So when is a WIP no longer a WIP? (Fan Fiction)

[malaprop2000]

Newbie here with a question I've been thinking about for a while ...
I've only been reading fan fiction for a little over two years and
mostly in the HP genre so I can't say I've had a wide range of
experience in the subject.

It seems like there are unfinished fics all over the place - although
I still have hopes for "Another Snape Meets the Dursleys Story" by
Rabbit. I pretty much don't read fan fic anymore unless the words
COMPLETE appear in the summary. So is a WIP no longer a WIP when:

The author posts regularly for several chapters. Then the time between
posts gets longer and longer until the author hasn't posted anything
new for over six months?
The author posts numerous excuses mostly concerning real life getting
in the way of the fic.
The author posts rewrites of previous chapters instead of new words. 
The author has a Yahoo group on which she/he:
   *Posts snippets of chapters that never appear in full
   *Complains that she/he is too busy answering fan email to write
   *Defends his/her work in long e-mails
   *Is protected by the group mods who lecture anyone who asks if the
    fic will ever be finished.

(If this reminds you of the Mirror of Maybe or Pawn to Queen, right in
one. Please no debate on the merits or demerits of either.)

I've got enough unfinished fic on my own hard drive to know how a good
idea can suddenly come to a screeching halt around chapter 11 or 12
(even with the plot outlined. In fact, I've got a decent mystery of
about 20 chapters - except that I realized that I'd killed off someone
in Chapter 9 who still needed to be alive in chapter 20 in order to
make the blackmail scheme work. I'm working on reviving him but it
goes slowly, slowly and the writing isn't as fresh.) And I understand
the excitement of being able to publish immediately and get feedback. 

In the past, I read WIPs with glee. I followed Sushi's Civil Wars for
almost a year and felt great satisfaction the night the last chapter
was posted. Ditto Jewel of the Nile - although I haven't checked
lately if she's added anything. 

But the thrill of waiting is gone. So ... have I defined when a WIP is
 dead or dying? Anything to add? Or am I just a curmudgeon who doesn't
understand the artistic temperment?

Well, I've gone on a bit. I'll end now and go do lines - "I will not
read WIPs" - Do you think 1000 might be enough.

Thanks for reading. 

Malaprop2000