To build on this, I think you touch on a really valuable point that I didn't mention in the initial post: Treat your customers like people/with respect. Sure it's obvious when you see it written out but at the end of the day, the reason you're uploading a game to itch.io (or anywhere, but we're obviously the best :P) is because you want someone to see it. I think that the further we stray from and obscure the idea that a game is a conversation between player and creator the worse off we are.