Well, there's no singular way in which patreon works. Some creators promise and deliver very regular releases and charge patrons for the release, where higher tiers get early access, some charge per release/episode and some use it as some kind of tip jar and give away the product to everyone, maybe with some smaller additional perks which aren't related to the product itself.
It's a huge difference, whether a creator promises early access to a product and charges money for it or whether you'll get the product for free, no matter whether you are a patron or not. I guess this far we can agree.
In return that's going to have an impact on patrons expectations on on their patience. If you pay $20 to $25 a month for early access you may indeed demand something within a predefined timeframe, because you are paying for it. If you essentially toss some money in a tip jar, the situation is certainly different.
Edit: Of course the money matters to a significant degree, but the situation is as it is for 2.5 years by now and I refuse to believe that there's a sane patron left, who still pledges significant amounts of money and still expects monthly or so releases. So you may indeed assume that those who give money are somewhat satisfied with the development process.