[crystalis]

There's a meaningful distinction between 'pay to play' "can't wait" farmville, 'pay to play' random drop, tradeable, gameplay-available goods a la tf2, 'pay to play' cosmetics a la tf2 hats and hon skins, and 'pay to play' in-game advantages a la a lot of Korean MMOs and HoN's early-access hero stuff. Valve is toeing the line, HoN is straddling it, and Korean MMOs and "social" games have thumbed their nose at it.

[HaloZero]

I'm pointing out the fact that Valve has started to toe the line, Heroes of Newerth is straddling it, both of them didn't use to.

[crystalis]

But what Valve is doing is an improvement over the status quo, and social games are a regression from the status quo. TF2, by and large, didn't get worse by letting more people play it for less money - lots of value was created, and Valve is content to only capture a small* amount that came along for the ride.

*Many games that have gone F2P (in a generally benign way) report increasing revenues, e.g., Lord of the Rings Online, D&D Online, etc.