Playing Free Realms

Even though I am still playing World of Warcraft I've tried some new games lately.

I've been playing Free Realms which is really a great game. There are several jobs you advance through - I am partial to the Chef and Postman jobs but I've found myself doing more as a Miner than anything else lately.

I play often with my daughter and I think they have done a great job making a MMO that anyone can play. There is combat for those that want it but it is something you don't have to participate in.

There are several different mini games each gives a different reward. Some allow you to collect items that you need for quests or crafting recipes.

It is also free to play but there are in game quests, items, and jobs that are only available for subscribers. Free accounts only get a single character and subscribers get to play 3 seperate characters. The game also uses in game micro purchases - items that you need to spend real money to aquire.

As a parent one feature I really like is that under age account security. Under age accounts can only use canned mesages - not typed chat. There are language filters that prevent words from being displayed in the in game chat.

Freee Realms is still just starting out but I think it will be a really exciting and full place to play for many years to come.

Level 70!

My Druid hit level 70 in World of Warcraft this past weekend.

It was really cool and I got a sense of accomplishment from it but I have to say it was kind of anti-climatic. I was playing alone late at night and logged off once I had completed the level. I am pleased that I finally hit the max level (for now) in the game but I don't think that the time I spend in the game will really change. I am still "chasing" things but now instead of chasing XP I am chasing items and gold, lots and lots of gold - ad Motes of everything.

One thing I am really looking forward to is helping the lower level characters up the ladder to 70 as well.

Another addiction

I have been posting less often than usual. Partly this is because I have been a bit busier at work. Partly I have been setting doing demos for the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game and setting up a monthly game night at Happy Harbor comics.

Mainly I think it is because I started playing the World of Warcraft online game.

I have been playing far too much - about twice as often as we were playing Guild Wars. I don't want to turn this into a WoW vs GW post though. The main reason I am playing World of Warcraft is because the people I know playing slowly switched to WoW. So I tried it out.

I am playing a Druid. I picked a Druid because I like the shape-shifting aspect and the class is very versatile. The druid is a spell caster and healer, and can do direct damage like a mage or heal like a priest. They can also tank like a warrior in bear form or sneak around like a rogue. So I thought that it would give me a good range of the game play experience.

So far I am very pleased. I sometimes feel almost over whelmed with the number of quests available. I prefer questing to grinding (which may be why I am a few levels behind the people I play with). I love bear form and I just got my sea lion form - my daughter likes when my bear dances.

The only thing I don't like is the time I have been spending in the game. I am hoping that once I catch the group and start running raids that the number of hours I need to spend to keep up with the group will drop.

So if you are on the Pernolde server look up Chickaquack.