most games on steem do not allow users to join if they do not have already an account on steem
Splinterlands is creating account with a simple click of a button process for new players.
It is not free, just as the game itself is not a free to play. The starter pack is 10$ and it comes with account if you dont have one.
I wish SMTs would be more expensive than SE tokens. It's a huge mistake to create expensive tool, and sell it for so little.
SMTs to my knowledge will be even cheaper the SE... creating a community will cost somewhere around 3 STEEM, (unofficial) not sure about the price of creating a token. The Steem design is for mass media and if we want to have millions of communities that is why the cost is low.
Cant say much about STINC revenues. Its their own businesses :).If we want a true decentralization we should aim to depend less and less on them. Running full nodes from communities members and making the development on the blcockhain from the SPS system. At some point SPS should probably take up even larger share from the inflation. Also STINC selling STEEM is good in my view as long as it is done right.