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Facebook game developers knew changes to the homepage were coming, but the details were still a little fuzzy. Games have all but been removed from the homepage, the only exception being the new Games Dashboard (and even that link is not really being promoted to users very prominently).

Looking back at Facebook’s changes to how application developers could use the platform, developers have mostly complied with prohibitions forcing users to give gifts before playing the game on first and recurring visits. Yet the largest developers seem to still be allowed to gate content (like land expansions) based on the number of friends a user has – continuing to put pressure on people who do not want to spend money to extend their social graph to potential strangers in order to unlock content.

Counters are coming as a replacement to the much-abused Notifications API – how will developers use them? Zynga gives us a first clue.

Now that Mafia Wars by Zynga is charging close to $6 for the new Thailand expansion pack, does this new wrinkle in the freemium model for social games signal an inevitable emulation of MMORPGs?

With a great deal still unclear about Facebook Credits, the payment dispute process being tested provides some insight and also makes one wonder if developers will be able to manage issues with other payment options using the same API.