Quilt pattern publishers really need to step up the quality and be more transparent about what their patterns include if they want to hold people to a strict standard of "you must buy the pattern to show support of the creator". And I guess I think that shop owners need to be part of that move to ensure that when they sell a pattern, it's a quality pattern-- one that does, in fact, offer value and detail and innovation.
There are patterns I've seen (occasionally even bought) that are full of errors, make poor use of the fabric creating needless waste of expensive yardage, skip important details, really bad photos or illustrations. Some look really nice, but the technique just isn't there. It really irks me to buy a pattern which has been sealed in plastic wrap (or is a pdf download online), so I have no way of assessing how good it is. You open it up, and it's crap, with a nice and inspiring photo on the cover. Experience of wasted money on bad patterns is probably the number one reason people don't want to buy patterns.