
3. Call Me Agent Smith – The Agency is going to go over like gangbusters. A flat box fee with only microtransactions for further goodies is going to make a big impression … if it can make it out this year. Sometime mid-to-late summer would be perfect. This could even be one of the killer apps for the PS3 this year. Which is good, because it needs it. FreeRealms, on the other hand, is going to have a rough go of it. Without clear player understanding of what exactly this humor/fantasy MMOG thingie is, it’s going to take some time for it to take off.
4. WAAAAUGH For the Win – Warhammer is also going to be a big hit … though it perhaps won’t be everything that EA is hoping for. Long-term MMOG fans are going to fall in love all over again just the same. By the end of the year the house that Jacobs built is going to be very happy for all the extra hard work they put in. Conan will be a much less resounding success. It’s not going to fail, but Funcom is going to end 2008 more than a little bit frustrated.
5. Sunglasses At Night – The CCP/White Wolf game is going to be big news this year, as they announce the scope of the world. It’s not going to be everything that World of Darkness fans would have hoped for, but there will still be a lot of happy gothsicles.
6. Out of Left Field – One of the newbie studios (Carbine, Red 5) is going to announce a project that will really excite and surprise Massive fans. 38 Studios will announce what they’re doing, and it won’t surprise anyone … but it will be somewhat interesting.
7. Pushback – There’s going to be yet another major AAA title whose release date is pushed back to late in the year. One of the big games that we think is going to come out in 2008, won’t.
8. The Age Gets Darker – WAR’s release will be a very dark day for the already dimly-lit Ages of Camelot. Their emulation of Mythic’s older game’s defining feature, coupled with a better PvE experience in essentially every way, will see a lot of players heading for the hills.
9. The Legacy of McQuaid – At some point, Vanguard players are going to get tired of waiting around for ‘the good’ to show up in their game. Expect to see some of Vanguard’s best features showing up in EverQuest 2.
10. With the Brim Pulled Way Down Low – We’re going to see another live game close up shop this year, and an in-development title will slip into the unseen depths as well.
11. Way To Cast – Another MMO dev or publisher will join Blizzard and SOE in making an official podcast.
12. Coming of Age – Tabula Rasa is going to maintain a steady playerbase throughout the year as folks enjoy the new and exciting flavour. Turbine will continue to not report LOTRO’s subscription numbers, for a reason.
13. Okay For Serious This Time – BioWare will announce what they’re making in Austin. For reals, guys. C’mon! :)

2008’s Winners: Warhammer Online, The Agency, MapleStory, New Studios

2008’s Losers: Dark Age of Camelot, Vanguard, Age of Conan

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