Hm..Im new here, got excited when I first heard about the game. This is my idea:
Create a Website that is essential to the game. It will have much information like player stats, information, news, downloads, and whatever other ingenious things you can figure out.
In order to enter certain sections, you have to go through many advertisements. Such as the signing up ones (I think those are extra dollars). I am sure that people are willing to sign up for some crappy advertisement and create another email address inorder to play this wonderful game for free.
Also, in the members section, if you want to get a loan for extra gold, you can either pay from paypal or do a few sign up tasks. This way, Players want gold so they get YOU gold in real life. Just remind players that they need to click on the banners and e.t.c. or the game will be extinct.
Many players who like the game will probably do so, players that don\'t will rebel by not clicking. Another way to generate revenue is to sell webspace on your server also. For the guilds and such, sell a monthly 5/mo or such for a website that will allow stats and e.t.c. This may take a bit of work but it may eventually work out.
Free Advertisement is not bad either. You can make a referal program also that will encourage people to get people to sign up. Maybe a level up? or points that you can trade in to get a good weapon. Kind of like those game places where you trade in tickets, maybe have Referal points to trade in for awesome and rare weapons, spells, e.t.c. Your imagination is your plane.
Another way to generate revenue is to sell mailing lists. Of course player\'s will have their real email address, but if you could get the word out to create ANOTHER email address just for the \"other\" advertisments, you could sell mailing lists and make extra dollars. This way everyone benefits except the spammers.
Also another way to generate revenue is of course, auctioning weapons and selling customizations. Only the most dedicated members will do so though, I doubt you will be able to profit from that after all of the work and labor involved. But maybe you will make a few dollars off of it.
Another way is to put the game files onto FilePlanet somehow. This way you will save bandwidth from your own server. I am not too sure about FilePlanet regulations but it seems to me that you can put about any kind of files on their. Since PlaneShift is an RPG. Maybe you can set up a PlanetPlaneShift in addition to this webpage and use the benefits for your own purposes. Again, I stress my ignorance toward this idea.
In conclusion, There are many ways to generate revenue. They are all around. Subspace, a free game since 1997 or 8, is still functioning by using various free servers. Now in the year 2002, the game as a whole has about 20,000 servers. The way they can do it is by creating many many servers which do not take up so much bandwidth, putting certain people in charge of each server. Connecting them together is a single billing server which will unite Chats, and other such things. The servers run great. I get 230 ping even though the server is in Finland.
The is all that I must say.
