I upgraded to iOS 8 on my 4S, and regret it immensely. Sluggish doesn't even begin to describe it. Animations have gone from ~30 fps to maybe 2 or 3 fps. It's almost as if the update disabled the GPU or something, I can't even begin to understand it. A popular game like Subway Surfers is now completely unplayable -- it'll run smoothly for a couple seconds, then freeze for half a second, and bam, you run into a train.…
I'm baffled that you expect developers to continue developing for outdated OSes, at substantial support and development costs, in exchange for $0-$5.* This is an especially surprising since there's nothing stopping you from continuing to use your working, non-updated version of the app.
Plus, this:
> I don't criticize Apple so much for creating new iOS versions that require greater processor power -- I criticize the app developers which force us to upgrade to OS's our phones can't support.
Directly contradicts your complaint. The reason developers require the newer OS is so that they can support the new APIs Apple has released, without fragmenting their user-base. It's the same rationale as Apple dropping support for older phones, albeit with APIs rather than processors.
*HipChat does actually seem a bit inappropriate in this instance, since it's an SaaS product. Given the amount the user is paying, they really ought to support the last iOS version in addition to the most current.