I think a more apt metaphor for this game and it's fans are "you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink". Everytime someone lists a dissatisfaction with this game it's defenders belittle either the opinion, or the person who lists it, whether it's on the steam forums, their home page forums, or reddit. And it doesn't seem to matter how much documented proof there is of promises, or shadiness, or outright refusal to acknowledge the past. That's fine, you like the game, and we all have things we enjoy we will blindly and faithfully defend. It's human.
But whether or not most software development meets their expected goals and features or not is a moot argument, because most software development doesn't accept purchases(this is what they are, not donations) until they have a completed product. They jump through the hoops to get funded through more traditional means(through publishers and producers) and are held to a standard. Early Access was a good idea, ruined by unscrupulous hucksters...just like any good idea in human history. As it gets harder for real talent to get through the door we only really have ourselves to blame for supporting the current companies which engage these practices, and Chucklefish isn't the only company reflecting this, nor are they even the worst. It should be telling though that Tiyuri owns 100% stock in CF and refuses stock options to his employees and doesn't need to satisfy investors with them either. It really is no wonder really why Bartwe abandoned ship, and his new game looks amazing, for a Minecraft clone.