I've made this account specifically to echo the same sentiment so many others have already expressed: the town mechanics is very promising, but it's penalizing players using the classic single castle build, and this is why it should be a world option.
To elaborate: Terraria is 9 years old. As evidenced by endless letsplay videos found on youtube and creative compendiums held on this very forum, a lot of people prefer to create a single base where all the NPCs would live. This is the way so many people prefer to enjoy the game, it was estabilished years ago and disincentivizing it now would take away from many people's enjoyment.
Even if devs decide to remove actual penalties and let players choose between a base price and a lower one having a sprawling, lovingly detailed castle would still feel wrong because you still know your NPCs are unhappy. Why should it be that way, after all these years? A change so sudden would look good in a separate game to be honest.
Don't get me wrong - the idea itself is great, it shows that you guys put a lot of thought and effort into it, and the outpost-based gameplay looks really promising now. It's just that single castle gameplay enjoyed by many will start feeling like a morally and economically wrong experience, and it will surely discourage a sizable chunk of players.
So, the proposed solution would be making the whole NPC happiness system a world option. This will make both sides of this controversy happy while requiring little effort, and the finished game will be diverse like never before.