Was V4 free on release? I thought it was a while before they went to the free thing, but I may be mis-remembering. I'd say if anything though, many new users in any hobby are more inclined to drop money. They even buy stuff they later find out they didn't really need. Forget new users though. How many 'experienced' users here have you heard talk about the stuff they've bought and never used 'yet.' I don't think the lack of free base figures will be much of a deterrent at all - it probably wasn't before they were free either.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken