I'd imagine it's quite important to a player who is browsing the site to know the difference between "free" and "can-pay-for-perks". If you don't have money available, or aren't interested in throwing it at a game when free alternatives exist, you're going to want that information before you invent time in a game. If IRE games are pay-for-perks, and IRE representatives repeatedly point at out that the pay-for-perks model is clearly advertised on their website (*), I don't see what the problem is in openly labeling their games "can-pay-for-perks", and avoiding the contested term "free". (I've added 'can' to emphasize that you aren't directly forced to pay if you don't mind spending a lot more time and effort than paying customers.) An incoming player who isn't interested in spending money should know that they will be competing against people who are on a faster track, especially if keeping up with other people (with equal time invested) may involve thousands of US dollars (**).
Summary: Eliminate the word "free" from IRE ads and info, substitute "can-pay-for-perks", everything is clear, Valg is a happy guy.
(*): I happen to disagree there. I browsed all of the IRE websites, and while it was easy to see that I could buy something called credits, it was incredibly vague about what those credits could do, how important they are, how much time-savings a credit might represent, etc. That said, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt and concede that IRE feels like the information presented is sufficient.
(**): Source: .
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