Most of the comments you always seem so player centric. You hear the same arguments from pirates who believe they should get a game "free" in order to try it out. It has cost the industry millions and I really only see subscription and F2P as the ticket for success for gaming companies.

I watched my kid play Battlefield Heros and I wasn't impressed. I can see why it didn't do well (How I wish they would bring Battlefield Vietnam back with the UI of Battlefield 2142!).

Second Life is basically a F2P model that does very well...and that is with the greatest lag in the known uniform and no real game model. EVE is another variation - where if you have the mining skills, you can earn enough to play for free (PLEX). Both are great systems. WoW, while not free, has managed to find a way to squeeze crazy money out of players without major protest (server and faction changes).

You are right when you say that it's a fine line at what is acceptable. Players will flee in mass (as shown my SWG) Gaming has to change with the technology just like music did. With the right game, F2P will work and it will save some games that do not have the subscription base like WoW.

Gaming companies will need to be more creative such as offer games with player created content - only charging for the player created content and not the players. Have ways to make money, like in Second Life, etc. Airlines do it successfully. There are those that can pay outrageous fees to fly with leg room. This creates a model where others can fly for only a few hundred dollars cross country. Without those few willing to splurge, cheap airfares would be an economic impossibility. Companies will have to think outside of the WoW created box.