Hi,
I'm not a Patron, but I do recall reading that Sam intended for the v.3.x versions to improve general world content instead of working on the next main story mission. I know they run periodic polls on the Patreon, so the Patrons there likely had some contribution to this decision.
Also regarding the Patreon, they seem to be very reliable in posting regular progress reports every single week. It also offers pre-release versions of the game. The Patreon version is currently two months ahead of the public version here on Itch. I think the communication about what's happening with the game is more than sufficient. The development pace itself is something you'll have to decide about for yourself.