Your argument is pathetic.
I could write a monologue to explain this (if you want I can write one for you in a private message), but I'll save my time saying only ONE point between many:
He get PAID to do this product, people have the right to ask a deliver. Even the ones who don't pay, since dev himself makes his release public (free product these days means free advertising for possible financial support).
If the dev close patreon and everything and starts to work on the game without making a single cent with it, I would totaly agree with you. But at the moment someone sell something, he NEED to deliver, and if he don't, he SHOULD be criticized.
Being like a drug addict is defending someone/a company selling lies while getting money from clients/supporters.
Your logic is making irrational connections.
- Patreons pay to help him develop. Their rewards are listed - not a product, but access, including the chapters on release. They get what they're signing up for.
- The product goes public because patrons share it, not because it is automatically a public release. It comes out the side door, not the front. Show me where you can get Ch5 Beta of SG officially for example. When WiaB Ch3 is leaked (there's the side door, not the front) You can show me were the official public link Ocean uses to advertise is.
- Ocean is not selling WiaB or SG. He has sold access to the development of the games (from the patreon):
- Patreon Tier One: Access to the patreon only feed and a thank you (access to dev logs only, no product for $2.50/mo)
- Patreon Tier Two: Previous, plus access to full releases (not beta) plus previews, plus discord access (more access to development, no access to betas unless they grab leaks for $5/mo)
- Patreon Tier Three: Previous, plus access to beta after three days, access to lewd previews, access to wallpapers (for $10/mo, slower delivery of the official betas than the leak, more development access)
- Patreon Tier Four: Previous, but access to beta on release, access to blender trials (for $20/mo, access to all Ocean's development process, and the betas.
Nowhere is there a release schedule saying how frequently you'll recieve any of this. If you sign up with expectations beyond what's started, it's your own misconception of what is being offered. Not all patreons get the beta, first tier exists for people who want to support but are fine to go through the side door. Feel free to show me where the official public release links are that explains how you justify the dev making the release public. Currently the releases are patreon only, no other way than non-official leaks.
When things are leaked here, the complete dev logs with previews and blender treats, the betas, the full previews and betas are leaked by the $20/mo patrons who are being kind.
Whatever you might think, patronage is paying for the rewards they sign up for, the level of support they're willing to give. The wording even mentions how you are supporting development, rather than buying a game; the game is not for sale, it is a reward for supporting the finished product. Some devs have multiple games available as rewards on the one patreon, so they can develop new games. It might seem like semantics, but it is what the patreon offers - support is what patrons purchase, and they get rewards.
I am not a patron, I'd rather buy the game when there's a public purchase link. I don't think your logic of pirates have a right to demand delivery because Ocean gets paid by someone else holds true. If there is no official release link, then we're all going in the side door on day one, looting and pillaging, courtesy of someone who did pay at least $20/mo. I'm grateful for the patrons who think it is worth trying to expand Ocean's user base beyond patreon.
I can't think that there's anything in life I deserve just by existing. Respect is earned and too easily lost, like a permadeath roguelike. I don't automatically deserve optional leisure activities; those are optional extras far above the necessities.
