Your decision must of been hard. Even though you can still strip down C1, or at least just rewrite it, I bet it still feels like a daunting task to even approach where C1 left off, though it may be easier.
I think the devs expected a lot worse, but in my opinion (and others) this is exciting. People can still carry their games over ('good' design choices are invaluable, as made obvious by the first post). If Construct is free, then there is no way we could call you out. Even if I payed I doubt I would really feel like it was a dick move.
Since I first used Construct, I haven't even touched another program designed along the same objectives, so all my boring, unfinished prototypes are 100% Construct-made. That (kinda) shows how much I value Construct, right?
I am really excited about C2, and you can be sure you will have one more tester who will work for free, like our own little E-tribe. You give me an awesome product, and I give you my feedback.