After I posted the question above a little voice in the back of my head started saying "wait... aren't we in the language design phase? Doesn't Arc ultimately just have a messaging problem, in that I am still thinking more in Being Popular terms than Hundred Year Language terms, despite knowing that it isn't really appropriate?"
So I guess what I'm saying is I agree with you? ... Yeah! (I especially think the focus on building on VMs is a great one right now. One language that could sit on the JVM, Parrot, and/or the CLR or DLR would be a pretty strong win (see also fandev.org).)
I can imagine as a language founder you'd hate remarks like the one above, where other people tell you that in order for your language to remain popular, you have to address these and these and these points.
What would excite me most (but I'm somewhere at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to language design) is that different new and old ideas for implementation of certain language features can be tried in arc.. so.. if we want to be able to load modules, what kind of options do we have to design a loading system.. and what about arc gives us new / better options to design a module system that other languages did not have, and thus could not consider as an option.
