I think really this points all points to how having a good publisher/distributor is vital, but also how toxic the video game market can be.
From the PC exclusivity - vividly reminding me of retail store exclusives (e.g GameStop exclusive), to multiple versions of games for the purpose of trying to make more money from one product, to season passes for unannounced content - Shenmue should not have aligned itself with a publisher who is introducing the game to these shoddy market practices.
What happened when people questioned piece meal selling of products, when we laughed at Horse DLC, when Watch Dogs had more versions than Dr Strange had visions of the future.
The practices are simply not ethical and are mostly down to the publisher. I'm almost certain that these decisions did not develop internally at YsNet, but were presented to them by Deep Silver.
A lot of 'controversy' about the game has mostly been down to them. The game itself is generally, impression wise, what people expected and generally backers are happy with how the game is shaping out, minor niggles aside (e.g some animations, that stupid title font, etc), yet it's sometimes labelled as synonymous with examples of the worst Kickstarter projects, which it is not. The game taken by itself is looking to deliver - which sets it above most bloody Kickstarter projects, and additionally is looking to deliver quite well on what it set out to achieve.
I've been excited for the game for over 15 years, and am no less excited than when it was announced at E3 a few years ago. Despite a lot of negative press, every screenshot, or in particular hearing just the first few bars of music, gives me goosebumps.
However, it just seems like a lot of unethical practices are now being embroiled in a Kickstarter project, which by nature really should be the avenue to do away with these practices in the instance.