That's my main issue with the paywalls system. I do believe it gives a bad view to the consumer. Pirates will have bigger effort to crack the game just to piss off the dev, and many buyers don't like to pay to put codes or unlocks on something they already bought. Finally, it discourages potential buyers to try out the game, as you said you tried it when it was free.
The spam all over the thread asking for codes just confirms what I've said above, even if I found it annoying. Not to mention that the effort put on the paywall could be made on the game instead.
Even if this is a piracy website, many around here, me included, try to buy the product if the price is fair. But imo paywalls discourage more potential buyers to get the game than actually "protecting" who bought it. I didn't buy Sonic Mania until fucking Denuvo was removed for example. Same for a lot of piracy on Russia being reduced only because Steam gave easier tools to buy the games, etc. A lot of games also started to get a lot of money here due the popularity gained here, even if this is also a piracy forum.
I won't dive into hatred or movements going against the dev because it has paywalls, as some around here imply to, that's just dumb. The dev himself still seems passionate for his project and still engages with the community around here, I can't complain about that. Still, my opinion about paywalls remains due the reasons above. I encourage the dev to read about the principle of harm reduction.
Anyway, looking forward for next release. If next relases do end up having a tiny bit more of content than this one, along with no paywalls I might consider buying it.
