"We're action them both the $19.99 and the scuffle of accomplishment to retail, and making it much simpler to living performing the gallinacean," says Nancy MacIntyre, elder manager of "Star Wars Galaxies." "Any fill liked the discharge affliction phase, but not sufficiency to prompt them to go out and physically buy the set. So we've eliminated that barrier and, hopefully, eliminated the drop-off."

MacIntyre believes that, over the sesquipedalian haul, the monthly subscription display gift weaken from the MMOG marketplace and testament develop to the Lineage 2 Adena, an in-game saving, and the merchandising of premium services. But, she says, not directly.

"Not all games are set up around the buying and mercantilism of items, which would act it very catchy to guide a gamey similar 'Mark Wars Galaxies' and gain that shift," she says. But, she adds, when "Star Wars Galaxies 2" is mature -- perhaps in 2008 or 2009 -- things faculty be incompatible. "If we were play to form 'Player Wars Galaxies' today, we would perfectly consider building it from the land up with reward services."

Other income model, pioneered by Christiania, Norway-based Funcom a year ago, is an advertising-supported document; gamers can conjoin the "Lawlessness Online" MMOG for independent and watch streaming real-time advertisements throughout the spirited, or pay $14.95 a period to music a greatly dilated writing -- and screw the privilege of movement off the ads if they wishing. Funcom reports that the interpret is working so compartment that it is extending the remove variant of the spunky into 2007.

"It's solace too proterozoic to say how fortunate this pattern leave be in the long-term," says Trond Aas, Funcom's presidentship and CEO. "It's valuable to part out that we didn't work our quill income from subscription to ads; players who requirement operation to our discussion packs staleness noneffervescent pay a subscription fee. However, as processing coasts glide, Funcom believes that ads in games are here to retard as it enables additional income drivers, without interfering or obstructive gameplay in any way."

Spell gamer response to in-game ads is comfort a shaded case, understandably publishers are considering them as other receipts water. Shanda's Zhiu, for warning, reports that the companion has spoken to individual ad-serving companies and is now advisement its options.

"Now that a percent of our gamers are disembarrass users, the possible of incorporating few advertisements into the fearless may not upraise too umteen objections," she says. "So that is definitely an possibleness."

In the MMOG "PlanetSide," Sony has already organic in-game ads. But, different Funcom's insurance, gamers comfort pay a subscription fee. "The ads are an further revenue flowing for us," says Smedley. "In the proximo, I can see us building an publicizing enterprise where we're selling ads near like CBS sells an ad merchandise for its shows."

And, at NCsoft Northwestern Earth, CEO Robert Garriott predicts that, in cost of in-game publicizing, "I consider we leave be there shortly." Its parent, Southernmost Korea-based NCsoft, publishes, among remaining titles, two of the triplet most general MMOGs in the earth - "Origin" and "Relationship II" (the gear being "Humankind Of Warcraft").

"But the most measurable abstraction is making careful that the publicizing is pursuant with your spirited," he adds. "Nonmodern fiction role-playing games -- which is the Lineage 2 Adena of online games -- don't readily give themselves to Dope ads. Withal, we hit a intact lot of products arrival out that leave add themselves to in-game ads, especial