JonricMMO

In The Free Zone today, MMORPG.com's Richard Aihoshi spends some time chatting with a pair of industry veterans about the free to play movement that is sweeping the MMO genre. Richard talks with Matthew Denomme from Game Bridger Entertainment and Fernando Blanco from Spacetime Studios about the trend. Read on and then let us know whether or not you agree with their assessment of the industry in the comments.

Recently, SOE's John Smedley opined that SWTOR would be one of the last big budget MMOs with a subscription model. In The Free Zone today, MMORPG.com's Richard Aihoshi takes a look at Smedley's opinion and offers a few thoughts about its viability. Keep reading and then let us know what you think in the comments.

In The Free Zone, MMORPG.com's Richard Aihoshi wonders whether or not DotA 2 will enter the ranks of the free to play. It's an intriguing question and one that Richard discusses from all angles. Check it out and then leave us your opinion in the comments.

While the name Gamescom seems to indicate that the focus of this week's mega event in Germany, that might not be all that the annual convention is about. In The Free Zone this week, MMORPG.com's Richard Aihoshi takes a look at other reasons that Gamescom is such a hit in Europe. Check it out. Leave a comment or two when you're finished.

In this week's Free Zone, Richard Aihoshi takes a look at the term "Whale" as it relates to F2P gaming and just what classifies as a "Big Spender" (whale) in the online space. Put on your best Ahab or Ishmael face and dig in.

MMORPG.com's resident swami, Richard Aihoshi, has once again gazed into the crystal ball conveniently located on his desk between mouse and keyboard. In it he has divined a pair of new predictions for the online gaming world that he'd like to share. Check out The Free Zone and see what Richard's prognostications.

In this week's Free Zone, industry stalwart Richard Aihoshi takes a look at the impending shift of revenue streams in the MMORPG marketplace. Find out what Richard thinks may happen in the coming years and be sure to add in your two cents as well.

In this week's The Free Zone, Richard Aihoshi shares with us a few passages from the ultra secret (and ultra fake) F2P Hater's Handbook. Take a look inside and see if you have what it takes to be a winning F2P Hater.

In today's Free Zone column, Richard Aihoshi takes a look at the recent announcement that World of Warcraft was free to play through the first twenty character levels. Richard looks at the decision from a 'gimmick' perspective and from a business perspective and offers his thoughts on what the future may hold. Read on and see if you agree!

In The Free Zone this week, MMORPG.com columnist Richard Aihoshi takes a look at the recent announcements that both LEGO Universe and City of Heroes were adopting new revenue models. Both will offer portions of the games for free and will offer low-cost subscriptions and possibly institute item malls. Check out Richard's thoughts and then add a few of your own in the comments.

In today's Free Zone column, MMORPG.com's Richard Aihoshi takes a look at the recent announcement that Steam would be prominently featuring free to play titles in its catalog of games. Richard has a few thoughts about this announcements and its repercussions for the industry. He's also got a few other nuggets of information to share so keep reading!

In today's Free Zone column, MMORPG.com's Richard Aihoshi takes a look at the recent purchase of Cryptic Studios by Perfect World Entertainment. Surprised by the relatively 'bargain' cost for Cryptic Studios (~$35 million USD), Richard wonders how this new partnership will go. In addition, Richard has a few other tidbits he's gleaned from around the 'Net. Check out The Free Zone.

This week in Free Zone, MMORPG.com's own Richard Aihoshi takes a look at two announcements that have come our way recently; The shift of Age of Conan to a hybrid, F2P model, and the announcement of Wizardry Online. Check it out and let us know what you think!

In today's Free Zone column, MMORPG.com's Richard Aihoshi takes a look at the big news out of last week, namely the placement of Cryptic Studios on the auction block by publishing giant, Atari. Richard has a few thoughts to share on the future of Cryptic Studios. Check it out!

Dovetailing with Jon Wood's article about "reviewing the review process", MMORPG.com columnist Richard Aihoshi takes a look at a particular niche: Reviewing F2P games. Check out Richard's thoughts about the F2P review process before leaving us a comment or two.