Turning of the "key features" of the game would be like if you have a trail version of Wow but you can not cast a spell or move beyond the first zone ... I dont think that would work as it would not work in Xsyon because the element of a Sandbox game is that *you* change the environment:
-) you fell a tree -> it will be felled for ever - no respawing of that same tree, no creating new trees around it in summer, no picking up sap,twigs etc...
-) if you kill an animal - its dead - for *all* players in the world and it wont create children ... so even killing a small animal will change the world
So only allowing trail players to pick up stones and fish ??? They should not even be able to pick up grass, trash, branches etc. because those things would be missing for paying players eventually
Trail would mean: Lots of people try the game (sounds great ?!?) meaning ...
- Xsyon would need more download server hardware (and internet traffic cost) to support them - although they dont pay anything
- Xsyon would need more server hardware (game, database ...) to support the trail players
- more people like community manager, more guides etc ...
And guess what ... all that stuff has to be paid! Who is paying that - the paying player base of Xsyon, so alot of money is spend for "potentential" customers (lets call it marketing) and not for the better of your actual customers. I have got the feeling (and probably Xsyon shares that too) that "free trail games " need a lot more resources for the "trial" players than for the real customers. And Xsyon is not created for the big masses of players, but for a rather distinct player base that is interested in sandbox games... however its not so easy to "make the sand even" again - it would be like there was never a tide on the ocean and each and everyones "sandcastle" would persist forever ... best to limit the access to the beach - and if it is only be charging 40$ to get there for a month
I like that fact that dedicated people buy this game for playing 1 month - means less "Ill tried 5 games today and this one sucks!" in globalchat, less children (they dont spend 40$ of their allowance (AE)/ pocket money (BE)) and less people who are not commited to giving the game a chance (meaning they really try before quitting)