[bigdawg1022]

Ok,
First, Scott hasn't required you to pay for anything. He never has. To what
i have seen and read nUI has been one of his many contributions to the game that thousands of people have used for free. He did, as many others have done, ask for donations to help him keep the addon updated. Nobody had an issue with him asking for donations before, but when he asked for donations to a worthwhile cause people bauked. This project in the rain forests is not making him any money. In fact from what I have seen it is costing him alot of time, effort and cash. The response he got was uncalled for. He didn't require anyone to donate to get his hard work, yet people bashed him for asking for support.
Second,, it isn't his responsibility to continue supporting nUI publicly. He can make whatever addon he wants to and only share it with a few people. Private addons are not against Blizzards rules. If he were selling the addon outright or requiring a donation only then it would be. He has given everyone options to get the addon. One of those options is to donate. All he is asking for is for some simple respect from the people who want to use his hard work.
If you have never tried to write an addon yourself, you will never understand how much work goes into it. I have a few addons that I wrote for myself only. Am I breaking Blizzards rules because I am not giving them away? Should I give the addon away to people who tell me how terrible I am for not adding some feature, or do not have an update ready the moment a new patch drops?
I personally moved on to another addon, not because of Scott asking for donations, but because I kinda figured this would be how things would go down. Several people would get upset and complain because they can't get their way. Yes I am sure there are alot of people out there who were silently enjoying the addon(I am one of those silent ones). Yes it sucks that only a few people ruined it for the rest of us. I have emailed Scott a few times explaining how much I enjoyed his work, but explained I wouldn't ask for an invite until I felt I had properly returned some of the support he HAS shown us silent users for years.
I myself prefer unhindered access to addons, but that can't happen in a fair manner. Yes you have to pay to play the game, and it doesn't seem fair to have to pay for or jump through hoops to get extras. But thats just what they are, EXTRAS. Its someone elses hard work that adds to the game. I understand Blizzards view of addons. Noone should really be able to stand on their shoulders so to speak by writing an extra to the game and make money off of it without their permission. I also understand the addon authors side of the conversation. They put in alot of time and have to accept stupidity and rudeness for their work without any compensation. There is no right answer for that can of worms anyway.
Scott isn't doing anything wrong, its his work. He doesn't have to continue to support it, yet he still wants to. He isn't saying you have to pay me x amount of money to get the addon, he is giving you an option of donating to a cause. Thats not your only option. You could simply email him to show him you are not one of the mindless idiots who just want free stuff now without even going as far as to thank him for providing it.
It is rather sad how impersonal we have all gotten to each other. We have the greatest way of communication that has been invented to this point in time. Virtually everyone on the planet can communicate to each other almost instantaneously, yet because it isn't face to face we know we don't have to deal with the consequences of rudeness. Lets just spew off about how someone that is no longer giving us free stuff is infringing on our rights.