Oh, the melodrama really got to me. Back when DH started I upped my monthly support then to $20/month because I liked the game so much. I recognized the drama in DfD and saw it as pointless, but it was something I could overlook. Then it came on at a higher level much earlier on in DH, and I absolutely hated Dennis and what he did to the game. I also just didn't like the protagonist. His back story was all drama that most people saw from the beginning as not really being his fault, but he obsessed over it. And he just let bad stuff happen to him, while at the same time basically using the women around him emotionally without giving anything back. We were only a couple of updates in when I dropped my support back down to $10.
But the visuals were awesome, even if the interface was painful. I liked- nay, loved almost all of the female characters. Hated pretty all of the men, protagonist included. It was written well on a technical level, but horribly as a story where we should want to identify with the protagonist and want him to succeed, or to be able to enjoy ourselves without the devs throwing a drama bomb in just because.
I was kind of on autopilot towards to last update, especially with the new drama bomb they offered us in episode 18. I also was honestly thrown by a lot of the story choices prior to that where suddenly every love interest seemed to have a secret in their background that made little sense.
I did keep subscribing until the first update of Shale Hale Secrets came out. Wasn't as impressed with the graphics from the previews, but had high hopes that they would take the criticism building during DH to heart. Instead, it was drama from the very start, with the protagonist once again saddled with a Tragic Backstory and a quite possibly purely imaginary disability that sucked the fun out of playing him and made the first update feel like it was in slow motion. I dropped my support out of frustration then. As I mentioned, I've gone back to the $10 level now as more of a show of support, but honestly have no real interest in checking out the updates after the first. Maybe I'll hear something about the game to draw me back at some point, or I'll once again just stop supporting it. We'll see.
Most of the people wanting episode 19 and the epilogues have probably never paid one dollar to support the game though. For all it's faults, it's easily worth a measly $10 to get in there and see how it ends, plus partially pay the devs back for the past fun. I'm sure there are people out there that somehow can't possibly come up with $10 on a one time basis, but I find that hard to believe. I'm sure they spend more than that on stuff they don't need and is even more fleeting than a video game. I think it's more they don't want to when they think they can get it for free. I worked with a guy at a convenience store one time that made good money from two jobs because he was a workaholic (recovering alcoholic, for context, which seems to turn people in workaholics so they aren't alone with their thoughts). Drove a really nice car, had a nice house. Ate at nice restaurants when he wanted. But he'd also go dumpster diving after our vendors would leave to recover the expired sandwiches and other food they had thrown away after they'd come in to check the shelves each week. He was better than that in so many ways, but he couldn't get around the idea that he was getting something for free, even if it was something he could easily afford otherwise. He'd go hungry rather than actually pay for a sandwich he'd happily pull out of the garbage for free the next day, and brag about it as he was eating it.
tl;dr DH is in my opinion a heavily flawed game that is still worth some support, because it does succeed on a lot of levels, and for me definitely delivered on some sexy fun. If people are on the fence about paying $10 to see the ending, go for it. It's only $10. You get the epilogues too. You support the devs of a small, possibly struggling game company. To me it would be an easy call assuming I already hadn't spent a good chuck of money support this game and DfD. It was a lot of money over time, but I did get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
