I'm glad you brought that up (ie, Parlor vs Cathedral). Those philosophies were discussed at length several years ago in regard to Skyrim modding. A few folks attempted to monetize their work even though much of what they used to build the mod had been previously created by someone else. The only truly individual and unique aspect of some of the mods was the story/script/premise that the author created. But even then the community largely put a beatdown on monetization attempts. I helped with several mods, both in CG creation, coding and testing, but never received nor sought any compensation. It just didn't feel right to do so.
I can see your point ("accept it as normal)...here, CG assets are largely just rehashes of work someone else previously completed. Basic coding in Ren'Py is not rocket science and easily learned. Almost no one uses audio assets which even if they did (and there's no excuse for them not using SFX as there are literally tens of thousands of options that could be easily incorporated) are someone else's work. That, again, leaves the writing as somewhat unique (and the writing in 98% of these games is abysmally bad with lazy, untalented authors simply rehashing previous themes they think will garner them a buck or two).
Then there is the funding aspect. This may sound incongruent, but while I feel all authors have a right to ask whatever they want to fund a game, I personally never give anyone any money until they produce a finished project. I am retired from video production. I never ever received any money until my work was complete. Even on very large jobs where milestones could be established I finished work before being paid. I had to fund the purchase of my own machines, utilities, etc. It's just how most of the business world works. If the same held true here, we'd have less games, but those we'd have would be much higher quality.
But, as you say....let's move on and find the next.
