Yeah, those are only two options. They can't code or only want to whinge. Those are the only two reasons people aren't offering to do SR7s work for free while he is getting paid to do that work.
I wouldn't say that those are the only reasons for such a choice. While I certainly won't claim to be an expert coder, and any criticisms I've laid against the state of the game stem from personal experience with (and distaste of) automated tools in general rather than being personal attacks against Sunset (haven't met the guy, so I can't say anything about him tbh), there is a general attitude I keep stumbling upon in coding circles:
Anyone who's worth their salt as a programmer should stay out of game development, as that's not where the money is.
While there certainly is the argument that making games is all about
la pasión and not about the money, my cynical counterpoint to that is it only applies when it's your personal project. If you're brought on to work on someone else's project? Then it's a job, plain and simple, and you should be paid what you're worth. And while there has been a lot of talk out of one's arse in this thread, both in support of and against Sunset, I'd wager the ones who know what they are talking about realize they can do better than whatever money this game would offer them (and they probably are as well).
Edit: A few hours later it has occurred to me that I may have aimed this at the wrong post. Damn it panda, this is why you buy coffee before you go posting, not the other way around...