Thirteen-year-old EVE Online will change its model in two months.
CCP Games launched their space simulation MMO in May 2003 with a monthly subscription service. However, a new function called Clone States would come in November. This update will split the players into two groups: Omega and Alpha.
For Omega players, there will not be much change: they will still have unlimited access to skill progression and rapid skill training. Meanwhile, Alpha players will progress slower, and they can only access a limited amount of skills and ships. They can discover, trade, but they will not get the best experience.
New players will start out as Alphas, but if you keep having your monthly subscription active, you will stay as an Omega. (If you run out, you are pushed back to an Alpha. If you subscribe, you can move over to an Omega, of course.) More details here.
If an MMO this old tries a free approach, we wonder when will other titles, such as World of Warcraft, pull off a similar move?
Really? You wonder when World of Warcraft will go free? When it stops making money.