Trust takes time to build, but only a second to lose. Once trust is lost, it is hard to earn it back. It's a simple and basic lesson taught since childhood and something that's highly important even in the business world. To forget such a thing...
I think people forget that while the game is one of the most popular adult video games during at least the last decade (if not one of the most popular adult videos games of all time), and millions have played it, and there are mainstream memes based upon it, and many articles and other info in mainstream game sites/magazines, that 500,000,000 people get online for the first time each year. Also, not all of people who have even played a version of the game are lifelong coomers and gooners who have played this game more than once before.
If even 1% of 1% (1 in 10,000) of the 500,000,000 new internet users find the game and give it a shot, that's 50,000 new players each year from that alone. 50,000 who know nothing of what a lot of the people in this thread are aware of.
Hell, while there have been about 50 million views of this thread since it's creation 9 years ago, there are very likely fewer than 50,000 people who have commented in this thread.
We are a minority of a minority of a minority of a minority of a minority. And even if half of the people who have posted in this thread have lost trust in Dark Cookie... A lot of them still post here and download the game - old and new versions.
And as my reply above your post shows, Summertime Saga remains #1 most paid subscribers on Patreon for adult game creators, with the 2nd place creator at about 2/3 of Dark Cookie's paid sub numbers. A #1 position that Dark Cookie has held for 7.5 years. And it appears to be breaking his own sub # records since beginning to release the preview version of v21.0.0 last year.
