What are the advantages of subscribing to this game? Is the free account just a trial for a period of time?

That's exactly right. Until you subscribe, you have an 8 hour (game time) trial. It's $10/month after that (less if you subscribe for blocks of 3 or more months).

I was so completely blown away by how easy it was to get into the game so by the time 8 hours rolled by, I was already paying for a few months! This game rules the Macintosh scene for sure:)

Thanks guys, I might think about subscribing soon enough. Reminds me of escape velocity (Ambrosia), except it's 3d and online. Really cool.

Yea, when I first started playing, Escape Velocity struck out clearly as well, EV but with Descent like control scheme. Probably the only MMO I'll deeply consider subscribing too.