Its BFC's game, beta tester obviously know that up front. And this is just conjecture from only brief interchanges, but it was the release and BFC's approach to handling it that put several testers in a minor ethical bind.
I never would have even mentioned and planned on not mentioning it, but Steve showing up on the review thread shows he hasn't really changed the us vs them philosophy that permeated from the release. He should have just shut up and let the thread fade away.
I've mentioned this before, but one of the reasons I am a little sensitive to to the testers conduct is I was put in a similar bind on another game several years ago. All kinds of grand plans and release was too early and a disaster. The developed abandoned the forums and it was left to several of testers to clean up the hard feelings. From my own SW days, I have always said that good beta testers should listen, not speak to customers.