There are two misconceptions that plague the fm scene, one is inability to see anything = scary/atmospheric, the second is bigger = better. This fm falls in the latter category.

- drags on and on long after main objectives have been ticked, far too big for it's own good and the plot just isn't there to drive it through multiple sessions, nor does your immersion last due to blackjacking every living soul and constant reloading either due to fall deaths or testing to see if some piece of metal is in fact wood
- acrobatics could have been designed better
- too much fm service in readables
- didn't really feel like something inspired by T:DS as far as the contest goes
+ lots of fun details and sounds to explore
+ liked the occasional spikes in difficulty

After extreme length fatigue (clocking about 7-8 hours over two sessions) and the fm baiting undead on top of me with a note saying "you're screwed", I decided I had enough and went to the exit rather than explore the remaining areas. Could have been a 9, -1 point for excessive size leaving a bit of a sour taste in your mouth.

And to think, some people complained Ominous Bequest is too long.

I approached Tolham as sandbox in which I am not obliged to find every piece of loot and visit every location (save it for the next time). So after completing all objectives and achieving loot goal I finished the mission.

"There are two misconceptions that plague the fm scene, one is inability to see anything = scary/atmospheric, the second is bigger = better."

I couldn't agree more. Especially in the last 5 years or so, there has been a trend to bigger and bigger missions, and not an emphasis on making the missions fun to explore and play. Yes, bigger missions can be fun to play, but, they also can be a chore to explore and to finish. The most prominent mission which has this issue is Rosegarden by Melan for me. Disorientation by the same author was pretty much perfect in terms of size and navigation for me, which made me wonder why he aimed for even bigger, and less navigable. I think there has to be found a good balance between size and navigation, so that exploring is fun, and doesn't confuse the hell out of you.

Rose Garden is not necessarily a good culprit here, I would say it's just as tightly packed as it gets for the amount of gameplay on offer. The coup is that it FEELS that way (ie big) at first by design choices. But yes, the prime notorious examples for unnecessarily big just for the sake of it are many and numerous. Looking at you, Feast of Pilgrims.

"Especially in the last 5 years or so, there has been a trend to bigger and bigger missions, and not an emphasis on making the missions fun to explore and play"
@chakkman: I >slightly< disagree with that statement - even though I'm very glad I finally stumble upon others discussing this problem as well. I think the last 5 years were an interesting mix, because while many gigantic and overcomplicated maps got released (personally, I thought that it was a problem that slightly overshadowed even The Black Parade campaign too), I think a good couple of very-very good small, or medium scaled missions were released as well: Coveted Formulae, Condemned Catalogue, Morning Light, Alcazar, Lone Rock Outpost, The Cinder Notes - to name a few I really enjoyed from recent years.

Also, one of the top fm creators, Nick released 2 small scale missions this year, both of them were really good, and both of them were well received - so perhaps we can consider that a good sign of change for the future(?) I really hope so, because I think small/medium missions are good for the players and >especially< the creators as well.

I think it's best if we see as much variety as possible in FMs. All sizes: small, average, large. There are so many different preferences and players that this way everyone probably gets something they can enjoy. I wouldn't really say that FM size itself would be a problem.

I agree that some of these smaller FMs that you Matt listed are very good, especially Alcazar, Morning Light and Lone Rock Outpost. Others mentioned were also enjoyable!