Yea that was very much not the intention, it was an example not a topic, trying to disassemble the example just detracts from the conversation. Regardless, it was a game that blatantly lied about what it was and tried to be, from the developer specifically stating your choices matter to them saying it wouldn't be "choose your ending" type of deal, which it was. Setting that one example aside there are many cases of this happening, Spore, No Man's Sky (arguably not AAA but certainly advertised to that effect) Anything by Peter Molyneux etc. Enough indication at least, to wipe out the notion that AAA games are never scams, when they quite frequently are.
At the end of the day though, regardless of what you believe MatM to be, you'd be a fool to give them any money without realizing you're going to be waiting years for a product if it ever does pan out. Gambling with your disposable income is fine, just be aware of what you're doing and who you're supporting, MatM has a dev cycle not unlike Duke Nukem Forever and that title turned out to be quite hilarious for reasons I doubt I'd need to repeat.