[bredren]

Are any of these choices restricted in their existing or likely future compatibility with where Microsoft is taking the game?

My understanding is server admins will spend money on mods / plugins. Are there any server types more likely to garner paid license or plugins?

[ocelotpotpie]

Microsoft has struct rules about the stuff you can sell for the server, and servers need to be EULA compliant. If they aren't they can get blacklisted or shutdown.

People do buy plugins but the vast majority of the plugins you'd want to use are free open source plugins. A lot of the paid/closed source stuff is kinda crappy or misleading anyway.

You can run a great server using free plugins and software. It might not be a money maker, but if your goal is to have people play and have fun and not buy stuff it's super easy and doable.

People do still donate to projects to support the authors who make the wheels spin.