This thread really has become in many ways an example of how not to interact with devs.
After Choices is basically showing angelic levels of patience. I know some of her remarks are snarky, but come on, at this point I would probably just tell people to fuck off or leave the site altogether.
What you can gleam from how this went are two things IMO.
1. It is okay to disagree with the choices a dev makes, and of course you have the right to voice that disagreement. It all comes down to HOW you do this, though. You can be the epitome of entitlement, as many people here have been, and declare that the dev is wrong and a liar and traitor and horrible person or that she has broken every rule of civilization and democracy and what not OR you can voice your opinion in a friendly and respectful way, even if you decidedly disagree with the dev. You can even go and do what the dev suggests and become a patron, if she offers a patron as a means to have influence in the development to some small extent.
2. Devs are people. They have feelings, they have problems, they have a limit to the abuse they are willing to endure. AND since they are people, often with families and loved ones, they need to earn money, so that they and their loved ones can eat and have a home over their head. It's easy to talk about artistic integrity and following your vision or sticking to your plans for a game, but that all diminishes when it comes to having to earn enough money to live from with this. This is where reality meets ideal and this is where, as a creator, you will and have to make compromises. After Choices wants to create her games, but she also needs to earn her living with them, and she will of course try to adjust the games so that she can get the most possible support for them.
And that isn't treason or betrayal, that is what thousands upon thousands of creative people do every fucking day, trying to find a way to make a living, while doing what they love, even if that sometimes means they'll have to compromise.
It's all fine and dandy to drone on and on about democracy (when it comes to a fucking porn game of all places) and artistic vision or integrity, but I do have to wonder if anybody who has a family to support or has ever been in dire financial circumstances, can be so idealistic and tbh. naive.