Payment models like the one Carcassonne do: one payment for each "expansion" sound entirely valid. We're not talking $0.99 items, more like $2-$5 per expansion.
I have paid for the app and for each expansion, as I love the game. Still a low fixed-fee, as opposed to the MMO "buy virtual crap" model that seems to give IAP a bad name.
Perhaps there's a middle ground? More like "pay to attend events/quests/goals where the MMO part is accentuated (think virtual concert), but "most other stuff is free"? Something that gets those who like the game more to pay into it gladly while still leaving something on the table to get the casual person interested.
I have paid for the app and for each expansion, as I love the game. Still a low fixed-fee, as opposed to the MMO "buy virtual crap" model that seems to give IAP a bad name.
Perhaps there's a middle ground? More like "pay to attend events/quests/goals where the MMO part is accentuated (think virtual concert), but "most other stuff is free"? Something that gets those who like the game more to pay into it gladly while still leaving something on the table to get the casual person interested.