I was a very active player from '96-'03, really enjoyed playing Gemstone III at this time. Real life occurred and I just couldn't swing the subscription fee any more. Since than many games have set up a F2P modal with great success. (i.e. DDO).

Being money miserly I play these games as F2P for a while until there's some content I want. Then I fork out the cash to get it. I was so excited when I found GSIV created a F2P model and decided to try it out.

Since then it's a resounding disappointment. Why can't I just buy the stuff I want? I want to gain ranks in Voln, let me just buy access to it. Instead I have to "rent" it via a pass. Or I want access to some high enchantment items. Let me just buy access to them.

This model where I buy a short term pass to gain "perks", is just a passive way of getting me to subscribe. Also, some of the restrictions appear to make the game just outright not fun, why does it cost me 18k silver to buy a black bear hide mantle? Having to grind out hours just to buy basic equipment to outfit my character some is not fun. I have a hard time believing this is convincing many to subscribe.

Seems like if I'm having fun and not just grinding thru game play against all these restrictions, I'd pay you to gain access to a hunting area, which you could also cleverly place some sort of shop with exclusive items.

In my opinion, the F2P subscription would work better if used as a carrot and not a stick...

I'd be curious to know if you're seeing many F2P become subscribers.