Matt, I don't see how you can marry (no pun intended) 'free' with 'increased subs' or maybe you can I dunno.
IMHO if standard members, and non-registered folk, can post in the forum and use the chat room FREE then full members are goin to wonder 'why should I bother paying'? and that's probably why they don't.
You have to make them want to pay, e.g. if they can read the posts but NOT enter their own they may just cough up to enable them to do so.
What is the point of standard members being able to send winks? I find it frustrating to get a wink from a standard member cos they can't follow it on with a message. I find the whole 'wink' thing a waste of time anyway as some folk send em and don't, or can't, do anything when a wink is sent in return.
Instead of the Top 20 lists being determined by criteria such as how many views your profile has or whatever it is determined by, it should be a show case so that ALL FULL members are viewed on it, changing periodically so that every member gets a turn, regardless of when they last visited the site.
A mini profile, and one pic, is all standard members should be able to view, to view a detailed profile and further pics, if they have any, they should have to be FULL members.
Dangle the carrot and the donkey will want it, basically.
IMHO of course