Vanguard has gone free to play a week early.

[Apatheist]

No SOE game is truly "Free to Play". They heavily restrict access to critical end-game factors like the tier of gear you can equip, how much currency you can carry and player housing. These are not just cosmetic limitations, they effectively stop you from participating in the end-game content if you don't subscribe. If all you want is some free entertainment for a few weeks, they're OK, but unless you plan on paying eventually, you're going to waste a lot of time grinding levels only to find out you can't do anything near level cap because you can't equip the gear, skills or stats required by the content.

What SOE offers is more like an extended trial than a true F2P experience.

PS,

In relation to Vanguard specifically, there population is around 150-250 active players and the map in Vanguard is gigantic. If you do plan on giving it a try, I suggest posting on their forum and looking for a guild to join before you create your character. Otherwise, the game is going to feel very desolate. You can literally level to cap without ever seeing another player.