http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/...and-pay-to-win

This is an interesting article about Free-to-Play and "Pay-to-Win" label. The reason I'm sharing this is because I feel that PL is one of the few games out there that successfully transitioned from a pay-to-win to a full fledged free-to-play. Yes, once upon a time people had to pay to progress in PL's content.

Second reason for sharing this is because of this phrase in this article: ...According to Kislyi, establishing a competitive game that is skill-based helps. If you’re knowledgeable about the game, you should be able to have a shot at winning, even against someone who has spent more money. It’s when the “wallet warriors” always win that causes other players to get frustrated and bail out....

Just based on my observation and from past expansions, I think this one is the most "quiet"...I think many people got demotivated by the "Ichors quest" (which is opposite of the competitive game that is SKILL-BASED), Blessing Army and Invest real money and never have to farm for gold or buy platinum again (which is exactly what was meant by wallet warriors always winning), now this 4-day challenge (which is also the opposite of having a shot at winning unless you pay).

For me, PL started as pay-to-win, then became a full-fledge free-to-play (thanks to Cinco being Loco made every map free), and now, we're entering heavy monetization of the game to the point that it might push away non spenders.

I think this article is as objective as it gets as far as Free-to-play and Pay-to-win conflict. Share your thoughts :P