Free to play really is a farce. Actually, i take that back, its marketing genius. Some free to play models are better then others. I personally never tried Free 2 play until:
a.) Age of Conan
This F2P model acted more like an extended trial. Certain features were limited that really aids character progression. For example, in this game, certain areas are needed to progress your character - they happen to be premium only. So you have road blocks set up, that either slow you down, or make it agonizing to play without subscribing. This F2P model is very easy to see through. There's no microtransactions, your just deliberately road blocked at certain key areas. It is in effect an extended trial. You cannot progress at certain key points without subscribing.
b.) Lord of the Rings Online
This model, consists of microtransactions. The game doesnt force via road blocks you can't get around without subscribing, instead you buy access to the area via turbine points. These points are sold in lots that come out to like 5, 10, 20, or 50 US dollars or something like that. If something costs 100 turbine points to access, you have to buy like 500 turbine points, being the lowest increment of points you can buy (or something like that).
Long story short with LOTR, they nickel and dime you via turbine points. Need more backback space? That'll cost you. Want access to certain skills? That'll cost you. They charge via small amounts of turbine pionts, id even say each transaction is a pittance. So it doesn't seem like your spending lots of cash - until you start adding it all up. Over the course of 3 months before i got bored and quit, i had spent the cash equivlant of 6 months premium subscripton in microtransactions. So they got twice the money out of me, for the same time period. Considering i'm stingy with my money, that is absolute genius on their part!
Free 2 play is not free.
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