Free Realms Chapter 1 Walkthrough

The first epic storyline quest of Free Realms, the Chapter 1 series reveals the darker story beneath Free Realms' lore. Chapter 1 is a story about royalty, sisterhood, and betrayal. Here's a guide to walk you through the quest series.

Even if you're not a Free Realms player, I encourage you to glance through the walkthrough, and see that SOE did manage to put a storyline in the game that isn't "kiddish." Free Realms is not just a happy-dunky-dory place.

Read on at Bright Hub!

No End Game for MMO Devs

Whenever human beings gather, you will find them indulging in a favorite hobby: Humbling the mighty. The only thing we love more than being fans of someone is tearing that someone to shreds. Especially on the internet.

In video games, particularly MMOs, the phenomenon is such a regular occurrence that we should expect to see it once a year like some kind of unholy groundhog day. In the past few years, we’ve seen it happen to Jeff Anderson, Brad McQuaid, Bill Roper, Richard Garriott, and Mark Jacobs, among others. All five of those guys were strongly associated with their studios. All five were hit professionally, for varying reasons with varying degrees of culpability, and then shredded by the chattering classes with a savagery normally exhibited by feral cats and Walmart shoppers going after flatscreen TVs.

But these are MMO people, and there’s no such thing as a final chapter in an MMO. Jeff and Bill are already back in action. Brad has launched a blog, en route to his comeback. Richard Garriott has several new hobbies. Mark is not the type to sit quietly and fade away.

So, what creates these dramas with their multiple acts?

Read this great piece by Sanya Weathers over on MMORPG.com. Gives a really good insight as to what the MMO industry is like.

Free Realms Brawler Guide

Posted on Bright Hub:

If being tough and looking cool are your thing, being a brawler in Free Realms might be for you. One of only two combat jobs that are free to play, the brawler is sometimes difficult to level. If you'd like help, read this guide!

Keep Reading. . .

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Aion: third beta preview launches July 2nd

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Eve Online Apocrypha 1.3 goes live June 29

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Runes of Magic: The Weeping Coast to be released in August

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Ether Saga Online socketing and vocation daily quest preview

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Warhammer Online faces big changes down the road

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MMO Playing equivalent to parenting

That’s when it hit me: I just changed my character’s pants.

What Level is Your Daughter? The WoW Method for Raising Kids and MMO Characters

This was a really interesting read by one of my fellow writers on Bright Hub. He compares levelling in an MMO to parenting a child. No, that's not saying you'll make a great parent if you play WoW - it's just an interesting concept to compare your budding character to a budding young life.

Go read it!

Latest News Posted on Examiner

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Aion will release September 22nd
If you're eagerly anticipating Aion's release - or if you have a preorder burning a hole in your pocket - you'll be glad to hear the news that Aion...
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How Free Realms area chat is ruining a safe experience

What's worse than Trade chat in World of Warcraft after Saturday morning cartoons? Try Free Realms' area chat channel. When Free Realms introduced an...
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Grand Chase: 6/24 update

Grand Chase has updated today with a brand new patch. Here are the patch notes:[General]Siren is coming! Play as Amy to receive a 50% exp boost until...
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New upgrades to DDO: Eberron Unlimited revealed

Turbine has released new information today on some of the new content coming to Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited. Players can expect:New...
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Dungeon Fighter Online opens closed beta applications

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Two big gaming business shifts

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Today brought the announcement of TWO big shifts in the gaming industry.

First of all, id's been bought by ZeniMax. That's right, Doom and Oblivion just got married. Or Wolfenstein and Fallout, if you want to think of it that way.

And then EA decided to merge BioWare and Mythic - which also resulted in Mark Jacobs leaving. What? That was a shock to his coworkers as well as to the rest of us. No one seems to believe Jacobs quit willingly.

A little LOTRO insight.

Image by fiatlux via Flickr

I quit playing Lord of the Rings Online about two years ago. I had grown tired of the game; found the content to be growing dull and repetitive. It had also become painful to play on a personal level, as a dear friend of mine I met on LOTRO lost her battle to a terminal cancer.

I lost my eye on LOTRO for a while, until I started writing on a regular basis about MMORPGs again. I decided, finally, that I'd renew my subscription and buy the Mines of Moria digital upgrade. While reinstalling and downloading a massive update to game files, I discovered something that made me slap my face a little in surprise.

You see, I hadn't realized that LOTRO had added two new classes: the warden and the rune-keeper. For such a big update to such a big game to pass me by felt embarrassing, both as a gamer and a journalist.

Nonetheless, finding this information out was exciting. Not only was I excited to try a restyled LOTRO, but to be able to try out two classes, both of whom appeal to me greatly, is doubly exciting. I even gave in and bought my husband Moria and a month subscription. That's how piqued I'd become.

So sorry Tweety, I should have been paying more attention to this game. I always love Turbine MMOs, and I think LOTRO's gonna suck me back in hard. And I'm gonna like it, baby.

WonderKing beta begins July 9, official website open

Posted on Examiner:

WonderKing, a side scrolling free-to-play MMORPG by ndoors, has launched its official website, and announced that it will be launching its beta on July 9th. If you have any interest in playing or testing WonderKing, head on over and register an account for a chance to get a beta key (those who registered on the teaser site will be getting a beta key in their email.)

Read on...

Lord of the Rings Online: Book 8 released today

Posted on Examiner:

This morning, Turbine brought down the Lord of the Rings Online servers to apply the update for Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-Dûm.

Read on. . .

World of Warcraft: Crusader's Coliseum, Wintergrasp, and other 3.2 changes

Posted on Examiner:

Blizzard has released a preview page for the new raid, Crusader's Coliseum, that will appear in patch 3.2 for World of Warcraft.

In addition, Blizzard's confirmed a couple other upcoming changes for patch 3.2:

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Fallen Earth Stress Test begins June 23

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Posted on Examiner:

If you're one of the many people who has been looking forward to Fallen Earth, a first person shooter MMO, now is your time to get into beta - maybe.

Read on. . .

Free Realms: 6/22 update, guilds added

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Sony Online Entertainment has brought a huge update to Free Realms today. Not only did they offer a patch with bug fixes and new content, they also added guilds!

Read on. . .

8-Bit Pwny Club 1: Top 5 Gaming Toilets

Check out this great, hilarious bit from Weebl of Weebl's Stuff. 8 Bit Characters host their own tube-show. In this episode, they review the top 5 game toilets. Although I did have one, "Oh my god what did they do to Samus?!" moment. It was a riot.

An early glimpse at Aion

Posted on Examiner:

This weekend launched the second beta preview event of Aion, the newest fantasy MMORPG by NCSoft. This time, the NDA was lifted, and I got to experience the beautiful world waiting past the login screen.

Read more!

World of Warcraft: Midsummer Fire Festival

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Posted on Examiner:

World of Warcraft has begun its annual summer event, the Midsummer Fire Festival. Celebrating the summer solstice, the Fire Festival will run from June 21 until July 4.

Read more!

Free Realms Chef Guide

Posted on Bright Hub:

Chefs in Free Realms enjoy the hard work of gathering ingredients, preparing and cooking them, and then finally enjoy the fruits of their labor. Get the "scoop" on how to prepare and make useful foods as a chef here.

Read on!

Also, if you haven't checked them out yet, check out my Free Realms Pet Trainer Guide and my Guide to what you get for being a member in Free Realms.

Dragonica Online closed beta launch

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Posted on Examiner:

I received an email this morning from THQ*ICE, letting me know about a closed beta key giveaway for their new free to play MMORPG, Dragonica Online, along with the promise of open beta soon. The game looks to be promising, if not a bit cute, and I've heard good things about it from friends. Here's the information if you're interested.

... read more ...

Who the heck are you?

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I've been on the blogosphere, and the web, as a writer for a while. Nonetheless, when you start up a new place to yak, your credibility is in doubt, and people more than anything want to know "who the heck are you?"

So here's the blunt facts:

I'm Jaime Skelton. Mostly, I write, and it's about video games. I started realizing I had a nack for it in 2007, but I didn't really crack into the industry until this past year.

My old gaming blog (which I refuse to update any longer, I have too many issues with the company) is Venus Gaming.

I currently write for Examiner as the Salt Lake MMORPG Examiner.

I also write for BrightHub in their MMO Channel.

Some of my gaming work can also be found on Associated Content, although I rarely publish there now due to my other writing contracts and interests.

Although I've been writing about MMOs only briefly, I've been playing them since the days of Ultima Online. I've been betaing MMOs since EverQuest (yes, the original.) And I've been gaming for over 20 years.

So cheers, and welcome to my thought dump for gaming.