I don't think this thread here had literally any bearing on what Gumdrop did. To him, we're simply beneath him. We're not paying, he doesn't have to even acknowledge our existence let alone respond to us or the points we make.
He may be aware of what's going on in this thread, he might even be following it, but I don't see why he would respond to our words here.
His patrons may be more aware of this discussion. They may have taken some salient points to Gumdrop and demanded him to answer. But in a way, those arguments simply took a life of their own and got delivered. They're not exclusive to us, others can make them just as well, if not as articulate as some members here can be.
I don't think Gumdrop thinks of himself as a scammer running a Patreon campaign to swindle people out of their money.
Sure, to everyone with half a wit, he's an entitled prick that apparently believes that the pinups he uploaded justify the dues he's been getting.
However, he also handed out free subscriptions, meaning he's also aware he dragged his feet for way too long. I still think he doesn't deserve a get out of jail card for this, but it's a step in the right direction (however worthless the free subscription is).
I'm sure he doesn't consider his actions as illegal, immoral or even inappropriate. And before anyone suggests that all criminals think they're not, no they don't. Most are aware that they're committing crimes. It's just that a lot of them seek validation and try to justify their actions, but it's precisely because they're aware they're criminals.
I don't think any of us have a horse in this race. I follow it for the drama and out of morbid curiosity of what's going to happen next.
So he "delivered". There exists an update, I just unpacked it to check out the CGI, and didn't bother to play it, so I don't have an opinion, and I have no idea if his patrons believe that it was worth it.
I suppose this update gives his patrons a tiny sliver of hope that something is going to come out in two months and later in July so they didn't feel scammed.
But one release doesn't prove anything just yet.
He collected way too much money for way too long and delivered something that needed less than 1% of the budget it had and should have taken at most two months, not over two years.
Also, it's his team that delivered it. I have no idea if they actually complete part II and III on time. If his team has a good work ethic, then they will, while Gumdrop gets the credit.
I suppose I should be happy for the people who feel they got their money's worth.
But it makes me livid because it siphons money away from a system that should reward hard working creators who don't get the attention they deserve. A lot of celebrity creators will think that this behavior is acceptable and justifiable. Gumdrop became a role model to other developers to take regular breaks from delivering content and milk it for all it's worth. Gumdrop took all that's bad with crowdfunding and condenses it into one Patreon campaign.