VD called people morons and AoD still sold at least 3 copies.
Correct me if I'm wrong (my glasses could very well be rose-tinted here), but VD chose as the target of his ire a group that is specifically disinterested in the kind of game he is making. Even the specific comments in question were stated in a "people that want to play X type of games vs. people that don't" fashion. If anything, this dogged defense of certain principles may have had a net benefit to copies sold.
On the other hand, we have people passive-aggressively blaming their customers for their problems and openly threatening to make a shitty followup game if their expectations aren't met - meanwhile publicly insulting and condemning what is probably a large part of their potential playerbase. I really don't think the situations compare very closely.
It's a shame that DB doesn't have a pro PR shell, but at the same time, I find it very stupid how often companies are slammed when their employees post opinions on personal Twitter accounts or whatnot. Folks on both sides of this need to learn what it means to keep church and state separate.
This is a very sensible attitude in general, but it starts to fray when the Company(TM) is a handful of people. The demarcation between personal and professional, between individual and conglomerate is highly uncertain here.
What people are doing in this discussion is mostly pointing out that customers can be filth from the fifth circle and experience no significant consequences whereas an employee of a very small company
cannot. I read this criticism as more of a "look, guys, don't hurt yourselves like this" rather than an antagonistic slur. The asymmetry in this situation means the developers (in trying to maximize their benefits) should not engage if they are rational actors.
Also, it's not generally any one thing that will cause people to decide one way or another. I'm interested in the game but am skeptical about its mechanics. In researching the game, if I stumble upon some questionable stuff from developers,
it probably won't positively influence my decision. In my case, I'd feel quite at odds doing what I would interpret as rewarding the behavior I've seen so far. Mostly the combat mechanics seem mediocre to me, but it doesn't help DoubleBear that I now also have to overcome negative feelings about putting money in Annie's bank account.