I love the play chips because there's no pressure.
I often head over to Poker Stars play chips when I bust out of my tournaments on other sites where we Americans can play for real.
Play chip poker is easier to succeed, there is no question about it.
But its still good competitive poker, at least at the highest levels on Stars where I play.
Its a good bunch of regulars there, and many of us love to chat while we play... you won't get ANY chat on real money sites of course, and I appreciate the friendly aspect of the play chips.
Also... the players who are regulars at the play chips are playing poker for all the right reasons (the love of the game) and none of the wrong ones (playing solely to make money).
Lastly... I credit the play chips for teaching me much of what I know in this game... because the play chips are free and thus, it is very easy to experiment when using them - try out different strategies and see how they perform, etc.
I will never understand why players don't realize all these benefits of play chip poker, I know everybody says "It's just dumb, players go all-in constantly" but this is simply a falsehood. The biggest problem with play chip players is NOT their aggressiveness, it is actually the exact opposite - play chippers are far too passive, they love to limp in preflop and they do not 3-bet with anywhere near a proper frequency.