lol @ the "we're only two people!" excuse. salem can be pretty much recreated entirely in minecraft using a couple mods with far, far, far less development time and resources (mods dont have cash shops). the reason why salem is unfinished and full of terrible design decisions is simply because you're incompetent when it comes to game design - nothing more, nothing less.
you guys seem to be capable programmers but its very obvious that any programming talent is being held back by a severe lack of game design know-how. you seem to have Notch syndrome - its where your ego is so massive that you cant see past it to find the flaws in what youre doing and any time someone tries to point them out you get butthurt and defensive about it. minecraft also had this problem until mods started coming out and notch came to the realization that he wasnt nearly as talented as he thought he was. as such he ended up hiring someone else and passed off development to them. the game exploded in popularity afterwards and now they're all making millions.
so... whats the difference? minecraft was developed by a single person with no funding at all and even in beta it was more "complex" and "enormous in scope" than salem currently is. you have twice the manpower from the start plus funding from paradox (at least until they realized you were a lost cause and bailed) and yet you struggle to break 200 concurrent players. permadeath salem-style minecraft mods have tens of thousands of players so it's not an issue of nobody wanting a permadeath crafting game, either. at some point youre going to have to realize the problem is you.
either that or you simply want your work to continue being shoddy (and i cant image anyone would put so much time into something without caring for it). everyone currently playing is doing so because we see the potential haven/salem have. why cant its own developers?
do you care more about making a game for yourself and loftar? or do you care about making a game for your playerbase/fans? because you're currently doing the former and i think you'd be happier (and wealthier) if you did the latter instead.
ps - you dont have to apologize to me for any harsh remarks, as i wont apologize for mine. i dont like you so its only fair that you dont like me, either. however i think we both want this game to be more than it currently is and i say what i say because of that.