Perfect World Perfecting Free to Play | PAX Preview (GotGame)

In a world of new approaches to old models that no longer make money, there’s been a huge movement toward the unlikely business model of “free.” In the past, there have been plenty of free-to-play games that rely on a dedicated community to fund them by purchasing items that offered distint gameplay advantages or access to otherwise unavailable content. Lately, though, games have just been released as completely free with a market of purchasable items or customization features that serve no benefit to the player aside from distinction from non-paying players. The developers and distributors over at Perfect World have been masters of this strategy for years, and they came to PAX Prime 2011 in full force with two free-to-play games that feel like they could be retail releases.