As someone who is happy to pay for good software, I can't ever see myself buying a paid version of something (no matter how good it might be) if the author has a history of using dark patterns and showing their apparent contempt for their users with the "free" edition. I'd be constantly wondering what other traps might be lurking in there.
Right. The fact that you can get around something, or that someone failed to do something to you is not the important thing. What matters far more is the fact that they tried and wanted to.
