Let me start by acknowledging that FC is scared to make life easy for froobs because they think people won't upgrade. However, there are many, many people who will simply never upgrade, or have froob accounts on the side for purposes of buffing, playing when broke, etc. I would pay for certain advantages enjoyed by subbed accounts. As long as the price of such advantages adds up to more than a subscription price, it wouldn't prevent anyone from upgrading - upgrading would then be a cost-efficient way of getting all of this at once. Think of this as a way of getting some cash out of people who are otherwise giving you none. Also consider that when the engine comes out and when AO is launched on Steam/Origin, you will have a lot of players brand new to the game who are used to the freemium model.
Here's some ideas of mine:
- Ability to visit SL, without being able to use the buffs or equipment - this would even help froobs trying to decide whether to upgrade, if they can simply see more of the game - maybe even a separate charge per zone
- Being able to receive SL buffs without being able to cast them
- Being able to cast SL buffs (a separate charge)
- Access to GMI, please please please, this benefits everyone, not just the free players, and the GMI is no longer tied in any meaningful way to AI
- One time use (like the buffcans) of the tradeskill machine in the HQ
- Ability to drop cloak
- Use of one or more perklines, maybe just the general ones? Too far?
I'm sure others can think of more. As long as these were priced appropriately, I'm sure you'd get more than enough takers to justify the effort it takes to generate some of these.