You are correct. Most devs will at least post something while they 'work' on updates. And it seems more and more devs think that if they put out 1-2 updates, that subscribers will fall at their feet giving them lots and lots of money. And when that does not happen, then move on. Sometimes with a different dev name, sometimes they just go away.
Exactly,
Here is a good example -
https://f95zone.to/threads/academy-live-v0-07-3-alpha-passhonq.169917/, which started about
15 months ago (with 2-3 months update cycle)
This is from my memory and the numbers are from Patreon site only:
After two releases - about 20 patrons,
After the third release - about 40 patrons
Next release - about 80 patrons
And I checked a few days ago - 334 patrons.
The secret is simple - t
he developer needs to work to deliver some actions (plus periodically check the game thread and reply to people), so the fans see that you are going to stay and finish the game. The old times (with the numbers like BADIK) are long gone now.