I haven't found one yet that is engaging enough to get me to actually shell out money, which means I'm at the mercy of those who have bought power ups and upgrades and whatnot.

Maybe that changes when Elder Scrolls Online is released for next-fen consoles, I don't know...

I’ve played both, and i can tell you the paid subs have a higher quality of feel to them. The F2P ones feel like a carrot on a stick, which can work if you just want to wile the time away. Having played rift, wow, neverwinter, dungeons and dragons online, and a few lesser ones, the F2P ones have always felt hallow. Almost like you know you are not getting the full experience.

I prefer the sub as well. I've has subs for eq, eq2, eve, wow ... and it was always ideal. $15 for unlimited entertainment and access to everything in game. But i've canceled all my subs at this time ... just isn't in the budget I guess.

I've been playing Path of Exile on steam now. For those who like F2P but not P2W.. this is the game. The only items you can buy are things that are not character enhancing (skins for spells, guild tabs, vanity pets ect). And it's crazy fun. It's everything that D3 wanted to be buy failed at.

I think they both have there place in the gaming society, and really just depends on the gamer which works better for them. I have played both sub and F2P.

WoW was a sub game that I really enjoyed through college.

League of Legends (LoL) is a current F2P that I enjoy. I like the fact that it isn't P2W, as the stuff you can buy is all about customization. I haven't spent a dime on the game to date, but still get to play the same way the tournament guys do...I just may not look as cool is all.

Then there are the games like one I used to play, Puzzle Pirates. They had both subscriber oceans and F2P oceans that you could buy what you wanted. I really liked that system...same game, what matters most to you? If you wanted everything at your fingertips, you paid the subscription fee and went on with your life. If you didn't want all the colorful clothes and pets and such, you went with the F2P ocean that you could buy anything in you really wanted.

The one unique thing I really still like about PP and their F2P system is that you can exchange in-game currency (Gold) for Dubloons (the currency you receive when you pay cash). So you could technically get everything without paying a dime, but would just take you forever.

I love F2P games, especially MOBAs, but if the F2P element is such that the free players can't win then I think it's a badly designed game. People aren't going to pay money for a game that they've only had bad experiences with. Personally I'd rather pay for a game or be able to earn a lot of the same things as you can pay for.

MOBAs are great because really all you need to pay for are usually skins and in Smite you can even earn a lot of those.

In general, I prefer to outright buy a game than have a free to play business model. However, there are games that ahve had that business model and have done wonders with it, using LoL as an example. The line of when it's bad is when paying actual money becomes necessary, and that's hard to define sometimes, but as a rule of thumb, if money is only for cosmetic things, or to save maybe an hour or two (and not whole days or weeks, at that point it becomes necessary) then it's perfectly fine, because it's totally on the player to pay.

I'll just echo what others have already said... I prefer F2P and it is the future for PC gaming. More and more games are going that way. P2W; however, is terrible.

I love F2P, hate P2W. I don't have a single **** to give if a developer wants to charge for vanity or customisation options, so long as any paid-for features do not affect my gameplay.