I don't hate hats. I don't think they are the downfall of TF2. I don't think they are preventing other content from being released.

I think they are a cool extra and source of many jokes. It's nice to catch the references (like pyro's alien blob) and collect one you really want.

But after I got a full inventory screen full of them, I simply can't get excited about it anymore. Some of the new ones are cool, like the Deus Specs, but even when I like it, it's more "hey cool" instead of "omg, must have".

Ponies are the new hats.