I'll add my 2 cents.
About the fact that the game is "dead". It's too early to say, seriously, some projects are updated every 3-6 months. But in general, it is disturbing, yes. IMHO: DS will post news after the end of the billing period on Patreon.
Regarding greed: I agree, the thirst for money "here and now" can outweigh common sense.
And in general, many, including developers, for some reason do not understand how Patreon, boosty, and similar platforms work. Any gaming development and writing activity is based on 3 things:
1) The author does it simply because he can and shares his result with everyone who wants it, if he gets a profit along the way - this is a nice bonus. That is, initially the goal is not to make money. Of course, this does not mean that he will refuse pleasant donations.
2) The author aims to earn money. By sharing concept, developments and updates, he attracts people who are willing to pay for it. Therefore, it is in his interests to find something with which he can attract an audience: early access, bonus privileges, and so on. In this case, the author is NOT OBLIGED to go along with the payers who demand something. Unless, of course, that was the intention in the first place. I have already seen such levels of subscriptions on patreon, but there it is usually limited in number (1-4) and costs much more (usually $ 100 and above).
3) The author initially works for money on order. That is, there is INITIALLY a group of persons (or one person) who describes the concept, for example, of the game that he wants to see in the end. The author (or a team of people) works and provides the development process to the sponsor, and in this case the author MUST fulfill the requirements of the people who pay him money.
Of course, there are particulars and often 1 turns into 2. But in general, it works like this.
Patreon and similar sites work according to the second model. No one forces you to pay authors. If you like it - pay, if you don't like it - DO NOT pay, it's simple. Of course, mutual courtesy is implied here, the author promises - the author does, subscribers pay. And of course, if the author starts to go somewhere into the swamp of incomprehensibility, this causes first bewilderment, then anger, then resentment, and then it just becomes indifferent and the outflow of subscribers begins.
It turned out a little chaotically and much more than it was in my head, but something like that.