1) There's this tether of support money from Patreon to Gargron and the community's got all this apprehension about forking the project because they won't get The Official Money to the Official Developer. Or they don't want to be the "bad guy" for fractionalizing.
If the development process doesn't improve, abandon it. -You- the community can fire the development staff. They work for you.
It's okay to fork. I'd do it if I weren't such a divisive figure.