Lifetime Subscription?

[Sky's the Limit]

I haven't seen anyone discussing this, so I figured I'd ask.. Are there currently any plans for a lifetime membership? Every F2P MMO I've played offers this, and even a subscription one I saw. Basiclly $300 to have unlimited access to the game.

While they're a lot up front, they pay for themselves in the long run. I plan on sticking with PSO for a long time, so I'd be willing to pay for a lifetime. I mean, by the time two years goes by, you'd have spent less money than if you pay for the $15 per month subscription.

Is they don't offer this, could someone suggest it on the forums? I don't know Japanese, so.. XP

[Enforcer MKV]

I've said this many times to people I know; I'd love this as an option.

also, are you talking about Champions Online? (the $300 case, I mean.)

[Sp-24]

Nobody from Sega has said anything about a feature like that, but if they do decide to implement it, hopefully it happens by Spring '13 or later, so people don't cough up $300 only to get their IP blocked a month later.

[Totori]

I can't see SEGA accepting this. It sounds pretty horrid, I mean what if you start to dislike the game?

[Gardios]

Then SEGA will be happy because they already got your money. :P

[Aegea]

That price is ridiculous when premium content here doesn't even cover multiple character slots.

[Magus_84]

Champions Online didn't start out Free-to-Play. It started out as either a monthly sub or lifetime sub.

I don't see Sega going for this, honestly. It'd cost them quite a bit of money.

[Jakosifer]

buy 99 3 month premium passes XDDDDDDDDDDDDLOLLLZ

[Zorafim]

Well, the game's free, so... Wish fulfilled?

[Sky's the Limit]

I've said this many times to people I know; I'd love this as an option.

also, are you talking about Champions Online? (the $300 case, I mean.)

Well, Champions Online, and now The Secret World.

Also, to the other comments, it's not a terrible idea, it's just a different payment option. You wouldn't be forced into taking it. From a buisness persepctive, it's not an aweful idea. If someone does get bored with the game, oh well, SEGA has their money, so they came out in the plus. It's a very expensive option, but if you play the game for more than two years, which I deffinately plan on doing, it's cheaper than the $15 Premium fee. SEGA doesn't really lose money, because the truth is, most of their income will be from the cash store, and to the a lesser extent, the players who pay monthly.

The only time it's a poor decision is if you're a griefer or a hacker and you get repeated complaints and you get banned from the game. Or, you get bored with the game and move on. I kind of made this mistake with Champions Online, which I still like, but The Secret World came out, so.. But, I can see myself going back to CO, since it's a really cute and fun game. Not to mention I have TONS of Cryptic store points from the months I haven't played. You know.. for cute oufits. XD

And to Zorafim, the game is free, but that's only if you don't want your own room and to be able to trade and so on and so forth. I personally think their buisness model will change a bit by the time it hits Western Release. But, I may go post on their official forums once the Western ones are up on their official site.

But anyways, like I said, if anyone is able to post on the Japanese forums, I would greatly appreciate them suggesting this for me! ^-^

[RocSage]

lifetime subs are usually offered only for a short time and generally aren't sold by successful MMORPGs

[eharima]

300 for a lifetime of AC? I'm okay with this.

.....huehuehue

[Sizustar]

300 for a lifetime of AC? I'm okay with this.

.....huehuehue

Not likely, AC purchase is AC purchase, Premium is Premium.

[eharima]

Not likely, AC purchase is AC purchase, Premium is Premium.

Pointing out the obvious is still obvious, even when pointed out.
And to be fair, your point is contradicting, considering they are one of the same.
Premium is a AC purchase .

[Sizustar]

Pointing out the obvious is still obvious, even when pointed out.
And to be fair, your point is contradicting, considering they are one of the same.
Premium is a AC purchase .

Premiium is Premium, AC is AC.
Different things.

[eharima]

Premiium is Premium, AC is AC.
Different things.

Oh god its like that currency thread again. You're american, right?

You buy premium with AC, if you haven't noticed(!)
And before you bother to reply, I clearly stated I'd buy a life time of AC for 300.

And the op says subscription, not premium. And don't forget F2P.

[Sizustar]

Oh god its like that currency thread again. You're american, right?

You buy premium with AC, if you haven't noticed(!)
And before you bother to reply, I clearly stated I'd buy a life time of AC for 300.

And the op says subscription, not premium. And don't forget F2P.

No, I'm not American, I studied abroad there, so I don't see why where I'm from matter.

AC is AC, AC is used for multiple things.
Premium is a extended member with bonus feature that last for a set time.

[eharima]

So you agree that premium is bought with AC, cannot be acquired without AC, except for rare gift occasions from Sega (although they where for people who used AC )
Therefore exemplifying my statement that AC and premium can be categorized as the same thing,
Never did I say that it had one explicit use, and consider the terminology op used,
Life time subscription would therefore be lifetime AC, seeing as there is no current way to acquire premium without AC.

[Zyrusticae]

What the hell?

NO, that isn't how it would work AT ALL.

Lifetime AC would buy you a shitload of in-game items, it would completely crash the economy as the shops would be flooded with cheap AC items. OBVIOUSLY, "lifetime premium" would be completely separate from "lifetime AC".

Yes, you cannot buy premium without AC now. That does NOT mean that is not something that can change in the future, or that there is no possible way for there to be any exceptions (obviously, a lifetime sub would be a HUGE exception).

[Sizustar]

So you agree that premium is bought with AC, cannot be acquired without AC, except for rare gift occasions from Sega (although they where for people who used AC )
Therefore exemplifying my statement that AC and premium can be categorized as the same thing,
Never did I say that it had one explicit use, and consider the terminology op used,
Life time subscription would therefore be lifetime AC, seeing as there is no current way to acquire premium without AC.

No, AC is AC, Premium is Premium.
Life time AC doesn't make sense, as AC converts to Yen, and it's primary usage is the Gacha Scratch, and other various item with set charge, you pay for what you get.
Life time Premium with a set high AC charge would be another matter.

[GreenArcher]

Life time premium? I'd buy that instantly. The ~$18 for 30 days of premium is a bit pricey considering there are still other items to purchase on top of it.

[erehwoN]

One has to remember lifetime subscription pertains to the lifetime of the game.
(it's amazing how many people did not get this in the other games that offers it)

Now would I buy it. Eh... Maybe. depends on my mood if/when it's offered.


So you agree that premium is bought with AC, cannot be acquired without AC, except for rare gift occasions from Sega (although they where for people who used AC )
Therefore exemplifying my statement that AC and premium can be categorized as the same thing,
Never did I say that it had one explicit use, and consider the terminology op used,
Life time subscription would therefore be lifetime AC, seeing as there is no current way to acquire premium without AC.
Actually you can earn a few days of premium in the FUN tickets.

And lifetime of premium is what the thread is about obviously.
Unless you can buy AC as a monthly subscr... You know what... Never mind. :trout:

[MailboxJunkie]

Oh god its like that currency thread again. You're american, right?

You buy premium with AC, if you haven't noticed(!)
And before you bother to reply, I clearly stated I'd buy a life time of AC for 300.

And the op says subscription, not premium. And don't forget F2P.

You should probably read up on what a subscription is.
The only thing in PSO2 that has a month based plan is premium.

AC for life would, as said above, ruin the game completely, for you, other players, and SEGA themselves.
You would burn through $300 worth of AC in a single day if they allowed that, leaving SEGA at a serious loss.

People would just use AC scratch all day, and that's just ridiculously absurd.
Premium would just give you access to three features that would normally be present in a subscription based game, and wouldn't destroy the economy.
And plus, lifetime premium would be available after you buy $300 worth of AC, then use that AC to redeem a lifetime sub, or something along those lines.
Therefore, AC, which is a currency in PSO2, does not equal premium.
Yes, you can buy premium with AC, just like you buy a SUBSCRIPTION to a magazine with money.
What you're saying is like saying a lifetime subscription to "Gamer weekly" would be categorized as the same thing as a lifetime supply of money.

[eharima]

Right. So no one in this thread can read or into terminology .

[Jakosifer]

Dudes and gentlemen. The PSO2 general.

[Sizustar]

Right. So no one in this thread can read or into terminology .

No, we can, I'm afraid it's you that don't understand the difference between AC and Premium.

[Zyrusticae]

Gawd, that attitude is hilarious. "I'm right, it's EVERYONE ELSE that's wrong!"

That attitude would be good to have in a situation where you are absolutely, factually correct... but when you're patently not? Oh, gawd! Dunning-Kruger in FULL EFFECT!

[Macman]

You're all fools for letting this stupid ego-fueled word argument get this far.

[eharima]

Cant believe I actually replied, READ THE WORDS.



NO, that isn't how it would work AT ALL.

Yes, you cannot buy premium without AC now. That does NOT mean that is not something that can change in the future,
Speculation, opinion, you agree with me that Premium is AC only.
NO WHERE IN THIS THREAD did I ever mention, HOW lifetime SUBSCRIPTION would be implemented, stop MAKING THINGS UP.


No, AC is AC, Premium is Premium.
Life time Premium with a set high AC charge would be another matter.
So, AC is used for premium like I said.

Therefore exemplifying my statement that AC and premium can be categorized as the same thing,
Never did I say that it had one explicit use, and consider the terminology op used, SUBSCRIPTION vs PREMIUM



Actually you can earn a few days of premium in the FUN tickets.

No, you can get Premium functions like my room and my shop, not actual premium.


You should probably read up on what a subscription is.
The only thing in PSO2 that has a month based plan is premium.
So should you, there is not even an option for recurring, only upto a period of 90 days, nor is it MANDATORY.
Just because there is a feature that might be similar in YOUR OPINION to a subscription, dosent mean this is an actual subscription service.
It's clearly called PREMIUM not a subscription. For ENHANCED gameplay FEATURES.
L2TERMINOLIGY


AC for life would, as said above, ruin the game completely, for you, other players, and SEGA themselves.
You would burn through $300 worth of AC in a single day if they allowed that, leaving SEGA at a serious loss.
opinion, opinion blah blah, again, LEARN TO READ.

300 for a lifetime of AC? I'm okay with this.

.....huehuehue
did you even read the thread? I said ''300 for a lifetime of AC? I'm okay with this.''
Not once did I say, THIS IS HOW IT WILL/ SHOULD WORK.



People would just use AC scratch all day, and that's just ridiculously absurd.

no shit, wow another captain obvious !! why do you think i would be okay with 300 for a lifetime supply?? hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Also your analogies are terrible.


No, we can, I'm afraid it's you that don't understand the difference between AC and Premium.
Because a group of people have the same ideology does not automagically make them RIGHT.
I know the difference, I know the dumb point you're trying to make, you are just not listening, you're ignorant and of obvious low IQ as you're unable to grasp simple concepts such as the DIFFERENCE IN TERMINOLOGY we are debating and the RELATION BETWEEN AC AND PREMIUM SERVICE

my statement [OPINION] that AC and premium can be [SUGGESTION/ PROPOSAL] categorized [KEYWORD/ INDICATOR] as the same thing,
Never did I say that it had one explicit use.[CONCEPTUAL FACT]

WOW self analysis of my own posts to SPELL OUT intention and direction of conversation. Talk about dealing with the downs.



Gawd, that attitude is hilarious. "I'm right, it's EVERYONE ELSE that's wrong!"

thats it mate, come on, jump on the bandwagon without reading.
its like arguing with a religious cult of hurr durrrs.
feel free to check back a page or two to review what was SAID.

I tried my best to be civil and polite, If mod edit comes ill pastebin my actual thoughts.

[Gardios]

I can't believe I just read that.

[Enforcer MKV]

Nothing to see here, people, move along....

[Zyrusticae]

Huh.

I thought Zipzo was bad with the whole ego-tripping thing, but it's a lot worse when the ego-tripper is considerably less competent than him.

Wow.

[Sizustar]

Cant believe I actually replied, READ THE WORDS.


Speculation, opinion, you agree with me that Premium is AC only.
NO WHERE IN THIS THREAD did I ever mention, HOW lifetime SUBSCRIPTION would be implemented, stop MAKING THINGS UP.


So, AC is used for premium like I said.



No, you can get Premium functions like my room and my shop, not actual premium.


So should you, there is not even an option for recurring, only upto a period of 90 days, nor is it MANDATORY.
Just because there is a feature that might be similar in YOUR OPINION to a subscription, dosent mean this is an actual subscription service.
It's clearly called PREMIUM not a subscription. For ENHANCED gameplay FEATURES.
L2TERMINOLIGY


opinion, opinion blah blah, again, LEARN TO READ.

did you even read the thread? I said ''300 for a lifetime of AC? I'm okay with this.''
Not once did I say, THIS IS HOW IT WILL/ SHOULD WORK.



no shit, wow another captain obvious !! why do you think i would be okay with 300 for a lifetime supply?? hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Also your analogies are terrible.


Because a group of people have the same ideology does not automagically make them RIGHT.
I know the difference, I know the dumb point you're trying to make, you are just not listening, you're ignorant and of obvious low IQ as you're unable to grasp simple concepts such as the DIFFERENCE IN TERMINOLOGY we are debating and the RELATION BETWEEN AC AND PREMIUM SERVICE


WOW self analysis of my own posts to SPELL OUT intention and direction of conversation. Talk about dealing with the downs.



thats it mate, come on, jump on the bandwagon without reading.
its like arguing with a religious cult of hurr durrrs.
feel free to check back a page or two to review what was SAID.

I tried my best to be civil and polite, If mod edit comes ill pastebin my actual thoughts.

I don't understand what your statement is about, can you retype that into simpler English?

[blace]

To be fair, there wasn't mention for the possibility of including a one time pay towards premium services, or towards AC usage.

Just pointing that out from what I gathered in the past several pages.

[Gardios]

It's implied in the first post that subscription = premium due to the cost calculation.

[blace]

I'm only going with what was lacking at the time of post.

[TheAstarion]

If anything with a subscription offered lifetime membership, I'd take it.

PSU cost me over half a grand over the years. SWTOR recently threw up the F2P flag, but I bought the longest subscription available, which was 6 months (+1 for game purchase, +1 for anyone who had an active sub after 3 months).

In D&D Online, you could earn TP (cash shop currency) by doing certain things (achievements and quest chains). You also got 40% of the cost of a monthly subscription in TP each month, and everything that would have required a one-off purchase to unlock was free to use while you were premium. The only exceptions were races and classes, which were unlocked to premium but had to be purchased to be used if you went free again.

In PSO2, Premium offers a lot less than many other games. The main thing is shop pass, which allows you to make money off of lazier players, and rooms, which non-premiums can visit too. The best things in PSO2's cash shop are permanent things that don't expire, like extra characters, extra mags and expanded bags.

Would I buy PSO2 premium as it stands? Nope. Would I buy a lifetime premium membership if it gave bonuses your average Prems don't get, like unlock all the extra storage permanently (prem only gets 1 lot), and infinite uses of the Este shop? Probably.

[Keilyn]

The problem with lifetime subs is that companies will always find ways to get around it. Sure, you can spend your money on it, doesn't mean sega wouldn't get players tomspendmon scratch and other things.

It doesnt change the fact that pso2 follows the same scheme as PSO and psu, which is repeat the same mission 100+ times until you get your drop or die of boredom. So it's players spending tons of money to get a functioning game, just to have the game close years later and you lose everything.

This is an important mention because the game guild wars launched in 2005 and it's still alive today in 2012. The model is fee sub but players buy the game and expansions.

True reasons companies play into the f2p model is because they make more money from the few than the majority, but they restrict everyone massively in order to make cash. Rather than offer up player room and trading for free, they take away such basic functions needed to survive to get people to say enough is enough, take my money rather than players just refusing the product altogether.

In short, they make players feel next to homeless in game unless they pay, turning online life into its own second economy where players who wish to get anywhere must have the time, energy and money to burn. In other words, one is running ones own life in the real world, to run a second virtual life in an online game.

At the end of the day all one is, is a record in a database preserving your alter-ego.

Lifetime subs are a way to get money off players up front but never offer guarantees. Star trek online and age of Conan started by offering lifetime sub programs, guess what happened...they went f2p and those players lost money.

What would be better is if SEGA forgot about the premium items and simply made the game to include all of them, seems like SEGA said "oh our game is complete, let's strip characters and make players subscribe to each thing individually or as a bundle, yeah perfect!" while one pays to buy gw2, and gets a complete game without none of the major bs.

[Sizustar]

The problem with lifetime subs is that companies will always find ways to get around it. Sure, you can spend your money on it, doesn't mean sega wouldn't get players tomspendmon scratch and other things.

It doesnt change the fact that pso2 follows the same scheme as PSO and psu, which is repeat the same mission 100+ times until you get your drop or die of boredom. So it's players spending tons of money to get a functioning game, just to have the game close years later and you lose everything.

This is an important mention because the game guild wars launched in 2005 and it's still alive today in 2012. The model is fee sub but players buy the game and expansions.

True reasons companies play into the f2p model is because they make more money from the few than the majority, but they restrict everyone massively in order to make cash. Rather than offer up player room and trading for free, they take away such basic functions needed to survive to get people to say enough is enough, take my money rather than players just refusing the product altogether.

In short, they make players feel next to homeless in game unless they pay, turning online life into its own second economy where players who wish to get anywhere must have the time, energy and money to burn. In other words, one is running ones own life in the real world, to run a second virtual life in an online game.

At the end of the day all one is, is a record in a database preserving your alter-ego.

Lifetime subs are a way to get money off players up front but never offer guarantees. Star trek online and age of Conan started by offering lifetime sub programs, guess what happened...they went f2p and those players lost money.

What would be better is if SEGA forgot about the premium items and simply made the game to include all of them, seems like SEGA said "oh our game is complete, let's strip characters and make players subscribe to each thing individually or as a bundle, yeah perfect!" while one pays to buy gw2, and gets a complete game without none of the major bs.

Except Sega really didn't remove any major feature for PSO2.
Avatar outfit isn't a main part, and is obtainable ingame.
My Room isn't a main feature, and there's a blue and red room in the shop lobby for team to meat.
Trading, haven't really used.
My Shop, even if you don't pay, you can still earn 3 day ticket to open a shop.

No Weapon or item is Pay only, so it's not pay to win.

[JeyKama]

This is an important mention because the game guild wars launched in 2005 and it's still alive today in 2012. The model is fee sub but players buy the game and expansions.

Guild Wars has no subscription fee. The only payment is for the initial game and its expansions.



True reasons companies play into the f2p model is because they make more money from the few than the majority, but they restrict everyone massively in order to make cash. Rather than offer up player room and trading for free, they take away such basic functions needed to survive to get people to say enough is enough, take my money rather than players just refusing the product altogether.

The real reason companies play into the f2p model is because it VASTLY increases the potential playerbase. The first big hurdle of non-F2P games is paying the box fee, which lately has been somewhat ridiculous for the amount of playtime you get (yeah ubisoft.)

Entirely cosmetic features such as MyRoom and costumes do not detract from the game itself and don't count as "basic survival", don't fool yourself. This is PSO, not The Sims (though some might argue...) Trading, maybe, but I've traded like... twice... ever, in this game. Not a dealbreaker.



Lifetime subs are a way to get money off players up front but never offer guarantees. Star trek online and age of Conan started by offering lifetime sub programs, guess what happened...they went f2p and those players lost money.

Didn't STO have a Lifetime Sub sale a couple months ago? I'm sure some people still paid for it and think they'll get their "money's worth"

In general though, a Lifetime Sub signals that a sub-based game is dying. PSO2's not sub-based, so there's been no player investment in this game outside of the F2P model. It's not likely to see a Lifetime Sub for a F2P game unless it's REALLY dying.

[RemChu]

Not being able to trade f2p is crazy.

[Sizustar]

Not being able to trade f2p is crazy.

Sega explained the reasoning, and as a Premium member in a team with 30 other premium...we haven't really..traded with each other.
The My shop feature is more useful, and still obtainable with the free Fun scratch.

[Keilyn]

Guild Wars has no subscription fee. The only payment is for the initial game and its expansions.



The real reason companies play into the f2p model is because it VASTLY increases the potential playerbase. The first big hurdle of non-F2P games is paying the box fee, which lately has been somewhat ridiculous for the amount of playtime you get (yeah ubisoft.)

Entirely cosmetic features such as MyRoom and costumes do not detract from the game itself and don't count as "basic survival", don't fool yourself. This is PSO, not The Sims (though some might argue...) Trading, maybe, but I've traded like... twice... ever, in this game. Not a dealbreaker.



Didn't STO have a Lifetime Sub sale a couple months ago? I'm sure some people still paid for it and think they'll get their "money's worth"

In general though, a Lifetime Sub signals that a sub-based game is dying. PSO2's not sub-based, so there's been no player investment in this game outside of the F2P model. It's not likely to see a Lifetime Sub for a F2P game unless it's REALLY dying.

I meant to say free as I have twelve characters. I am in an iPad and the autocorrect function throws off some words. Try it. www.damnyouautocorrect.com

Some of my writing got thrown off.

...also, to me it's not about use as much as it is about having it available. People say trade is useless, yet one has to pay to trade. So to SEGA it must be useful if it's a paid item. Also, the game just started, imagine when all the good stuff comes out how useful it would be.

Also, you get grind boosters to increase grinding chances so sure, later on when higher star weapons come out, watch it become pay to win. What about inventory space?

What I am more interested is how SEGA will handle events for pso2.

And yeah, I should note something about guild wars. At first players were who were in gw had to buy each expansion at full value to have all the skills available for pvp. When new expansions came out, guild members would buy them, as they were forced into it to train guild functions. Some players would a second core game serial to have slots. It kook two to three years before arenanet released their online store with extra character slots. So if you were new and one who bought each expansion, you would pay around 200 - 300. I give them credit for revamping pvp and pve throughout the years.

Imagine if gw had 10 expansions, how much one would pay to have them all as they come out. Remember Everquest?

I rather give lifetime subscriptions to those who earn them within the game itself.

Sorry for my long posting.

[Zyrusticae]

...also, to me it's not about use as much as it is about having it available. People say trade is useless, yet one has to pay to trade. So to SEGA it must be useful if it's a paid item. Also, the game just started, imagine when all the good stuff comes out how useful it would be.
lolno

Seriously, again, My Shop is far more useful and you can get it for free from the FUN scratch. I have never once used the trade function in this game, not ever, and I know I'm not alone in that among the Premium player base.


Also, you get grind boosters to increase grinding chances so sure, later on when higher star weapons come out, watch it become pay to win. What about inventory space?
As grind boosters never bring the chance of success to 100%, players buying tons of them are still subject to the whims of the RNG. The game is "Roll to Win" at this point more than anything else; lucky players will see FAR more success than rich-but-not-quite-so-lucky players.

And inventory space? It's a one-time fee for inventory expansion. Storage? You get 200 slots. If you honestly need more, it's time to start vendoring some of that crap you're accumulating.

And on a slight tangent... the game is not very competitive and, beyond that, isn't very difficult to begin with, so "winning" isn't exactly high on my list of concerns.


And this Guild Wars stuff is really, really off-topic, I gotta say...

[Keilyn]

Ok, so it boils down to two things

1) what would a lifetime subscription bring if implemented?

2) what functions exist in the game which are useless now but may become useful later?

then it transforms into two others

1) how much would one sell a lifetime membership for?

2) how would one maintain such a mechanism and prevent it from going obsolete?

Which ends in theoretical fashion since this is a what-if thread which already is off topic in itself since pso2 has no lifetime subs and SEGA has no plans for lifetime sub, thus it doesn't belong in the forum since the forum is about what already exists in the game and not about what does not exist and has no plan on existing,

Yes any poster here is actually off topic if one understands where I am coming from, however curiosity does not always kill the cat. Sometimes it only kills time.

Happy? Done....

....now back to my adventures 8000 feet above sea level, surrounded by a lake!

[JeyKama]

www.damnyouautocorrect.com[/url]

silly apple users!

boring shit which is mostly just beating dead horses:
[spoiler-box]


...also, to me it's not about use as much as it is about having it available. People say trade is useless, yet one has to pay to trade. So to SEGA it must be useful if it's a paid item. Also, the game just started, imagine when all the good stuff comes out how useful it would be.

It's paid (and PSO2 is not unique at all in restricting trade to premium members) because it reduces the money laundering mostly to paid accounts, i.e. people who have invested in the game (other than folks with stolen credit cards, etc.). That being said, it may as well not even be functional for how often probably it gets used.



Also, you get grind boosters to increase grinding chances so sure, later on when higher star weapons come out, watch it become pay to win. What about inventory space?

Oh joy, the booster pack which gives an amazing +10% chance to succeed with a grind :P What about inventory space...? It costs what, 500m to pop a telepipe to the campship when even your bank becomes full. They are pretty generous with that, too. As for pay-2-win... well, I guess if Time Attacks are your definition of winning, that's about all super-high end gear is good for in this game.

On that note, there's nothing stopping a free player from getting that super-high end gear either, it just takes longer. Which is the big difference between F2P and Sub models - Subscription models are designed to waste your time, F2P payments makes it go by faster. With Free you're stuck with the time-wasting and inability to sell/trade, but that's the freeloader's life.
[/spoiler-box]

Of course the game is new so I may end up with my foot shoved in my mouth. It'd be nice to have a lifetime subscription just because bi/tri/monthly is annoying to deal with in foreign currency, especially when they hate your money, but I don't think the game needs it.