In my opinion I think paid early access is the paid best way to monetize without being scummy. If people want to support the creator and get something in return then they can get it early. If people like us want it for free then we can wait (except for that Camaro mod, that took it way too far).
The one by baileylsx5. I think the drama started at page 30 which is the one I have linked. Bearing in mind that I actually looked on forum threads since August 2022 and it was a paid beta then, I think it says enough
That's my only gripe with this monetization model: the creator is incentivized to keep it pay-walled for as much as possible. Earnings will most likely drop asymptotically so to make X% more income you'll have to wait a lot more than X% more time. On the other side "consumers" are incentivized to just wait for the free version. Some transparency might help, for example having a target income, something similar to Kickstarter.
