Thanks for giving it a run. For the record, I ran it with a L32 tank with IOS. Like you, I had to pop Insps for some parts of it. I ended up doing minor nerfs on the three end bosses (each of whom is connected to previous arcs the character has run, if players run the whole meta-arc, which is a tall order). I would agree with your assessment that players who prefer story will appreciate it (especially since there are plenty of cookie cutter arcs they can breeze through). You play to your strengths. Mine’s narrative and metaplot. Because of that, jamming in the story given MA’s limitation requires me to make certain concessions.
Which leads me to my main disagreement with you about mission #1. You talk about “time wasters” a lot in your reviews (as if there’s a specific number of objectives allowed?). And, while I won’t defend someone plopping in 12 glowie# where 3 will do (guilty), some choices we might make are driven by what pushes the story along. More simply, we have to use what the MA gives us. For example, in the first mission, above, each early glowie is followed by a clue drop so that I can include dialogue and information for the player. If the damned clue box were bigger, or I could spawn text on screen in a substantive way, I’d use fewer of these. But, it’s not, so I have to extend the narrative over multiple blocks. The number of objectives is determined by plot (one of them adds the Dagon spawns, which are sent by the BB to stop the player).
As for “running back and forth,” most of the glowies are on the lower level of the map, with the bosses spawning on the middle level. Well, usually. If I could sticky things in their places, I would. MA doesn’t allow me to do that. It took many runs just to get things where they are now. Wish I had more control over that, but I don’t. Well, not much. In short, I attempted to group these in the same map “regions” (upper, middle, lower). I was limited to spawn points, because (if I recall correctly), FL Echo doesn’t have wall spawns, so, I’m sharing floor space with NPCs. I ran that mish a LOT. Sometimes it spawned like a dream (albeit you go from back to front after grabbing Angevin). Even when it didn’t, finding stuff was pretty easy. Map isn’t that big, really.
Overall, I feel your assessment is fair, as to what kind of players would want to play it. Typically, there’s not much evaluation of the narrative, which is on par for your style (which I think makes my arcs suffer in these reviews, because my strong point is narrative—substance over style, for good/ill). Even so, thanks for taking the time. Twice. That’s a big commitment, because it is not a short arc. As for follow up, Arc is still in test mode. Instead of a tank, I’ll try a squishy to test bosses again. It should be doable, after all.
Appreciate the time and the review,
Crane