Yeah, it's all the players fault for expecting FD to deliver what they say they will. You know, there's an old saying in software development. Under promise, over deliver. There's also another way to approach iterative development. In fact, it's the correct way to approach it. What you do is this. You keep the users in the loop. For example, if you realise you're not going to hit deadline x, or fully implement feature y, you give them the heads up. That way, you can avoid giving the end users any nasty surprises and you don't have to worry so much about "reprisals" from the users.
Before you ask, no I wouldn't expect every game developer to do that, but ED is no ordinary game. It was funded by players from the outset. When FD had an idea and needed money, they were very communicative. Now they have a product that's doing pretty well, the silence is deafening. That's the problem.
