Lost in the Swamp - Really? Again? (Quest Design)

[danzig138]

I am going to say to you, the quest designers, the same thing I would say to any railroading Dungeon Master: I'm here to play a game, not read your novel.

Encounter the Medusa - cannot hurt her
Encounter the Medusa - cannot hurt her
Encounter the Medusa - cannot hurt her

This is bad quest design, and it goes all the way back to Information is Key and the bandit who closes the gates. I can move faster than that guy, but I cannot hurt him.

If you want to tell a story that goes the way you want it to, there are plenty of self-publishing options available these days. Go, write your story. But please, please stop making poor decisions like this. If you don' want us to kill the Medusa before the time you appoint, THEN DON'T HAVE HER SHOW UP UNTIL THEN. Magic mouth is a wonderful spell.

No, for real. This is just lazy design.

[Battlehawke]

Sometimes they just want you to stop and enjoy the story. If you want a game with instant gratification that doesn't take too long: flip a coin and call "heads" or "tales". Its cheap, you only have to buy the coin once, and YOU dictate the pace of the game. The extra 6 or 7 minutes may kill you (to get to the Medusa) but I doubt it.

Hang in there!!

.....would have been cooler if the entire party turned to stone after the first encounter (and it seemed like a "whipe") and after she left, the NPC came and saved the party, then gave everyone a mirror for the next encounter with her....

[Miow]

Would have been cooler if you did fight her and she teleports aways before you can kill her. Thus "pushing" her back to her last refuge...

[SableShadow]

Sometimes they just want you to stop and enjoy the story.

First time?
Sure.
Second and third times?
Ok.
Eighteenth time?
Not so much.

It's a matter of degree.
Short expositions are not annoying; long ones, that cannot be skipped when everyone in the party has done it repeatedly, get the eyeroll.

All that said, I think the exposition pacing for this particular quest is about right.
Sorry OP.