Here are the details per the company’s official site:

“From July 16th, 2010 (at Noon PDT) until August 2nd, 2010 (at Noon PDT) you can get a lifetime membership for about the same price as paying month to month for 6 months!

With a Lifetime Membership you’ll have access to all the great Member content without having to worry about your subscription running out!

If you have previously purchased a 12 month subscription, we have you covered. You will automatically be converted to a Lifetime Membership at no extra charge.

If you are currently a Member with a 1, 3 or 6 month membership, the Lifetime Membership and charges will take effect at the END of your current membership cycle. You’ll get an email reminding you of how it works when you sign up.”

So regardless of whether you are a very occasional visitor to the land of Free Realms or if you play all of the time, this offer is a great deal as you will never have to worry about subscribing for a whole month, just to be able to play certain character classes, level caps, limited item selection, and to enjoy the full spectrum of features the game has to offer.

It will be interesting to see the numbers for subscribers by the time this deal comes to an end.

Here is the purchase link to become a member at Free Realms – don’t forget the one-time lifetime membership offer expires August 2nd, 2010.

Located along the path northeast from the Vale of the Ancients, the area outside the quarry may be more dangerous than inside. The woods, which some claim to be haunted, keep all but the most dedicated miners from even trying to find their way to the mine.”

This is the kind of interesting content we have been hoping for: not just easy access to areas where you grind away at a task to build up a skillset that leads nowhere but more grinding, no – we want action, adventure, excitement, risk, atmosphere, storytelling.

With the new Mother Lode Quarry, the land of Free Realms gives reason to strap on your adventure gear, unsheath your weapon, and set out with your mining gear for greater prospects, to bring home the bacon and redecorate the old homestead into a swish new hangout where you can share tales of your exploits.

Here is the map to the fabled Mother Lode Quarry:

Click to see full size

Check out the new Free Realms “It’s Your World” video by California pop rockers The Dares. It sort of looks like what an exec at Disney Channel might think could be kinda cool?

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Pirate’s Plunder puts you in charge of your own pirate ship in an action-packed race to collect treasure. Your color-coded island hideout is where you offload treasure or change ships. The watery battlefield features obstacles like whirlpools and other sea effects like currents that can affect how you move around the map.

This welcome addition to the world of Free Realms was spearheaded by longtime Sony Game Developer and now the new Sr. Producer for Free Realms, David Georgeson (aka Mister_Qixter) who has been making games for over 20 years including the Everquest space cousin PlanetSide. He was also involved in the development of other cool RPG and RTS games that include the popular Mechwarrior II series, Heavy Gear 2, Crusaders of Might & Magic, Mage Knight: Apocalypse, zOMG!, Absolute Zero and interestingly enough Pools of Darkness – one of the very first Advanced Dungeons and Dragons video games ever. Cool!

Along with the mini-game, paid FR members will also be able to purchase new pirate-oriented clothing and housing items, perhaps even a pirate ship for outside their in-game home?

Other tasty treats include a new tiger pet, and “Pet Pals”, which are “cute little mini pets that follow you around the world and keep you company.” Like everything else that is cool in Free Realms, Pet Pals can be bought for coin or cold hard Station Cash.

That aside, we are very excited about the addition of Pirate’s Plunder AND Mister_Qixter because it means things can only get better as Free Realms approaches its first birthday.

Learn more about “Pirate’s Plunder” at the Official Free Realms site

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With all the teleportation options one may wonder why they would want a mount (much like one may have wondered what the point was of having a house if the game is all about venturing out on quests) – well consider all the cool hidden nooks and crannies you will be far more willing to explore when you know you don’t have to trek on foot from the nearest teleport hub. In a way this makes the game far richer, but ONLY if the FR team continues to make the world bigger and deeper and more full of surprises, because otherwise it’s going to seem pretty small, pretty fast.

A mount will cost a paid member (approx $5 monthly) an additional 450 station cash points (roughly US$5.00) and they come in up to five colors.

Here is the official blurb from the people at SOE:

“Have you seen players riding around Free Realms on the back of a T-Rex or maybe hovering over the road while riding a winged Dragon called a Wyvern? You aren’t dreaming. These are the first Rides available in Free Realms and they are currently available only to Members.

You can hop on the back of these awesome creatures and ride them anywhere in the overland areas and also at your house! Rides have special swimming animations and can also leap into the air from Launch Pads located around the world.”

You know we at FRG can be a little harsh on Free Realms at times, but that’s only because we care. And when props are merited we are glad to give them. So here is our big thumbs up to this welcome addition to the game. Wyverns, ho!

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