Sooo, let me take a stab at the stages leading up to this event with a theory...

1. People playing MMOs are sick of paying monthly to play a game

2. Game developers respond by releasing games such as Guild Wars - where you don't pay monthly, BUT can pay to add more character slots, weapon packs, and skill packs. This gives players a lot of options if they choose to spend the money.

3. Greedy developers, inspired by the above approach, decide to corrupt the great idea by making players pay money to unlock weapons for FIRST PERSON SHOOTERS - games designed NOT to take infinite amounts of time, but now will cost more money to be competitive, regardless.

4. Further down the road, games that cost money PER MONTH to play will probably make it (if they haven't already) where you need to spend money to unlock important features of the game in order to remain competitive or at least, consistent with other players of your team, guild, nation.

The cycle never ends. Come out with something good and some asshat will always warp it...

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[Linked Image from nodiatis.com]