Something funny going on at Free Realms

I've been meaning to post this for a few days now but I got tied up leveling my Paladin (level 78 now) and just hadn't had the time. However once I read a congratulatory post on Lum's site tonight I just couldn't remain quite about this any longer.

It's no secret that I do not care for SOE, however I guess what really got me "worked up" about free Realms was the outburst of game enthusiasts regarding how Free Realms was going to take over the gaming economy. We hear this with every new game that comes along, yet even mature bloggers and players were saying it about this new come along. Now we learn that Free Realms has a million players, though I am highly skeptical of that claim. You can easily make multiple accounts and all it takes is an email address and I've seen claims from people that they have 3 or more accounts. Why, I simply can't answer that but they do.

Also what is the status of those supposed accounts? SOE sent out "trolling" (read SPAM) emails last week to people that read as follows:

Dear Customer:

We are sending this e-mail because we have received a request to reset the password for your Station Account bub. If you did not initiate this request, you may simply disregard this e-mail.

Click on the following link to generate a new temporary password, and have it e-mailed to you at this address:

[link snipped]

Password reset may only be done once every 24 hours.
Thank you.

(This is an automated e-mail. Please do not reply.)


Sony Online Entertainment
www.freerealms.com

The email is HTML with some graphical features, like the large FREE REALMS graphic at the top. The link (which I snipped) takes you to a page that doesn't ask you to change your password at all, but instead takes you to a page which not surprisingly, you can sign up for Free Realms.

I don't have a SOE station account but used to play Star Wars Galaxies years ago. So there is absolutely no reason for SOE to have sent me this email except that they are trolling for paying customers. Sorry SOE, but I have zero intention of being one of them. I find SOE's trolling for customers in this manner to be despicable and reprehensible and it makes me wonder how many of those supposed million players came to look at Free Realms because of emails like it.

I wonder how freely SOE will be with account information in the coming months? We can only wait and see.