Meh, guys, seriously, what the hell are you talking about? Are you trying to somehow explain five years of development, during which they made fifty minutes of 2d text-based gameplay?
Maybe you say same thing about
Trials
In
Tainted
Space? (a purely text-based game that has been in development for more than seven years)
This is not a question of complexity. This is not a question of "Bitten off more than they could chew".
It's a matter of diligence and honesty. (how many excuses will you look for, and how long will you drag out the time to get money on the Patron)
Friendship with benefits was made by
one person in a year and a half. Scenario, music, backgrounds, writing, painting.
I don't even care about stealed assets (its already established IP, why the heck to care?), as long as it looking good.
And even more, I'm subscribed to a lot of games that were developed faster, despite the fact that they have
actual gameplay - 2d or 3d, platforming or rpg.
Why are you trying to justify that they are stalling? Just subscribe to them when they work, and unsubscribe when a few months of silence begins again. This is the only way to make such groups work.