You want a different subculture? Go peek inside the Fallout Equestria mod.
Toady has created an awesome game, and part of that is that different groups of people can take it and develop their own interests around that code base. The ability to do that is something somewhat rare in this world.
And as someone else who makes a living doing what he loves, I guarantee you I have no intention of stomping on Toady's revenue stream by talking about Masterwork. What people do with their wallets is their own business. They can send their donations in whichever directions they feel moved to.
That's the part of your first post which stuck in my craw. "Shhh, don't talk bad about the core game because you'll hurt Toady's income."