Evil Trout Posted:

It’s very similar to the shareware system of the old id Software games (Wolfenstein 3D, anyone?), where you’d get the first part of a game free but would have to pay to continue. You could also compare it to the Xbox Live Arcade, where each game has a free demo but then you have to purchase the full version (although the Xbox Live demos are CONSIDERABLY shorter).

This business model has been proven to work for other platforms for years. The major difference is that we’re going to try it for a browser-based RPG. The single best way to make this work, in my opinion, is to make sure Episode 2 is especially awesome.

This system isn’t new, and it seems to be still working for Runescape. I used to play that game back when it was new and free, then at a certain stage of growth they decided to go for the “ok, we’ll keep what we have free, even add some more for free, but most of what we do that is new you’ll need to pay for.”

I’m just glad ForumWarz will be a one time fee instead of a monthly fee.