Well, if you really are about to just let this RP die off, let me say that it depresses me how many great original ideas end up just getting thrown away. To think that I had a good feeling about this RP.
I will say that, at the very least, a quick response that takes, like, 5 minutes to type up saying "Hey, I'm still busy, but I'm paying attention and there has been progress" should just be considered common courtesy.