Most of my points have been covered by others in this thread.
Simply put, should authors communicate with readers? Yes, though not having published any stories, I can't claim experience from the author side.
Must they? Certainly not. I think it can hamstring them, but it's their choice and it's a valid (if possibly short-sighted) choice.
I've dropped good stories because the author was actively hostile to commenters. I've also tossed back popcorn reading the comments in some cases.
As context, I like to binge stories. I don't usually start stories with few chapters as I'm a voracious reader and I don't really enjoy searching for new stories to read. However, I recently started reading a story (around 25 chapters) where the author is both active and enthusiastic in their comments. For the first time, I found myself tipping and joining their (fledgling) discord server. While the story was (is) good, what really sold me on supporting the author was the author themselves (weird tense with that pronoun choice...). It does take more effort and energy (I certainly couldn't do it), but if you're a little lucky, hopefully it will generate more readership.
Someone once said 'Kindness is the best way to draw in and retain quality people.' Not to say I'm a quality people, of course, and of course there are caveats. Not participating in comments doesn't necessarily mean you don't value your readers, but participation, especially enthusiastic participation, is a sure sign an author appreciates their readership. There's some value in that.
