Paying For Free Things
Well, first of all, this layout will be going soon, I hope. I'm really tired of looking at it. So when you see the site is under maintenance, you'll know the reason. It seems like I should update my version of WordPress too, so that will all be done at the same time.
Anyway, on to the main topic of this post. My brother and sister were discussing online games. More particularly, they talked about an online RPG-like game my brother plays. The game is free, but you can get more features if you buy a membership. The same goes for a game I play, DragonFable. You can register for free and play for free too, but there are items and quests that are only available to paying players.
They both agreed that they didn't see a reason to pay for something which you can get for free. There I completely disagree. Like everyone I do enjoy free things. One of the reasons I use OpenOffice and Firefox is because I don't pay for them.
I would gladly contribute money to some projects such as DragonFable (I really have to get around to buy a DragonAmulet there!). Why? Because there are people behind that project. Sure, they have advertising and probably another job. They're however devoting many hours of their time to this project. What's a small 30 something dollars contribution from me compared to all the time and effort that goes behind the creation of a video game?
I enjoy their game, using their creation, and loading their servers with one more person. I certainly don't see that "investment" as being a waste for me.
