I think it is about time Funcom removed the restrictions from Free to Play. They need to attract players into Premium instead of forcing them to in order to get all of the available content.
A F2P model I would like to see Age of Conan adopt is the one that Rift currently uses. It gives pretty much all of the games content for free, but also has a lot of neat things you can purchase from the in-game store such as Mounts, Vanity, potions, and a daily recharge of a 40% experience increase.
Here are some things Funcom could offer in exchange for removing the free to play restrictions. These offers will encourage people to go Premium instead of forcing them to pay to get access to the full game:
- 15-30 AA points each month (for faster progression)
- Free server transfer every 2 months of being a member(questionable)
- Offer a 24 hour cooldown +40% experience buff for 2 hours. (max 7 charges)(faster progression)
- Offer more mounts, more vanity gear and a 20% discount for premium users.
- Offer a 24 hour cooldown +40% PvP experience buff for 2 hours. (Max 7 charges)(faster progression)
- 20% mount movement speed increase(quality of life boon)
These are just a few ideas (mostly copied from Rifts free to play setup), and I am sure if Funcom were to be creative, they could think of other reasonable and non "pay to win" type offers to encourage players to become premium.
Not only will the game become more popular(which it desperately needs) thanks to a generous free to play option, but it will also attract more Premium purchases. A restrictive free to play model usually pushes players away from the game(usually because of frustration) rather than encourages them to become premium.
Worst case scenario, you will get a bunch of new Free to Play players but the game will still become more popular via word of the mouth.
Please consider this Funcom(if they are even reading).