No, I am honestly confused and yes, I've been on this thread a long time. And I've tried to understand but no one has made a convincing claim. It's not bullshit. I don't understand how someone can claim someone is milking another when there is nothing milked. That's why I'm asking. Simply claiming that "millking" is occurring doesn't mean that it is. There has to be something behind the belief and I haven't seen anyone present anything which supports that.
And even though it's been stated by moderators that its off-topic, people get their comments about milking deleted at times, the claim still continues even by those who have had their off-topic claims removed by moderators - but nothing I have seen demonstrates why they think milking actually is happening.
And the fact that you chose to attack me rather than to present one reason is telling.
It's funny because true milking behavior would more closely match the activity of many of the "good" devs people like to cite: release small, low-effort, and nearly inconsequential updates like clockwork once a month. That's not me calling anyone out, but more pointing to the simple fact that providing small monthly content is a better driver of maintaining Patreon subs than just hoping everyone will stay subscribed at high tiers over vague promises or complete silence. Graphtreon has provided ample evidence that updates = $.
And while I'm speculating, I feel like a lot of the people who are quick to cry "milking!" are revealing more about themselves than the dev. The thought of having a job where people pay you to not work is so irresistible to them that it's the only conceivable reason they can find for extended development times. Creative burnout? Complex systems providing complex bugs? Nah, it's just them lazy folk who want to get paid for not working!
As the last few years of social media have proven, feelings matter more than facts to a great deal of people.