"HiTech Creations was founded with a simple philosophy by Dale "HiTech" Addink in 1999. It's not to create a large corporation, a vast gaming network, or a line of online games. It's just to create one game, but one that is better than any other like it. Contrary to most companies, our goal is to keep the company small. We know that with a singular focus and an experienced cohesive team that enjoys its work, the production, service, support, and overall level of satisfaction will be unmatched."
A p2p centric design is not a change in principle/philosophy; but in implementation. Neither is the f2p model, for that matter.
Imagine that money saved/gained (if it was a good amount) spent on getting the current staff to playing more or hiring new people to play in the arena and moderate it? If there were more people to moderate the arena, then most hacking would be kept to a minimum, not to mention the positive social aspects related to having dev's flying around to shoot and reliable moderators around to rely on for help/etc.