leech wrote:It probably has to do with a crap ton of work being put into a project, then when it's done and sold, the person just takes a massive break from the scene for awhile, until the 'itch' returns!
From my own experience: coding (or anything serious which requires a lot of brain activity and focus) must be done when you really have a) time b) mood c) motivation to do that. And sure, that sometimes does happen. For instance when you're younger. :) You usually enjoy the activity no matter how far the project is, whether it's going well or whether it's only that one or already another one.
But then usually something happens -- change of personal (marriage, kids or on the other hand divorce, health problems, death in close family etc) or work (more demanding job, having a job in the first place, need to relocate) circumstances and boom! That's it. It's extremely hard to recover from situations like that -- even if the original issue disappears, you've changed already -- maybe you're not in touch with your Atari fellas anymore, maybe you were forced to sell all your gear, maybe you love your job that much that it really consumes you, maybe you've found another hobby with another fellas, ...
I can see examples of the above everywhere in the Atari world, even here on AF. Fortunately, after certain amount of time, some people do return. But it's hard, they nowhere that productive (Atari-wise) etc.