Over on the Hellgate: London website, there's a letter from the CEO of Flagship Studios - Bill Roper - about what kind of game Hellgate: London is, and what you can expect out of the subscription portion of the service.

In short, Hellgate: London will be free to play, offline or online, and you'll be able to group and be guilded with both non-subscriber and subscriber players. So what's the draw to subscribing for Hellgate: London? As Roper explains, subscribers gain access to any new content added post-launch, in the recurring MMO theme; non-subscribers get the base game to play with, though as he points out, you'll be able to team up with subscribers, there's just a chance the content they have access to won't be available to you.

It's an interesting read, and a new take on the free vs subscription business model; sort of a mix of Guild Wars, and your typical monthly subscription MMO.