[RoSs_bg2_rox]

You may not just go and buy the game after a demo though. Firstly, there is the fact that a small percentage (I couldn't tell you a figure) would not like the demo, and therefore would not buy the game. These people might otherwise have bought the game. Take for instance Doom3, there was a lot of hype and so many people bought it, yet some people only played it for a few hours, decided it was crap, and then left it. Now obviously this is a minority, but still.

Also there is the fact that if people realise they can download the demo for free, then they will also realise that they can probably download the entire game for free, albeit illegaly. Now this obviously wouldn't affect everyone, but I mean it would still decrease sales.

Maybe playable Demos seem like a good idea, but this is only for the player. They don't actually do much for developers, other than that they may get some extra people playing as it is free who may like the game. But if a game is good then it will get a good repuation->people will recommend it to others->it will become widely known->more people will buy it.

Anyways, back to the original topic . MMORPGS are a good idea, both for customers and developers, the potential danger is that you get hooked. I have never been hooked on an MMORPG yet (I haven't played that many to be honest) but I have been hooked to multiplayer games, not if they were ppm games I would have spent a lot of money. And if you think about it, after you have played for say 10 months you have been paying far too much. Although it also means you are probably not buying any other games, so it may be balanced.

I will be getting WoW simply because I am a WC fanatic. I'm not sure if I agree with you Luvian. If a shop has a sale, then they will sell more. Why? Because the prices of the items are lowered, and are therefore more widely accesible.