Major pay-to-play MMOs seem to be going free-to-play with somewhat great frequency.  Dungeons and Dragons Online went free and saw great success.  Another Turbine title, Lord of the Rings Online, is going free next month and will likely see an increased income as well.  Of course, Turbine's not the only company on the free-to-play bandwagon.  Sony Online Entertainment is right there with them since the launch of Everquest 2 Extended.

Dislikes
EQ2X is a decent game.  The subject matter, which is Everquest 2, is great.  After all, EQ2 is a solid MMO.  Making it free doesn't automatically make it epic, but it's still a good game.  However, making it free can gum up the works. 

The current membership tiers are less than attractive (visit the Membership Matrix).  There are four tiers that scale in price and content.  Each tier contains a little more than the one before it as one might assume.  Unfortunately, what you get for each tier is suspect and the highest tier actually has you paying more than $15 per month.

Bronze Membership
These memberships are completely free and you'll feel the pinch if you want to play EQ2X seriously.  Bronze players only get two character slots, two bag slots, four races, and eight classes.  Other races are purchasable, but classes are not. 

For the most part, the Bronze membership's restricted access is understandable.  I realize that SOE wants a little money and isn't going to give the milk away for free.  The Bronze membership is a good way to try out the game without a time limit and it's a good way to check out some of the game's features.  I believe a player can play as a Bronze member and feel like he or she is playing Everquest 2 Basic rather than Extended.  Without more race and class options, a player might not find the right race or class and give up.  Not to mention, Legendary and Fabled items cannot be equipped at this membership level, period.

Silver Membership
This membership level is where things get worrisome.  With DDO: Unlimited a player moves into a Premium membership tier when that player buys any Turbine point bundle.  Then, that player can use those Turbine Points to buy stuff in the DDO Store.  In order to become a Silver member on EQ2X, a player must unlock that membership by buying it for $10 (1000 Station Cash).  That Station Cash goes to buying the membership and can't be used to buy anything in the Station Marketplace.  The way a player upgrades to the Silver Membership is not as good, in my opinion, since that Station Cash is used on the membership and can't be spent afterward like DDO's model.

In addition, the Silver membership doesn't offer enough to constitute a $10 fee.  Another character slot opens up, spells can be of Expert level, another bag slot is unlocked, two shared bank slots open up, etc.  However, Silver members still cannot use the Broker system (EQ2X's auction house).  This seems like a huge oversight on SOE's part even if they are trying to encourage tunnel trading.  The most basic of free-to-play games offer an auction house to players especially when there has been a money exchange for a better membership.  This level of membership is the best example of a huge mistake in the free-to-play model.  If it enrages you, then join the conversation concerning Silver members' access to the Broker over at the official forums.

Gold Membership
Pay $14.99 per month for access to Everquest 2 plus access to playing with some free members.  I'm not sure why you'd prefer to play on this separate server opposed to playing on the current EQ2 servers, but to each their own.  What bothers me the most about this membership tier is the complete lack of, well, completeness.  Although a Gold member is paying the standard $15 per month, they're limited in certain ways.  These members don't have free access to all the races, they still must purchase the races (races are bundled in threes and cost 750 Station Cash).  Gold members receive access to all the classes, which is good and bad.  It's unfortunate that classes aren't purchasable in any other way than becoming a Gold member.  Trust me, players at Bronze or Silver memberships would buy classes.  Those players won't upgrade to a standard monthly fee for them, though.

Everything else is on the up and up with the Gold membership.  Those members have eight shared bank slots, no limit on gold, and can use Legendary and Fabled items.  This membership also includes seven character slots and six bag slots, but it's just not enough when we take into consideration the lack of races.  You're paying a full $15 per month so why not just play the normal Everquest 2?

Platinum Membership
This membership makes SOE seem greedy, to be plain.  For $200 a year, recurring, a gamer can become a Platinum member.  This membership gives the player an allowance of 500 Station Cash ever month and unlocks all the features of the game.  This includes a level cap of 90, 10 character slots, and access to all the races and classes.

This fourth and frivolous membership appears to be a way to gate the previous membership.  It feels like the Platinum membership only exists to create a limited $15 per month experience.  That seems awfully insatiable as if SOE just wanted a little more than the standard.  Again, I'm not really sure why anyone would pay for this membership when the normal Everquest 2 exists.

Likes
It's a free Everquest 2.  It's hard to argue with that.  I'm playing more Everquest 2 than I ever have because of that fact.  Although that might not translate to money for SOE, it does mean another person is in the world killing stuff.  It's better than not playing it at all.

Everquest 2 Extended is a good game because Everquest 2 is a good MMO.  I'm only 20 and 20 in the game and I'm not hurt by certain limitations like the lack of use of Legendary and Fabled items.  I am affected by the lack of an auction house and I don't plan on going Silver until it lets me use the Broker (even if my buying and selling is limited per day, for example).

Being free is no excuse for a strange free-to-play model that is seemingly operated by greed.  I guess we have to take these things with a grain of salt and accept the fact that free is never free.  However, "free" could be a little less restricting considering the current free-to-play MMO standards.

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Pamela plays several MMOs and writes about them for a living.  She's currently the national MMO Examiner and has been featured at MMORPG.com, MMOSite.com, and MMOHub.org.  Unlike some writers, Pamela invests more time in playing games rather than writing about them.  Whether or not that's a good thing is still up for debate.  You can follow her on Twitter , like her on Facebook , or subscribe to her on StumbleUpon.  Watch out, though, she likes cats and PvPing.