Again - This isn't about DPC. It's about the Patreon system.
If one isn't interested in my opinion on Patreon and how it doesn't incentivize developers working at a quick pace, do not read the following I put in spoilers:
If I buy a car, there are consumer laws protecting me in case I buy a lemon ("lemon" here in the States is slang for a bad car). I can get my money back.
If I put my money in a bank, it's insured by the government up to a certain dollar amount.
Why do laws and insurance like this exist? Because nobody is expected to blindly trust car manufacturers or banks (just two examples out of many I could mention).
So why should the expectation be different for some developer out there I've never met before?
I don't "trust" any developers. I see what they produce and if I like it, I'll pay for it. If I don't, I won't. And there's no guarantee any developer will finish a project - for a wide variety of reasons, some within their control some out of their control.
The most interesting part is why we complain about it at all being on a ☠ site? I don't say that everybody here have not paid/paying(subscribed)/will pay for the game and DPC particularly. I mean, that you have "rights" to discuss it in the way you are doing it only if you are DPC's patron. If you paying once to get the new episode this is no different from buying in Steam (technically, with the difference that you will not be able to refund after playing the game for up to 2 hours). And being here, you're not obliged to at all, since the game files are in the title of the post.
The only thing that can make you pay is your conscience, your desire to express gratitude or kind of say thanks for the content, for a pleasant time and joy the product (game) which gave you pleasure, for having something to say and discuss on this forum for so many years, afterall.
First time I played this game for free and downloaded it from Torrent. Then I decided to buy it on Steam, just to say MY thanks to author and to have a legal copy of the game and because I have a huge game library in my Steam account already. I'm not able to join and pay him on Patreon anyway, because it's blocked and banned in my country for dumb reasons. But if it wasn't a problem, I'd pay him for every episode released. Just to say MY thanks. I would not subscribe for months/years, since I'm not a patron and I don't have free and extra money for this. There are people who subscribe to the minimum tiers (like $1-5), but download a pirated copy because they don't want to wait. But it's still a support and a way to say their thanks.
When some AAA studio developing a game, they usually funded by future publisher and other sources including marketing and driven by earn from the sales expectations. Logically, they should be carefully monitored to ensure that deadlines are met, so that the content is top-notch and consistent with the initial statements of the studio and their plans. What do we have at the end? Years of waiting, disappointments, cutted content (because something gives out too little fps, and we just didn't have time to do that, because of rushing all the time, and this didn't work out as planned, etc, etc.). It's a STUDIOS with a hundreds of peoples involved working for them, with budgets several times much than DPC earned ever. And they still, most of the time release crap and dissapointments. With a few exceptions here and there. Or the game takes years for shape and polishing to became something like what was planned initially. And most of the AAA projects and games are a total mess and crap still and for years already.
Being in DPC shoes, having a millions of $ on hand I... AT BEST, I would hire someone or a team to continue work on the project. AT BEST, again. The most realistic scenario - dude would just disappear and abandon the game. Dude earned a lot of $ but still sitting on his butt 24/7 and working on his project, on his dream. Working on a dream to realize his project as intended.
Tell me honestly - would you be able to force yourself to do something like this, knowing that you have millions on your hands and that all your dreams are already real? But in the best years of your life, you literally lock yourself in your house, instead of enjoying your given wealth, somehow realizing yourself and having any kinds of fun, etc. This is the case when you enter into the strongest internal contradiction and you must have an iron, no, titanium will not to succumb to temptation and not to give up. And it's not just 24/7 work, the inability to enjoy what you've earned, the realization that you'll spend many more years like this, etc. In such a situation, thinking about how to make MORE money by STRETCHING the process for many more years is simply ridiculous and comical. It's like going to jail for 10 years (probation) if somebody promise you a couple million $ on the way out. Not everyone would dare to do this. I would not go for it personally, because freedom with a few money is better than unfreedom with a lot of money. The difference here is that there is no way out of prison, but he is free at any time to stand up, wave his hand and say "fuck it all, I'm out" And the fact that he didn't do this and apparently is not going to - proves that "stretching" this process for the sake of money is the last thing he needs and wants. He is already have more than enough. It's for the sake of a dream. His dream of making something to come true the way he want and planned it, so that no one tells him what is better, needs to rush, etc. You may say that's it a bullshit, but it's the only plausible explanation and motivation that would drive him to behave in such way.
