I gave Stern a chance and paid a lot of money for a game I thought would be awesome. For a short period of time, I was sucked it to the hype. Never again.

I think a valuable lesson is to regard Stern marketing the same way a typical banana republican should be classified.

They both make a neverending cavalcade of self serving statements to draw attention to themselves in the short term.
Those statements either never materialise as promised into anything tangible or don't match the original statement.
When called out on that fact they both engage in defensive projectional blame shifting behaviour.
They both surround themselves with arselicking sycophants to validate and reinforce their behaviour.

It is bad enough that the code for games takes two years to complete
Nobody should have to pay for updates

The multi billion dollar console market makes a packet out of releasing 75% complete games from what they were intended and then charging customers the "option" of buying additional gameplay to enhance their experience. Since Stern has an entrenched reputation as a follower, rather than an innovator I would be surprised if it hasn't been considered.