Linden Lab have long been criticised since they opened Second Life up to potentially more customers in 2006 and allowed people free unsubscribed access, some of the criticism was justified as it did open the doors to some unsavoury types who only wanted to cause trouble, but it is also a model that gives people greater choice than a straight subscription model does.
Four years on and Lord of the Rings Online and Pirates of the Burning Sea have both moved away from the subscription model, to allow people free access to a point, while addons and premium options can be purchased. Champions Online will move to a similar model in Q1 2011, which must all in some ways please those at Linden Lab who took the decision to move to this model, the cold harsh reality being that payment and registration are barriers to entering a new world and limiting how much freedom one can potentially have, puts people off at the door. Continue reading “The Free To Play Model Gathers Pace”