Dungeons and Dragons Online: Free to play
Damn. I just might get into this.
Dungeons and Dragons Online went live back in 2006, and a number of my friends took part in the beta, enjoying the game immensely. Then the product went live, and they never played again. The reason was simple: the game was $50, the monthly fee was $15, and for many gamers that’s a hard sell. Then suddenly, a week or so ago, everyone was playing again. A thread about the game popped up on our forum. Where did this buzz come from? Simple: the game was once again free to play.
You can still buy a subscription, and that comes with a number of benefits, but you can also download the client for free, and play a huge chunk of the game without paying a single cent.
Here’s how it works. Anyone can download the client and create a character and start playing. As you level up, you can buy everything from hair dye to new adventures and dungeons using Turbine points, which can be bought with either real money or earned in the game. You can still subscribe, which gets you more character slots and a monthly allotment of Turbine points, as well as some other perks.
Dungeons and Dragons Online: behold the power of free – Ars Technica