Yeah I know, and I get that. The problem with democracy though, is a big chunk of people always lose out!
And again, you compare to other media (books, TV series, films etc.) and how they produce quality content, it is not by asking the fans what they want next.
Also I don't think any fans voted for the whole mom arc to be reworked, over say, sorting Roxy out. Did they?
As for the mom stuff, I don't know but I imagine it happened because people were hoping for a more fleshed out story with mom, who is arguably a very major and important character in the story, over Roxy, who hasn't had much to do yet. But again, I don't know, I'm not a patron of theirs so I can't be sure. As for the whole democracy, you're right but that's the nature of the beast. They decided that they wanted their patrons to have their own input into their game and they figured that polling their intended audience would be the best way to do that.
That being said, while you make a good example of books, TV, etc., it is also an unfair comparison, as they're very different mediums. Whereas a TV series will get its funding from a studio, the developers of STS are crowdfunded, so to speak, and so have much more to answer for if the game sucks. Rather than worrying about any investors in the studio being upset over their investment into the production, they have to worry about their audience, who is their investors, being upset and withdrawing their support. But, regardless, you have a good point. I would prefer it if they would focus on the primary characters, as I feel like there's still more to do with Aunt Diane, and there's a good chance that they'll rework the sister's storyline now that they've reworked the mother's. After they finish the more immediate, and slightly distant, family, with some bonus content for the friends and neighbors and such, then they should probably focus on everyone else. However, in doing this they will limit themselves in the scope of their game for a while, so ultimately it is a bit of give and take.
