The initial outrage was because people were genuinely scared they would have to start paying a ton of money to Unity. Because that's what Unity initially proposed. $200,000 (the original threshold) really isn't that unrealistic for serious indie developers, and any installation, including reinstallation, and including every load of a website with the web player embedded, would come at a cost. (The web player was explicitly mentioned!)
Unity then published various "clarifications" (read: further alterations of the deal) which made the change less absolutely horrifying, reinstallations wouldn't be counted, the web player wouldn't be counted. The sheer audacity of describing those monumental changes as "clarifications" is grounds for outrage in itself. "Apologizing" for "confusion" instead of admitting fault is extremely disrespectful.
And then we reach the current day, where the change has been watered down to something that's really a lot more acceptable, but the willingness of Unity to just suddenly retroactively invent new taxes for Unity users to pay should be enough to frighten indie developers and established game studios alike.
Unity then published various "clarifications" (read: further alterations of the deal) which made the change less absolutely horrifying, reinstallations wouldn't be counted, the web player wouldn't be counted. The sheer audacity of describing those monumental changes as "clarifications" is grounds for outrage in itself. "Apologizing" for "confusion" instead of admitting fault is extremely disrespectful.
And then we reach the current day, where the change has been watered down to something that's really a lot more acceptable, but the willingness of Unity to just suddenly retroactively invent new taxes for Unity users to pay should be enough to frighten indie developers and established game studios alike.
(What I'm trying to say is, I agree.)