The argument that if you're not paying for something you're not allowed to talk about it always gets me.
The game is advertised as a free release, with early-release incentives for people who want to give money.
Those who don't give money still get the game for free later on, in other words, you gatekeep criticism on a free product.
In fact, you can't gatekeep criticism PERIOD. That's not how the world works, let alone the internet.
White-knighting what is clearly a lack of direction, professionalism and transparency is just sad though.
There's no getting around criticism, especially when a project is in such a deplorable state, like most Patreon games are.
Games like this have been made in a fraction of the time, and sold for less than some of the donation tiers.
Scrutiny comes from all places, if you're doing something public you'll get yours. Heck, you'll get it if you're in private too.
"Complaining about a game you got for free" doesn't mean anything when the game itself is free, just delayed for non-donors.
Edit: And given how slow and insignificant the updates are you may as well wait it out anyway.