This is not aimed at you, I hope you don't take it personally. These thoughts occurred to me when I read the above statement.
I think people are mostly just venting their frustration. It certainly "feels" like a scam when you pay someone (some of us actually do or at least used to) what amounts to a subscription and you get nothing in return for months, let alone basically a year. I've completely stopped supporting early access and mostly stopped supporting Patreon for this reason. There's little to no accountability for developers other than us bitching about them online.
I think things get testy because on top of that, it's irritating when people defend this behavior. Yes, making art takes time. Yes, making games is incredibly complex. Yes, people leave and then you gotta unravel their spaghetti code. Sure, but these are challenges everyone faces. And some engines are harder than others sure. But look, people still pull off making games. Many others give up. Others continue making promises while making excuses. And I'll buy a good excuse once, twice, maybe even three times. But a years worth of excuses? We're venturing into "simping" territory at this point.
Moral of the story: don't promise something you can't deliver, and especially don't ask people to pay for that thing. And if you do, don't be surprised if those people (and the people who leech off of them) get mad and post mean things about you online.
