you are thinking of the apogee shareware model - that was afterwards and was the solution for the problem
I don't mind if they don't donate at all - but I feel that pay what you want discourages people from downloading - at least it discourages me 🤔
It is a fair point to consider how it would be to hold other people to the same standard that you yourself would feel comfortable to be held by!
Thing is, your way might be at odds with the vast majority of people. For person to person communication and connection, interpersonal values matters a lot! For a numbers game with sets of eyeballs with a wallet attached, things are pretty much whatever gets the most engagement.
Now; for expanding your brand with interactions and personality, then yes - you can introduce a tier where your value can be placed on a higher shelf where viewers no longer consume, but desire to play a part in things. That's realm of something such as Youtube Pateron supporters wanting to actively support something they already like and want more of.