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Demonstrated successfully by the likes of World of Warcraft or Age of Conan, these games are paid for monthly, usually by credit card or automatic debit payment. Sometimes they're coupled with a retail purchase to get access to the install files and user manual, maps, etc. Commonly, players set up the credit-card payments and don't stop them, as they want to keep the game "available" in case they come back and play more someday. (It's pretty great to get a subscription from people who don't even play.)