The issue is, as always, convenience.
I have a podcast app that I use, with all my subscriptions. It's set up in a specific way, it downloads all episodes, it has specific settings for all podcasts I have subscribed to (like skipping the intro for some, 1.5x speed for others, sometimes both, some get cleaned up after one episode, other episodes are saved so I can listen to them multiple times, etc.)
It's certainly possible to integrate the early episodes like that, just like I do via the regular RSS feed, so I'd really like to do that. That's it. I'm not demanding it, I'm not gonna bitch endlessly about it. I'm not gonna pull my Patreon support, because they're not doing it. I've been supporting them since day 1, because I love what they do and I'll keep doing so. I'm just saying that it would be really, really great if they could make it happen. It's basically just a suggestion for better customer service, a better customer experience, if you will. The way you described certainly works, but it's very clunky and needlessly so.
Heh, I had no idea you could do all that. I have about 5 podcasts in Pocket Casts and a bunch I have to do other things with. They just download and play it for me.
There was a thread about this on the Patreon posted tomorrow, so I added that link about the premium RSS feed We Have Concerns are being used so I'll see if it gets a response from the allies and if not, post it to the messages, just to see if they're aware of it.