After reading the last few pages, I'm glad I haven't jumped into game development.
For starters, stoper explicitly outlined how short his update would be. He knew that some people would be disappointed, and preemptively attempted to lower the expectations. He DOES NOT have an obligation to update the changelog, or repeat himself countless of times to appease lazy and seemingly illiterate lurkers.
Stoper is one of the few developers out here who seems to be open to constructive criticism and feedback from F95 members. He understands that piracy is outside of his control, and to the best of my knowledge, has not attempted prevent or disrupt the sharing of his game updates on the forum (like DecentMonkey did recently).
If you felt that the update was underwhelming, that's a fair and reasonable point. You'd just need to put it into context: Since the last update, stoper was hired to work on a Lesson of Passion game, which took his focus away from JOHN. Moreover, he and Dantes worked on Paola, a completely new project. JOHN became a casualty of these circumstances.
I'll never begrudge someone for prioritizing paid work over something that's more akin to a hobby (even with Patrons involved). If he properly communicated this fact to his Patrons, then he's okay in my book. If he kept promising wonderful updates that would never materialize in order to keep the cash flow going (which I doubt), then that's not cool.
I haven't played the update yet. Maybe I'll be disappointed like you guys are, but if I have any criticisms, I'll attempt to phrase them in a way that keeps the conversation going. Saying "you're a milker" is not constructive feedback (aside from being factually incorrect) - it's an attack on character, and marks the end of a creator's engagement.
Patrons of this game are perfectly aware of stoper's release schedule, and they're free to decide whether it suits their needs or not. If they're unhappy with the product provided or if they think their money will be better spent elsewhere, they'll withdraw their support. But let's not forget that without Patrons, the game would probably come to a stop.
From my point of view, the only questionable thing that stoper said is that we have "stolen" his work. This implies that we stole the potential earnings he would have made, which is not true. Piracy is NOT theft, especially if there was never any intention of providing financial support to begin with. Only a small minority of pirates ever become Patrons.
This is all to say that everyone needs to take a step back and relax. Pirates will keep doing what they do (regardless of shaming language), and creators will keep creating until it ceases to be personally or financially rewarding. And when that happens, new creators will come into the fold. That's the circle of life, so let's not blow things out of proportion.
