Ah, The Secret World. You launched during a rather unfortunate period in MMOdom, preceding Guild Wars 2 by a few weeks. Many people had long since committed themselves to GW2, and with your business model relying on a monthly subscription, tons of folks took you out for a spin, but the end result was widely the same: “Great game, but if only it didn’t have the subscription…”

Today — 12/12/12, incidentally — FunCom has yanked the subscription for TSW, which should give many people pause. The game is now buy to play (buy the box, play for free), so those who said they’d wait for when it converts…it’s time to put your money (figuratively speaking, of course) where your mouth is.

TSW is adopting the GW2 model, which is telling. After the horrific train-wreck that was the last high profile F2P conversion — you all know of which I speak — FunCom isn’t hedging here. They’re going with what is undoubtedly the most popular and least odious model. You still have to buy the game, but once you do, everything else is free. No arbitrary content locks. You get what you’d have gotten had you been a subscriber last month. If you wish to subscribe, you get an XP booster, $10 worth of cash-shop tokens each month, a free gift every month (like free clothing!), and a 10% discount in the cash shop. Lifetimers get this, but their cash shop discount is 20%! For the full rundown, check out this sexeh FAQ!

One downside is that they’ll be pulling back on their Issue updates. They tried for monthly, but this is a technical field; delays are unavoidable. FunCom will be releasing their updates less frequently than before, but certainly more often than a lot of other AAA MMOs do. Quality of life updates will be free, but larger updates will follow the DLC model, and can be purchased through the in-game store using the FunCom currency.

I have never regretted pulling the trigger on TSW‘s lifetime sub. It’s a unique game in a sea of elves and space marines, and it’s the true torch-bearer for MMO storytelling. I can’t play this at night, alone, in my dark basement because the atmosphere is that thick; Not an easy thing to pull off in a game that needs to be all things to all people. I really love TSW, and am very happy to see them opening the gates to all those who bemoaned the subscription.

So join the Templars on Arcadia! No pressure. Or is there…?