Played Lately: Free Realms

• One the first things that caught my attention in Free Realms was all the little arrows on the main map pointing to areas off the edge of the current world. Lavender Coast, Silver Hill, Stormfront Mountains, Black Forest. Each marked "Coming Soon." Can you believe they would tease us so badly? They obviously know how to expand their game and they are dangling those plans right out in front of us. So instead of just retelling my latest adventures, I thought I would point out some points of interest that give us a little insight into what SOE might be thinking.



• Soon after earning my Archer profession (my favorite combat job so far), I discovered the road to Lavender Coast. You can tell it's the road since they set a warpstone right there called "Lavender Coast." I love the anachronistic construction barrier and I will miss it then they eventually open the road. As a side note, please excuse the lame outfit here. I have a really sweet archer outfit, but the armor stats on this sad ensemble are ever so slightly better. Of course I'd dress in a clown suit if it protected like plate mail.



• On one of my exploration fits, I found myself in Shrouded Glade. After passing through the cave entrance, I was greeted by this little guy, Tran. According to Tran, Shrouded Glade is the school for druids, although they are not accepting new students at the moment. Did you catch that? If that doesn't send up a red flag, I don't know what does. Druid would be an great expansion job and this would be the place to train it.



• At the far back of Shrouded Glade, behind the main building you find more construction barriers. While the town is a bit of a dead end now, I believe this will be a quite busy the first day Stormfront Mountains open. As a bonus, that is hilarious looking. There are even barriers on the other side of the river as if they want to keep the new expansion people out of the current game zone. Also notice in this pic that I'm wearing my Seeker's gear from the rare exploration collections I've found. This is my default outfit while I'm running around because I look that good.



• When I first found this place just north of Snowfall, I did not immediately think "Ah, another blocked expansion path." Without any obvious barriers set up, I thought it was just a nice bit of scenery. The only indication this might be an unfinished route to maybe Silver Hills or Stormfront Mountains is the little guy standing in front of the ice. And what does Silversnow say when you talk to him?



• Elves? Did he say elves? What kind of elves do you think is he talking about? Will they be tall, willowy Tolkeinesque elves, afflicted with immortality and insufferable smugness? Will they be North Pole elves with a knack for hand-made toys? (Would that mean a new Toy-Maker job? I dare not dream.) Do elves really like fruitcake? That would lend credence to the Christmas elf theory. SOE has said they will be expanding the playable races, so this seems an obvious choice. Another question: what the heck is that guy, anyway?


• I still haven't poked my head into every crevice the game has to offer, so this is only what I've found so far. I imagine with all the Wug-things around we'll see them as a playable race as well. I'd also love to see Tailors and Alchemists for new crafting options as well as knights and rangers for new combat jobs. And doesn't Lavender Coast just scream out for a Pirate job? You know you want to wear the eye patch and swing a cutlass, too.