Patrons don't pay for a game. They support a person, for whatever reason. In the case of a dev, at least with regard to a game, they are completely unaccountable. Whatever their reason for their patronage, they are not investing in anything other than someone's life style.
You're free to consider your contribution linked to someone's work product, but that is only in your mind and has no actual basis in reality.
Sure you are not paying for a product, in the general sense. To say that the contribution is not linked to someone's work product is a fairly ignorant statement. It is often directly linked to a work product, that is why people support the dev. Are you saying that the dev would be able to get many people contribution without a product that they are interested in? The answer is no, they wouldn't. Is it the same as buying a finished product? Absolutely not and that much I will give you. You are supporting them because they have shown promise, not saying they promised, towards the product that has driven so many people to support the dev to help them realize that product. No one supported the dev to do nothing.
Now, again I am not saying that paying $x entitles anyone to a utopia ending. Not at all, that is not how this works and I get that. It doesn't entitle them to anything. What I am saying is that they can most certainly have an opinion that is based on the results of a product that drew them in. They can also decide to stop that support and decide not to support future products.
I have plenty of experience as I have been a developer for over 20 years. Done plenty of work, where I get community support, in a similar fashion. I know people don't donate to me because of my wonderful charm. No, they donate and support because of the products I have put out and the service I provide for them. So, I know quite a bit how the "dev support" works.