The dev did agree that the MC looked horrid but didn't want to change it until there was such a negative response (and there was a poll wasn't there?). I think his agreement was why that happened, most of the rest of the criticism, valid or otherwise, wasn't something he agreed with and he spent a lot of time and energy arguing with us assholes on F95 about it all. Overall, I don't believe he takes criticism very well (not that a lot of people are great at taking criticism) and argues too much for his own good.
I agree with
Avaron1974 that he has wasted a lot of potential that was building up with this game. If he'd finished in 2-3 updates (maybe 2 for the main story and then an epilogue) it would have shown that he could make a game with an intriguing story and garnered him some attention - it isn't that often that we see a completed game.
As for communicating in February I believe someone mentioned that was a poll, a poll isn't the same as an update that explains where he stands on the development of the game. Even if it was an update the fact that there was 1 in 7 months compared to the communication beforehand makes it obvious he isn't in a hurry to get this game done OR to maintain his fan/playerbase. It is disrespectful to his patrons if all he is doing is renders and 2 updates a year (1/6-7 months in theory). We (the collective group of assholes on this site) don't warrant a lot of consideration but f95 is where a lot of patrons come from, I don't honestly know of another way to find these games.
All that said I would like to see the dev come back to the game, that he will be making a post soon explaining it all, and that he really is dealing with IRL issues. However, as I am not an optimist, I doubt any of that is true.