eh, people pay between $10 and $15 a month to play MMO's like WOW and EVE. Would you prefer VALVE charging a monthly subscription fee, and each month awarding you with a few hats, nametags, etc...or letting some players buy stuff (helping to support a game we all enjoy?) and others, well, playing for whatever their initial invetment was?
i think Ducttape has a point here, and actully i have some examples
see, resently LotRO (Lord of the Rings Online, also i never really got into the game) became FTP (free to play for those who dont know), when a game becomes FTP it often has in game items, or a premium service that doesnt really do much. so they drop the payment per week, month, or even a year to make items you can just easily buy for $10 to $20 instead of spending over $500 a year in some cases just to play a game you might get completely bored of and leave and come back to later (maybe)
Mabinogi by Devcat, sponsered by Nexon, is a Widely played game, or a more familur title by them is Maplestory, though i forgot who they sponser for that, anyway both are FTP, for Maplestory EVERYTHING is exactly the same, but u can by exp x2 things and what nots in the Item store, same kinda thing for mabinogi, but you can by pets who help you in combat and can used as storage devices too, and they last forever (though they have summon times which refresh the next day)
anyway, ive typed alot and this is my point, many games have weekly, monthly, or even yearly payments that are online multiplayers, some games start as FTP or move to it, and TF2 is one of those games where nothing really changed once an item shop has been added, and note: even buying things on games like TF2 can have drawbacks, like how u cant trade or craft bought items.
anyway, ive typed alot and my fingers are getting tired, so ima shut up and enjoy some good old...what ever is on my computer to play (for free) XD
ps(cuz i can): i would rather play a game with an item shop that i only had to pay one time to get the game (or not pay at all) then to play a game where i have to pay monthly (or what ever payment i chose), those my friends, are a waste of money (though, WoW and EVE get the excuse, cuz they fun and addictive)