[Samson]

Thank you for twisting my words yet again. Much appreciated. That's NOT what I said though. The Smithsonian's selling of souvenirs does not mean I can't come in, walk around, see the exhibits, ask questions, marvel at the coolness of it all, and go home with some awesome memories. The same way my buying a t-shirt from MUD X doesn't affect my ability to explore the world, fight demons, gain levels, form guilds, raid other guilds, and generally have a great time.

You're either deliberately misrepresenting what I'm saying, or you genuinely don't understand my argument. I can't tell which.

So once more. The Museum as described falls under being 100% free. The dinosaur figurines and animal crackers have no bearing on me being able to come back again later.

Changing the parameters the way you did to include memberships ( clans in the MUD ), access to guided tours ( paid immortal assistance/newbie help ? ), access to "behind the scenes" tours ( paid for secrets to how the MUD works ), and a whole host of "additional access" ( private areas on the MUD ) turns the model into pay-to-unlock-features. No sane individual could honestly claim this is still 100% free.

Which ilk is this exactly? I'd like to know. The general public who recognizes a scam when we see one?

It's a scame. Pure and simple. That people fall for it doesn't make it any less of a scam. People fall for Nigerian 419 emails too. Offering free money. Are they legitimate marketing tools too?

If I buy one bottle of laundry soap and it costs $3.00 and the store hands me another, I've effectively paid $1.50 for each bottle. The math doesn't lie. I've still paid for it.

Just because it's legal doesn't make it ethical. Giving 419 scammers my bank account information when they ask for it is also perfectly legal. Does that make it ethical too?