Quote Originally Posted by Dooks View Post
Once sales drop to an unacceptable level this game will indeed go F2P, the model is already setup to accommodate this, as are all MMO's nowadays. F2P will mean a HUGE influx of people, so from a player standpoint that's awesome. From a business standpoint more people playing = more people to buy from the store, it is win win.
Exactly right. It's basically the safe(est) route now.
After awhile subscription based games lack an increased flow, so the server costs don't meet enough for the demand. This is where an in-game cash shop is crucial. But the amount of people with updated subscriptions doesn't mean that all those people will use the in-game store. If they just shut down the servers (and the game) altogether, that simply looks bad on them as a company.
So by changing to a F2P model.....they increase the potential clients for their in-game store, due to the typically massive increase in accounts.
While they lose the revenue from subscription fees, they often times make up for it with those in-game purchases.

The risk with going F2P though is (as obvious) that the revenue won't be enough to maintain the servers and game.
This quite often happens after a few years in MMOs.
Curious how this will turn out though.