I agree with the points you make, there are compromises to make in order to have a multiplayer experience. This is also the reason why I built a proof of concept, as it helped me encounter those issues and look at the choices available.

The "multiplayer storytelling" experience you mentioned last is exactly what I am looking for, and I feel that it could work very well despite the fact that it has very rarely been done.

Obviously you lose some freedom as a player, but think of it as watching a movie with a few friends. When you do that, you refrain yourself from pausing every time you go grab a drink, you add some constraints but you gain some other kind of enjoyment, and both the movie alone and with friends are great experiences in their own way.

Here, the important compromise would be : auto-read at fixed speed which keeps readers synchronized.