The whole point of a free trial is to get you to buy the game. This is a fact of the genre, and we all know it. Correspondingly, we don't usually sign up for the free trial unless we're relatively certain we'd like to try the game in the first place. But all too often, we try the game for one session, and then we miss the rest of the free trial period and never really form a cohesive opinion about the game. So the company doesn't get your money, you don't get to try the game, and your characters languish forever in the waiting room.

Needless to say, this isn't ideal for anyone. You want to make the absolute most out of your free time in the game, whether you signed up for a free 12-hour trial or you've got a game with an endless free trial a la Warhammer Online. Doing so is something that takes a little extra work, before and after playing, but the upshot is that you get to more completely enjoy the game you're playing and decide if you really want to spend money on it every month. Read on for how to keep yourself in the game, engaged, and aware of whether or not the game deserves your subscription.