This ^ is an important point. If F2P players determine the grind is too great (which it very much is right now) and the end game (competitive PvP) is unobtainable or not very rewarding to play, then the F2P will abandon this mode, leaving a small group of P2P players, who are on relatively equal ground, to face each other as they wait through long que times to do so.
Salary bonuses dwindle when only a small group is playing the game.
I find myself still tinkering with Mercenaries despite its problems with the hope that improvements will come fast, because if they do not, the F2P player base will die, and so will this mode.