Unconfirmed: Microtransactions in The Old Republic

The guys at Kotaku seem to think that EA is going to opt for a "microtransaction-based" revenue system for BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic.
The brand name for BioWare's upcoming Star Wars MMO may be a familiar one, but EA's plans for tempting you to part with your hard-earned cash are not.

Rather than asking for a monthly subscription fee, ala World of Warcraft, EA boss John Riccitiello has strongly hinted that the game will instead be "microtransaction-based".

To us, that sounds less like "pay as you go", more like "pay as you go for new GIANT LIGHTSABERS". Riccitiello also said that more on the game's payment structure will be revealed in February, so I guess we'll all be staying tuned.
Given the fact that such a system hasn't seen a whole lot of success in North America up to this point, I don't know why they'd choose something other than standard monthly subscriptions.