"its in the hands of the fans"
That's just an expression. If it's ever been remotely close to being in the hands of the fans, that only means the paying Patrons. It's a double-edged 'situation,' on the one "hand" paying fans keep AWAM going. On the other "hand" their continued subscriptions mean that L&P can carry on with the working methods that suit him but very few of the game's followers. "It's his game & he can do what he likes," is the stock phrase on this thread that covers it. If fans voted en masse, with their wallets, who knows if he would find his writing ability coming back to him &/or re-discovering how to produce timely updates. On the other "hand," he might just think he has enough in the bank for now & decide to abandon AWAM, or give it an unsatisfactory quick end.
Input from Patrons, when they're given the illusion of participation in game decisions, in conjunction with popularity polls & votes on outfits always produce predictable results, i.e. Dylan is the most popular character, (even though his MC status should preclude him from being up for 'election') & the slappiest slapper outfit will always win, e.g. the romper for the rock show & the sex worker's dress for Jug's 'date' with her son. It's a foregone conclusion & L&P knows this.
As for producing an AWAM substitute, several Devs have produced games inspired by this one. There is yet to appear a game with similar themes which has the same quality of renders. There's also extensive fan art & comics, all over the net. As for myself, I may yet live to see the story AWAM should have been & was for a time, produced by some motivated creator but I don't have the rendering ability to do it myself.
There's a market for grown-up quality games out there, (I am convinced) but it isn't as developed or anywhere near as lucrative as the market for incest-laden, top-heavy tits, porn logic driven pulp for young people. It would take talent, artistic endeavour, great rendering ability, erotic writing skill & considerable motivation, combined with courage, to attempt to produce the next AWAM & surpass the original.