Heya,
Yes, the OP appears to have been deleted. While I'm able to ban people or delete posts from the page, I normally do not do that (The exception being when someone deletes a post and I just purge it to clean up the page). However, in this case, my assumption is that the OP deleted the post because I did not. I don't like censoring comments just like I don't like censoring the game writing. I did however report two of the comments simply because they were attacking another user directly and there's just never any need for that. But enough about that, let me briefly and objectively summarize some reactions to some other points that you made regarding game development.
Yes. It's expensive. You mention AAA studios and the budgets. It's crazy how much this costs and how much time it takes. Regarding what the OP originally stated, there's an expectation that game updates for games such as mine will occur monthly. With Patreon, people pay on a monthly basis so if they're paying, they like to see something immediately for their money. I have two reactions to this:
1) People that pump out monthly updates normally release very small updates (usually 10 or 20 minutes of gameplay). In contrast, Straight releases much less frequently but the there's more content because I just like being able to sit longer and have time to actually dive back into the world. Releasing 10 minutes of this story, imo, wouldn't give us enough time to have emotional reactions to the situations so I spend time and drop an update that usually takes around 90 minutes or so to get through. Buuuut, it takes me like 6 months average to pump those out anymore. This story also comes from the heart so I have to feel this out. Because of the inconsistency and my own inexperience with doing this, I have always refused to charge for the project because I don't know when I'll get the updates out. I care about them so I want them to be good. If you wanna chip in money for the project, it's appreciated but never required. There's a million ways people can be supportive of this project without paying or donating.
2) While I disagree with the OP tone and profanity towards other people, I will objectively piggyback off one comment that he directed towards me: The indie dev community is actually pretty toxic and inconsistent. Games like this get abandoned constantly. In fact, I would argue that abandoned games are actually the norm--especially in this genre. Many devs are super money hungry and it's created a culture where followers have a right to be skeptical and mistrusting of them. Some have publicly admitted later that they put out a couple good game updates as bait and then abandoned the game but left Patreon turned on to autobill people for months or years. Another popular trope is that indie game devs in this genre will have some sort of mental health crisis that delays updates but ironically the billing stays turned on *eyeroll*. Honestly, it's terrible and something that I'm very conscious of. When you're honest with people, that's the last thing you want people to think. But I've also learned that some people have an extraordinary ability to jump to conclusions on the internet and I have no control over that. I have a good 5 years of posts on here, Patreon, f95zone, and Discord that I feel adequately illustrate where my heart is with this community and with the project. All of those posts are available publicly and I would encourage people to look at them if they've attached any conspiracy theories to me.
I started this project in 2017 and have consistently put out updates. The overwhelming feedback that I have received over the years is that each update was better than the previous one. I have a track record with the project and I have enough respect for the community and these characters to finish this. Throughout the process, as you stated, the art has improved and the quality of the writing has improved--unfortunately that translates into the project taking longer each time but people enjoy it and I honestly enjoy it. Ironically, it's usually the players donating that are telling me to take a day off; and while I appreciate that and it's reassuring-- it'll never be taken advantage of. The game will be finished and everyone will have access to it without the need to pay for it.
In short, do I mind if people ask when the next update is? Nope. I also understand that a lot of people don't follow other sources of social media and things like that. People are always welcome to ask (just don't spam me because then I spend half my day answering the same question). However, over the years about 3 people have gotten an attitude about the game updates and they want them now and for free and there's zero respect there at all. Just be nice when you're on the internet and remember that there's other people on the end of the screen. People have been very supportive of this project and I've only gotten hate from like 3 people over the years but I definitely see entitlement with other projects and I will get defensive if I see that attitude creeping near this one.