Until I see respected members of this community tell me that Goko is equal to or greater than Isotropic, or I can judge that for myself for free, I'm not going to give them a nickel. We have already seen what can be done for free; why would we pay for an inferior product, even if the free product is taken away?
I'm not sure I follow that argument.
Anything can be done for free. Hell, the entire Adobe Master Collection could be done for free. Diablo III could be done for free.
All it takes for something to be free is a willingness by the designer(s) to do the work in his spare time.
We had this with Doug. It was awesome, no doubt, that he was willing to put forth this work in his spare time. It an anomaly, though. Most products of that quality are not free to use. Even products that seem free to the end user (such as Facebook) are supported through other revenues.
So, great, Doug produced a professional-level product and didn't ask for a single cent, which was great for the community. Just because Doug was a paragon of generosity doesn't mean that it's appropriate to compare his product and pricing model to someone else who is trying to make a buck on it.
Besides, you say that you want to judge it for free before spending a nickel. You can. It's already part of the pricing model. If you play the free game and like it, then spend money on the expansions. If you don't like it, then don't play online Dominion. The solution is already in place. There's no need for such finality before the product is even released.