Erfworld Thread X: A Series of Unfortunate Cliffhangers

[Anteros]

I think your assessment of what "the reader is smart enough to know/figure out" is way off. I'd estimate rather extreme odds that if Rob actually did what you suggest in those four examples there would be an overwhelming reaction of "when did that Dirtamancer join Charlie?", "what the hell, why did that go wrong?", "since when does Wanda make plans like that?", "when/how did Charlie recover, wasn't he completely out of it?", etc. He might be showing things at greater length than strictly necessary, but these things do need to be shown.

You're right of course, my examples were too extreme. I was just making a point though. My point was that most of this stuff can be conveyed in a far more succinct manner and we don't need to re-tread the same ground for multiple updates.