Yea.... I think it is a lot safer to base our expectations on what has actually happened so far, rather than make assumptions about computing power, and faster output. For those of you that look at Patreon, how many devs say that when they hit their goal they can buy new computing equipment, and release updates much faster? They may buy the equipment, but updating frequency never gets faster. In my experience, update frequency always goes down with time, never up, no matter how many patrons subscribe or how popular the game is. In fact, it has an inverse relationship. The more Patreon cash and the more popular the game, the slower the updates.
Two comments.
First while computing power is expensive the popular games generate more than enough cash flow to hang pretty close to the bleeding edge,
if the developer can devote a substantial majority of that cash to hardware and licenses. The simple truth is that virtually all of us have little if any visibility into the finances of the developers. Give financial support to whom you choose, but realize you're putting money into a venture that has no accountability to you. It's a matter of trust and hope, you pay your money and take your chances.
Second there is the issue of the opportunity of increased computing capacity. Microsoft windows has been out for decades and the computing power of the systems on which it runs has increased by several orders of magnitude (tens of thousands of times). Yet, other than the benefits from solid state disks, it boots no faster. Because the more computing power that's available the more the programmers will do with it as long as the ultimate result is within the patience of the consumer.
The folks who develop the software tools that VN producers use are no different. As the systems become more powerful they offer options, improvements, and enhancements that provided a "better" result but take just as much time. Which leaves the VN producers the decision as to whether they will provide a "better" visual result in their current time frame or the same result more quickly. That's a tough choice for most developers and with good reason. A product with higher quality visuals is going to get praised, and eventually become the standard to which other products will be compared.
We can find hundreds of reviews where people disparage a VN because it's visuals would have been good 2-3 years ago but now fall short of expectations. Ignoring the fact that if the visuals met expectations they be bitching about slow updates.
So it's a question of balance. A question that each developer must answer for themself. We can then decide to stick with the VN or move on.
SG and WIAB are quality products. I'll wait to see how Ocean balances new capacity with release times. If releases don't become substantially more frequent, it's unlikely I'll live to see the end of the stories. But it will be a fun ride.
