keep in mind that these kinda games really are more ''stories" than games, and as such, all stories need a good ending..
thats where a lot of devs go wrong, trying to milk every patreon supporter forever, never finishing the game, then they die or give up or somesuch (eg: Harem Hotel, which was luckily saved by a new dev who got hold of the source code) and the game remains unfinished .. a lot of games have gone that way, and you can feel it when playing, the repeated plotlines and re-hashed scenes make the games feel stale.
some prime examples being My New Family and Dark Magic. those games become unbearable after a certain point, reading the same old lines 'day after day', the same tropes scene by scene (unless you have a particular type of unsavory "too young" fetish, which is probably why those games still have a small but loyal fanbase).
the best thing Carbidis did with OIAL was the well-rounded ending, that finished exactly where the story should finish, didnt drag it out, and made a masterpiece in the process. even though we miss the characters, and was sad to see the story end, it just 'felt right when it did end. it felt wholesome.
I feel like after a while devs of these indie games see that that get 800$ a month and just decide to keep the game going, never really ending them, only constantly making more sex scenes just to lure lonely dickheads. ONce I s see a plot is headed that way and they're making the cast do stupid stuff that makes no scenes, it just becomes mindless porn and I'm not into that anymore since I turned 30. I like things being hot but I want plot.
when I finished OiAL I used a guide to make sure I didn't mess up anymore romances and kept Stabbs alive. No way I was gonna drop the ball at the last second. Hands down a very satisfying ending despite my mistakes earlier on. I swear, "don't look at a girl change and the game assumes you hate her. Don't want a teacher to divorce her husband? Too bad, you should has known he was evil." But I still don't wanna play the game all over because I have a ton of VNs I'm trying to run thru before my JRPGs come out. So maybe when I'm done with everything I'll do Eternum and OIAL over and try a perfect run.
I agree, but in this case I have faith in the dev's abilities and such. OIAL was awesome, and this one has been as well. I'm not saying to just keep going on when there's really no more story. Just pointing out that this particular setting works well for new stories with the same characters. I like new characters too, but it's nice to have a familiar group of characters you're comfortable interacting with as well. People start get attached to their favorite characters, and want to see more stories with them. This is why TV (and book series) is so popular, and why people binge watch series. That is one of my gripes about these stories end generally, they're all one-off's. I'd really like to see a series of a game where you'd have a lot of the same characters through multiple different stories. :) That's my two cents!