I wished that I had 20k negative reviews
Slay the Spire 2 reached nearly 21k negative reviews at its peak and is now down to 17k.
But it made me think, 20k reviews is a lot, no matter where they come from.
The usual indie dev is scratching at 100 reviews in total over a game's lifetime.
What would you choose?
Say that you put sweat and tears into your game (no intentional scam!) and after release:
A) You get 20k negative reviews with only 10-20% positive on top. Technical and game balancing issues that are unfixable, there is no way to turn this around anymore. Or you simply hit the wrong nerve, politically etc.
B) You get just about 100 reviews but at 98% positive and players love your game.
*This may be unrealistic because a game that came close to those ratios was The Day Before and it got removed by Steam. But even if refund ratios are like 70% then you still sold way more than 100k units.
This is not about envy, just hypothetical thinking and seeing peoples intend.
Why are you developing games in the first place?
Some here may be happy with even one positive review and ship the best they can. On the other hand, of your first game was a failure, but somehow financially successful, you can still try to make it better the next time and you have the financial backing to do so.