Everything is relative. Yes the RPG gamer community is a niche group, but relative to the size of that group yes there would've been a lot of anger. Look at the reaction to something in Beamdog's BG1 expansion that some people got angry about. Their raw numbers were not that much, but from a sales perspective the fit that they threw was enough to damage the game's reception.
I'm surprised to hear that. It's pretty widely accepted that the contingent with forceful opinions often encountered on forums and social media is not just small in number but frequently unrepresentative and not influential. Yes, developers should listen to what they say, but that opinion also needs to be given the appropriate weight. Paying no need at all is potentially reckless but presuming too much importance even more so.
