Quote from Gradonil_Ral
Hmmm... so it took him 15 years to reach 60% mark, but after 4 more years, it's only 65% done? That's weird.
In any case, there's probably about 10 more years of One Piece left.
Then again, 10-15yrs was my prediction back in 2007-8, so who knows?
I think the reason is because of the pacing. Some arcs in real time take less time to create than others. For example, one of the most recent arcs Dressrosa had 102 chapters and took about 2 years in real time, however, in the One Piece world it was only a day, maybe three days at most (not 100% sure). I personally think the biggest fault with One Piece is its pacing. Oda really likes to draw things out and make the story last as long as it can. There were definitely a good portion of chapters in the Dressrosa arc that I thought were very necessary and interesting, however, at least 10 (probably more if I actually took the time to examine them) that I think could be removed without hindering the story at all, and would even help people to enjoy the story more. Then of course there are arcs like Sabaody, followed by Amazon Lily, Impel Down, and Marineford where the pace improves dramatically (hence the increase in sales and overall audience satisfaction). Although if you're reading volume to volume, I do think that having more chapters that aren't completely necessary isn't such a bad thing, however, when you're looking at the bigger picture, it does still put a bit of a dent in the overall story. With that said, however, sometimes it's better to have a slower pace and longer arcs so that the shorter arcs are more enjoyable and there is a greater emotional buildup that leads to a profound conclusion.