I can’t speak for the other beta testers, of course, but I don’t believe I was negligent. My job as a beta tester, to my mind, is to play through a game and note what does and what doesn’t work for me, and to report any bugs or typos that I notice. It is NOT to tell the author what I think might or might not work for you, or for others - that’s why games have more than one beta tester. (That’s even something an editor might cover - but I wasn’t editing.) We each bring our own perspective to the games we test.
I tend to play ‘squishy’ characters, to borrow a term from @JimD’s Safe Haven thread (at least, that’s where I first saw it). I don’t leave much feedback there, because most of the people who play don’t want to play a non-violent MC, especially one with a background in something like music, which is not directly pertinent to killing zombies (well, I suppose unless you smash them with your cello case). But sometimes I do leave a comment there, because having different perspectives is, I hope, helpful to the author.
With Redemption Season, I enjoyed the story and the action (even on re-reading, I still rather liked the climactic fight towards the end, even with its flaws, even with Miss Boss and the consequences, even though fights are my least favourite part of any game.) And that’s okay. I’m allowed to enjoy the game, its characters, its story. It’s okay that I didn’t find the game boring at all.
I sent feedback regarding several issues that I noticed. That’s what beta testers do, right? I’m only a person playing a game, and sending in a list of suggestions and thoughts according to my own lights. I can only give my own observations to the best of my ability.
And beta testers are generally volunteers - at least, all of the game, and even program, development I’ve ever beta tested for has been volunteer work. I love it, and I’m happy to do it. But please don’t issue a blanket statement that we beta testers are all negligent. We’re only able to beta test according to how we see things, and give feedback as best we can.