Having been burned by Jordan, now I wait until series are finished before starting them. (Except Dresden Files, apparently) This leaves me out of the cultural zeitgeist and spoiled for things like Game of Thrones, but 'oh well'
Something I've noticed about Jordan's younger fans is that they don't mind the slog books as much, because they can burn through them and don't have to wait years for the next one. That may result in him getting a better legacy than we would otherwise expect.