Well pointed ashitanojoe, as always, that is the real problem of the game, not that it lasts 20 or 25 years, that there is milking (which there is not because each update is wonderful and of a very high work) or that LP abandons it (which will not do it while he earns money, despite the incomprehensible desire of some to happen that abandonment), but how the course of time will affect it. I foresee that in 10 years the evolution of the realism of the artificial characters will be exponential (genitals included), we will have PCs with graphic cards to support it. And then what? Will the game remain as a kind of strange Arcade? Will the game evolve with the new technologies? Will the game be redone every 5 years, as it is doing now with the first day? But in front of the masochistic pessimism, I prefer to think of it as a future adventure, I am intrigued and excited about how the game will be in 10 or 20 years, if I continue in this world (cryogenics would not be a bad idea).
I have never come across any fan who actively wishes for AWAM to be abandoned, only those who consider it to be one of a number of strong possibilities, given the developments over the last couple of years. [I did once say that if the Dev was going to abandon it, I wish he would just do it, rather than drag things out interminably but that's not the same thing]. Those fans who are now young may be present to see technological developments that we can only speculate about, if it lasts the 25+ years that is its' present course. When you're young, the world & life in general are full of possibilities. That's just a fact. (Who knows maybe someone will invent a life extending serum.... Sadly, I would suggest that if that happens it will only be affordable to a tiny minority).
AWAM's timescale is, to me, a massive problem & has effectively worked to cancel my enjoyment of & immersion in, my favourite game/VN, if not my continued interest. Maybe we should take a vote to see how many fans would like to see this continue for another quarter of a century. [At the current rate of roll-out it will actually go on for more than 25 years]. It could be the majority, because most fans seem to be young, in line with the usual profile of the consumers of 3D games. What they will be doing in 25 years could even include following AWAM, set in 2017 but I honestly doubt that.
There is a soap opera in the U.K. which began in 1960 & is still going strong, as followers & actors come & go. It moves in real time rather than having artificial limits. There's also a big difference in that there is no intended denouement or major conclusions to be reached, except within the myriad strands woven into the plot, which consists of the presentation of a fictional slice of life. That is to say it is not & never was, an erotic story, having sex with a main character as a conclusion, or even just as an anticipated key development, for any of the strands represented. Soap operas can work this way, 3D erotic games not so much.
Some years ago L&P, in a time when he was more communicative, reacted to comments about how long development was taking, or could take. Fans were already concerned at the 'slow pace' which nowadays would feel like warp speed. [No, they weren't my comments]. Back then there was an end in sight & no thought apparent regarding the 'pension plan' that has since evolved. Scorn was poured on the disgruntled few, in a light-hearted way, (compared to today's vague, non-committal or non-existent answers). Suffice to say that the Dev had no design to extend AWAM into an undetermined far future. I don't believe that I'm alone in wishing that he could revert to a concept encompassing a foreseeable conclusion, (even if that was a decade away), while being only too aware of how unlikely that now is.
