said by Cat5:GW2 has the right idea. One price then pay to speed the end game up. Console players are happy with this setup, casual gamers are happy, and even WoW devotees will try it as there is no subscription. More players = better press = more players.
That's the way LOTRO went and when they did, they initially tripled their income. I dunno where LOTRO is today in terms of profitability, but it's still gotta be good considering they just released another expansion. I have several friends who are playing it now with me. They started because it was F2P but have since spent money on points because they saw the advantages of it and one even decided to really jump in and buy the 4-Pak expansion pak for $20 and get a bunch of included points along with VIP status. If LOTRO was still a sub based game, none of them would have even bothered.
In this day and age, I think when you give people the OPTION to pay, they will, when the right time(s) come(s). Forcing them to maintain a sub to play is just not going to work well anymore.