For the record, I don't agree with that guy's comments at all.
However I do think you need some advisors, because marketing isn't just paying for google ads, it is things like this proposal. It might be 100% great idea. But it LOOKS terrible which is partly the way these ideas are marketed.
I do also think you need to listen to the people "giving you shit" a bit more, even though 90% might be talking out their butts, the 10% is where you will find the answers to turn the ship around. The echo chamber of supporters are good for morale, but they cheered you all the way down here into the depths of nearly going bankrupt.
So as a successful businessman myself I would recommend partnerships & advisors to give you more help (free help) it's OK to be out of your depth but not if you don't see it. Don't take that the wrong way as you mostly doing a good job but you are not meant to be doing everything yourself like coding, running a company, and answering comments on here. Genuine advice, you need to hire better, and partner better, and do less.
Good luck!
Thank you for your thoughtful reply.
Yes, my entire goal has been to get better people than me to do most of these things. I've succeeded so far with coding and running the servers (which I don't do at all anymore) but there are still a lot of areas in which we need help. Free or very cheap help that is high quality is hard to find and we certainly don't have the resources to hire good people for things like running the company and marketing/communication, so I'm trying to do the best I can with what I have.
I also agree about listening to players. I try to engage with players on a regular basis, and most of the time it's because they disagree with something we're doing. I am very aware of the fact that I don't have all the answers (or even most of the answers) and am very open to everyone's ideas.