Well, this seems rather backwards. While many games are going from full-priced to free-to-play, Tribes: Ascend is going the opposite. Sort of. According to this post on the Hi-Rez forums, they're planning on implementing an option to simply buy every unlock from the start, rather then picking them up piecemeal. Not a bad plan. I'm all for more choices, myself.
This won't change anything for those who prefer to play for free, but for those with a little extra spending cash, the full unlock will be priced "in the ballpark of other PC multiplayer shooters." I'm not entirely sure where that ballpark is, considering games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 or Borderlands 2 can cost up to $60, whereas Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and other shooters land somewhere in the $15 range. If someone could go ahead and add up how much it would cost to buy every Tribes: Ascend item individually, that may give us a slightly better idea of what we're looking at.
As for those of you who already have the VIP package, you'll be getting a discount on the single purchase option. The package will likely be made available this Friday.