As a World of Warcraft player, I find it quite interesting watching the player response to various moves by the publisher Blizzard. For an upcoming expansion, selected players were invited to participate in the beta — effectively testing Blizzard’s product for free. However, players treated it as a right, rather than a privilege, and it’s resulted in a fairly disgruntled customer base.
First of all, customers were annoyed they didn’t get invited. Then they did, and the product was unfinished, so they complained about that. Due to it being a test phase, there’s only one server, which is understandably unreliable — causing yet more player outrage. Then those who have been privileged enough to test this product without getting paid (of course, they get to see all the content before it’s released, so they do gain) start moaning about newer players slowing down the servers even more.
The moral of the story? If you’re giving away something for free, someone will be unhappy that it’s the wrong colour.