Oh man, that's exactly what happened to me with The Witcher. One quick look at the timeline and I never went back to release order.

Did they even track your extra work or just expect it?

The "shifter slipped twice" thing got me. It's like when people blame the new part but the old piece was dying the whole time. I swear most folks just need to see proof with their own eyes before they'll trust anything. It's the same with my car, my AC, everything. People don't trust words anymore, they need a live demo.