I'd argue what's stagnating the game is building from the middle out. There is still no endgame in sight, despite having "three goals" that you can't do anything to work toward. And it looks like there's no intention to ever get going on that. How do you know? The game used to have a stated goal of "save $25,000 for college" (which is a good money sink) and now it's "save money for next semester's tuition" in some unspecified amount so you can't actually complete the goal, but now they added a $30,000 beach house. Hell, they even removed the goals from the phone. There's also no time/day limit: you apparently start the game on April 3rd (your father dies on March 3rd and it's a month later) but the end of classes never happens. You never reach summer in Summertime Saga. If that time constraint ever happens, players will quickly realize there's so much shit to do that you have to start making choices and not follow certain characters' storylines (after all, you're supposed to find only one date for the ball.)
It certainly doesn't help that lots of people just want to play the cheat version: they don't want to work for anything. They pretty much don't even want Summertime Saga to be a game. As long as people want that instant gratification, there won't be an incentive to actually have an ending to the game (who needs an ending when we can have a 95th h-scene with not-your-mother?)
Because of patreon they had to change from high school settings to a collage settings in the game so yes now you have to save money for collage and pay your rent.
All family relationship have been removed for now.
This game has always said it would be a long term project because every female in the game will have sex with MC and have complete stories to go along with them.
Right now only the family story was well establish but not complete and will need several more updates to complete.
And many more options will be added later in the build, we are getting the 1st stage of pregnancy in v.17 (I think its v.17) but this is just the first stage of it and a long time later in the building of the game we may even have births.
We are about 17%-21% done with the game so there is still 79%-83% more to do.
Once the game is done all family relationships will be reestablish and we will have our incest back.
As for polls DC puts up polls of the next girl to work on and he gives choices of the ones he has ready to work on, its never open poll but always with the ones he has ready to work on.
It gives the fans some since of helping out and getting something they want.
