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But why do such games not advertise themselves as "free to play"? Probably because, in the US at least, offers for free trial periods are generally required to be clearly explained as such so that consumers know what the length of the trial period is, what the conditions of eligibility for such trial periods are, and what, if anything, the consumer needs to do to avoid being charged for continued services after the trial period is over. For example, if my cable TV company advertises an offer for a "free" upgrade to my standard cable service, they have to let me know for how long the upgrade will be free and what action I have to take to cancel the service to avoid being billed for it when the trial period runs out.
Guild Wars does not advertise themselves as "free to play." They very clearly qualify "FREE online play" to mean only that you will be allowed to access their servers for online play without having to pay a monthly fee, the assumption being, of course, that you have already purchased their game. Unless they plan not to charge for their client either, Guild Wars is not free to play; the cost of play is the cost of the client required to play. This is not at all the same as saying that you are offering to let anyone play at no cost.
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