Anybody have any idea how long dev plans on milking this cow? Don't get me wrong...this is my favorite VN/game by a long shot, I'm just losing interest in this story and was hoping he/they were moving on to the next project soon. Acting lessons was good, this is fucking great, but once dev forces you to choose a girl/route it always feels like stories should wrap up within a few updates.
DPC estimated from day one the game would take 10-20 episodes, with a minimum of four seasons (16 episodes). More recently he has said 15-17 episodes. I wouldn’t be surprised if he winds up making 16 so he has 4 full seasons. It would only need him to shuffle some events around.
I don’t really think he is ‘milking’. It was always a long term project. That said, Episode 10 looks likely to be late October to November, with a not unlikely prospect of December. He’ll either need to up his animation render speed or reduce the number he’s targeting to release sooner. Fingers crossed on that front, but don’t hold your breath.
I agree with your main point though. We’re realistically at the stage now where a logical estimate will see the game completed in 2030 depending on episode count. Keeping his audience interested in an adult game that only updates once a year and goes on for over a decade will be tough.
For me the best way for him to reduce production time is to stop introducing new ‘lewd’ characters. Cut characters like Madame altogether. Focus on what he has which is already a huge cast. Reduce the number and length of SFW animations, they’re a nice novelty but not worth weeks of render time (IMO). Finally when he upgrades his tech, balance ‘Quality’ improvements with time improvements.
Any way all of that is a long way of saying, I’ve finally come round to the idea we won’t ever see multiple episode years again, and therefore we’re in for the long haul.