And again, I'd disagree. It is more about how much of the quality of the game can be sacrificed to "make it work". We can espouse about the "potential optimizations that may or may not be there", but at the end of the day, optimizations and workarounds have their own side effects.
If it were a matter of time, it would be done. Its not a matter of time anymore, except that "time marches on" and we are left with systems that can't keep up with the needs of the game in question.
And I think that's all I'll say on the matter, since at a certain point, you just have to take our word for it, or choose not to. And once we reach that point, there is nothing more to say.