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Anarchy Online to be Subscription Free
According to the offial site, Anarchy Online is removing fees for new users who subscribe to the game between the 15th of December 2004 and the 15th of January 2005. From the release: "We feel very confident in the unique features and heralded qualities of our game, and are now openly inviting everyone playing MMO's to find out what Anarchy Online is all about, completely free of commitment" said Ole Schreiner, Project Director for Anarchy Online. "Not only can we boast of a fantastic game which has been expanding for years, we are also constantly adding exciting new content, progressively making the ultimate sci-fi MMORPG even better." Commentary on the Zen of Design blog.
I certainly agree that offering one or two fantastic deals is a tried and true method of getting shoppers, but I've never really noticed Walmart being guilty of this to any large degree. Walmart no longer has the best prices around. They don't really pretend to be the best prices around. They do claim that their prices are low (as in "Always low prices"). Walmart makes money off of having 90% of what you're looking for under one roof 5 miles away from your house at a reasonable price. I think some of the electronics giants like Circuit City or Frys are much better examples here.