Absolutely. A decision to hard fork or not is not up to any developer, it doesn't matter whether they are a core developer, working on XT, or a different version. It doesn't matter if 90% of developers want the rules to change, or 5% do, they should be given slightly more consideration than the rest of the community when it comes to deciding to fork or not.

If their egos are so damn fragile that they'll spit the dummy when the community does something they don't like, then they need to be schooled on what their purpose in the Bitcoin community is, and what it isn't. They are advisers, mentors, and improvers that have the know-how to make changes in the Bitcoin software that can be reviewed and implemented by the community, for the community's benefit. They are NOT representatives of the community that have the power to veto or direct how Bitcoin should grow, or develop over time. The fact that they some take sides (side with people rather than support solutions), get personal, threaten to up and leave/sell their coins, and spread FUD, rather than state their case logically and technically is not what any developer should be doing.