Now that mid-2012 has arrived, we've got a few prognostications to share with our readers about what we think the future, the short-term future anyway, holds for the F2P market. See what you think and then weigh in with your ideas in the comments.

It's not difficult to find people who think buy to play is the way of the not too distant future, and who regard GW2 as the title that will establish this type of business model as a major alternative to both subscription and F2P, or perhaps as a replacement for the latter. Indeed, it seems certain that those who hold this opinion will expound it repeatedly as we move toward the late August launch date announced last week. But will what they're hoping for actually happen, or will it turn out to be wishful thinking, largely by the same people who, not so long ago, could be seen saying over and over that F2P would never be viable in this hemisphere?

Read more of Richard Aihoshi's The Free Zone: Gazing into my Short-Term Crystal Ball.