Bitmob.com

Thanks for commenting. The point of this was really to try and spark some discussion on the subject.

First off, I agree with you. In fact, I'm pretty sure I address a lot of those points in my writing. 

I just think this is an undeniable pattern of behavior that Valve has and its really interesting to me. The idea of taking the rights to, polishing up and selling a mod, something which was at one point free and belonged to a community is something that's a bit troubling to me. I think there are a ton of people in theDoTA community that agree and that's why there has been so much controversy over that game. That's not to mention the fact the Valve failed to hire up the entire DoTA dev staff and two of the creators, who may still hold some sort of claim to the brand, are trying to intervene. 

Yes, it's ultimately good for everyone involved, I agree, but really is there that big of a difference between acquiring a studio for its ideas and properties and acquiring a two-to-ten man team for the same things? To say Valve could have EASILY just copied say Narbacular Drop or Tag without hiring the original dev teams is a bit of a stretch. There would have been one hell of an Internet shit storm if they took that tact. By hiring the dev team, Valve avoids all of that while benefiting from the expertise the original devs bring along with them. 

Again, I agree that what Valve is doing is a good thing. I tried to spell that out in my writing. But I'm also trying to point out that this studio which just about everyone (including myself) adores is guilty of many of the actions a lot of people condemn other companies for.