Free-to-play is all the rage in our genre lately. For developers and publishers, it seems to assure a larger player base by removing potential barriers to entry. Their hope then, of course, is that you stick around and spend some cash. On the surface, this feels like a win for players because hey - we're not giving a penny to anyone until we damn well enjoy something! 

Not everyone in the industry is convinced that the free-to-play model is an automatic just yet, however.