1. No one is talking about how the developer is absent HERE. What matters is patreon, discord, their own site etc. He is absent there and his paying customers there are just as much out of the loop as people here. This site mostly works by quoting patreon/discord etc. posts, no one is demanding for developers to post here, its understandable if they want to avoid this place.
Yes, they actually are - if you read the comment I quoted in my post it is stating that they should provide an update BECAUSE the abandoned tag was applied. My point is not that the dev does not need to communicate. My point is simply that the abandoned tag is arbitrary and he has no obligation to respond to it or communicate here. Which he has made clear he won't.
2. Not paying for the content doesn't make the criticism invalid. Even if we assume that only buyers are entitled for the developer to give transparency about the work they paid for (potentially in advance), doesn't make pirates pointing it out false. Note that I have the stance that the developer doesn't technically have any obligation and can bail whenever they want (unless a full game within a certain time was guaranted, then you can sue them or make a refund, which can work), but if you promote your game that much and got 7/9 chapters done, there is a certain expectancy on the customers side and ettiquette on the producers side to at the very least make them aware how or if the progress is done. GRR Martin doesn't write anymore, which he apparantly is allowed to do, but at the same, people are free to call him out.
Not paying does not make ALL criticism invalid. It does however make criticism based on entitlement invalid. Unless you are supporting the project you have no standing for criticizing the time and effort the dev puts into the project. Feel free to criticize the content, the attitude, whatever else you want. But criticizing how much attention and effort the dev is giving you comes across as entitled, because you have done nothing to warrant that attention and effort.
For this dev, and many others, this is a hobby they do because they enjoy it. The fact that you enjoy what they produce as their hobby does not lock them into performing this hobby forever just because you want more, they have no obligation to you. "You" in this context being those who use a pirate site to download the content they created for free.
That is the trade off. We don't pay for games - and since we don't support their development, we have no right to be upset when the development of those games doesn't match our expectations. Just existing as a fan of a game does not support it's development. "Exposure" is not payment, it doesn't cover the time and equipment required.
Long explanation but a few questions coming out of my mind:
1/ How do you know that there is none of his customer here?
2/ Does he communicate or make an announcement on Patreons? I don't think so.
3/ Did anyone mention that he needs to give an explanation here? I don't think so. It's quite irrelevant as at the end, it's just a platform. Assuming that there is none of his customer here, does it make people's argument invalid to raise their concerns?
The only exception is that if since the latest release, he doesn't take anyone money, he does not have any obligation to answer any questions.
1. There probably are, it is irrelevant because there are platforms available to them to make those comments and criticisms. The dev is not here, why scream into the void?
2. That is not in the scope of this conversation - it is between the dev and his patreons. Their recourse is to cancel their subscription. As I noted in the post you are responding to - I am not commenting on whether his interaction on Patreon is acceptable, just on the fact that it is silly to feel like you are owed an explanation for a tag applied here
3. Yes, people did say he needs to account for the fact that an abandoned tag was applied, you know - like in the post that I quoted and was directly responding to
I have responded to each of your points in turn so you don't feel I left anything out, but if you respond feel free to condense them into the same single point that they all are for the sake of brevity. We are simply talking about the level of communication that is owed by the developer in this forum. Quite simply, that is
none. Some devs choose to engage this community in order to build a fanbase. Great for them, but that is their choice to make. Fans who download the game for free do not, and should not, dictate the level of interaction the dev must have with them.
