D&D Online, Champions Online, Lord of the Rings Online etc... Were all once sub based and failed to hold onto a large amount of subscribers post launch. When they did make the switch to F2P they not only usually ended up with a large, fairly stable player bases but they actually made more money. Heck the original Guild Wars is a great example of a F2P MMO that was a terrific success.
Not having a sub fee encourages more people to at least try the game. Something that could be especially important for PS2 considering how different it is from most other MMOs.
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