He's not in customer service though. He's an indie developer making a niche game. Don't compare the standards of one sector with another. Does Gabe Newell write progress reports on Half Life 2 Episode 3 every two weeks? No!
The difference is that several of us have met Scawen. Indeed, he's bought some of us drinks. He's created ALL you see here (with help from Victor and Eric obviously, but I think everyone considers Scawen as the central 'boss' character because he's the game coder).
I've never met Kunos, or Gabe or Bill Gates. He (Kunos) was never part of his community in the same way Scawen once was until people who can't tell the difference between "we plan to" and "we promise to, and if we fail that means the end of the world because by paying £24 you can't do ANYTHING until the new physics are out".
That is why Scawen deserves a happy birthday. I'd do it on other forums for those that deserve it.