As for staying true with their creative identity/fanbase together with having good business sense, look no further than Blizzard.
I'm sorry, but Blizzard
has only ever been a mass-market company, so clearly it's no effort at all for them to "stay true" to their "creative identity." Blizzard has never had to choose between making a hardcore, niche game versus a casual, commercially successful game, because they
never made hardcore, niche-appeal games to begin with!
What you don't seem to get is that what hardcore RPG players want is something that has never been, and probably never will be, mass-market. As such, any company dabbling in hardcore RPGs is forced to choose between business success and their "creative identity." Bioware saw the writing on the wall years ago and made the business-savvy choice to leave hardcore RPGs behind and move into the console/casual RPG market. DA will be the judge of whether they have
any of their previous identity left. By comparison, Obsidian is still, at least at the moment, interested in making RPGs with hardcore elements. Thus, it is natural for fans of hardcore RPGs to support the company - because out of all the companies currently in existence, they may very well be the last, best hope (unless you're Polish, or don't mind playing translated games).
I find it very funny that you consider me an enabler/apologist for supporting Obsidian when you support Blizzard - a company whose influence has only ever led to more casual game design and greater focus on the mass-market. Don't get me wrong - I love Blizzard games, but Blizzard has never produced a hardcore CRPG and they
never will. You need only read some of Rob Pardo's quotes concerning Blizzard's focus to know why.