Anarchy Online It's Alive #3

RPGVault continues their "It's Alive" series for Anarchy Online, this time addressing the company's decision to offer a subscription-free version of the game. Here's what to expect:
So far, the prevalent business model for western MMO games has been subscription, where all players *must* pay a monthly fee in order to get access to the game. Anarchy Online used to be such a game - and still is if you want to play the expansion content. In most cases, the players must also purchase the client. During the last couple of years, you have seen games that revolve around the sale of virtual items, with small or no monthly subscription fee, and many other facets in between. Still, it seems as though the games that are more or less free haven't been able to get the same visibility as the "standard" MMO games - so far, that is.