BrianO

Advertising in general has little effect on whether or not I will play a game. Other factors, such as word of mouth and reviews by people with similar tastes to carry far more weight than advertisements. The large, lavish ad campaigns you see on TV and mainstream web sites, such as news sites, etc. aren't targeted at existing fans of MMO's; they are targeted at those who aren't fans. In effect, these ads serve to "mainstream" MMO's.

That said, "Flash ads offering 7/10/14 day trials", will often get me to look at games that I've passed over in the past. It's easier to talk a friend or two to try out a new game with me as well. Many, including myself, don't want to have to buy a game just to see if it is appealing.

Everquest had the most engaging combat of any game to date. Unfortunately, they've watered that down into something easier and more trivial than WoW. I would dearly love to play a game that focused on group oriented combat, with different classes and class roles, rather than the homogenized classes and simple, solo-centric encounters that's prevalent in today's mmos.

What are "these games" you refer to? Wow? EQ? EQ2? Vanguard? FFXI? Those aren't F2P games, and weren't designed to include RMT. You seem to equate want with need.

Why push the buttons at all? Why play a game if you just want to cheat? Kind of takes the whole point of "game" away when you choose to be a cheat.

I agree with Jay, that MCRaider sounds a shill for Live Gamer.

Absolutely

Could you explain those differences? Seems pretty much the same: selling in game gold/items for real money.