Well, I've played exactly no 4th edition aside from the three hours of cold DMing I did on the 6th of June. From that one day, I have some limited experience, but some concrete opinions.
1) RP vs. Combat. My main problem with people that say "RP is hard in 4th edition" is that, aside from the non-combat encounter system, there isn't any real RP rules, which is exactly how I like it. Combat needs rules, RP should be just that.
2) MMO inspired rules. Considering MMOs are using D&D inspired rules, I'd say this is just a natural progression of things. And really, the main things is the idea of recharge on spells, attacks as "spells"/powers, and class equality. AE, you've said you like the leaving of Vancian magic behind, the attacks as spells/powers is just a way to achieve class equality.
3) New rulebooks every year. They've always done supplemental rules. This is nothing different, except now they've stated that new classes will only come out in PHBs or Campaign Player Guides, everything else will be supplements for existing classes. Also, Animal Companions/Mounts should be out in either Martila Power or Adventurer's Vault (not sure which one it is, but they talked about it in an article), so that's a short lived complaint at best. Also, I think it's only going to be a new PHB and MM every year, rather than all three books, since the DMG is just that, a guide for DMs.
4) Lack of options. I admit, the eight classes and eight races is a bit limiting, but remember, when 3rd edition came out, we didn't get a 12th class until the Psionics Handbook came out, and we only have seven races until Savage Species came out. Plus, the plan, as posted on their website, is for the edition to last at least the same eight years that the combined 3e/v.3.5 lasted, which means that they'll have sixty-four races and classes (assuming the same 8/8 per PHB spread) by 2016, and that's not counting the monstrous races from the Monster Manuals.
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ninetydegrees
4th Edition
on 2008-07-15 08:56 pm (UTC)1) RP vs. Combat. My main problem with people that say "RP is hard in 4th edition" is that, aside from the non-combat encounter system, there isn't any real RP rules, which is exactly how I like it. Combat needs rules, RP should be just that.
2) MMO inspired rules. Considering MMOs are using D&D inspired rules, I'd say this is just a natural progression of things. And really, the main things is the idea of recharge on spells, attacks as "spells"/powers, and class equality. AE, you've said you like the leaving of Vancian magic behind, the attacks as spells/powers is just a way to achieve class equality.
3) New rulebooks every year. They've always done supplemental rules. This is nothing different, except now they've stated that new classes will only come out in PHBs or Campaign Player Guides, everything else will be supplements for existing classes. Also, Animal Companions/Mounts should be out in either Martila Power or Adventurer's Vault (not sure which one it is, but they talked about it in an article), so that's a short lived complaint at best. Also, I think it's only going to be a new PHB and MM every year, rather than all three books, since the DMG is just that, a guide for DMs.
4) Lack of options. I admit, the eight classes and eight races is a bit limiting, but remember, when 3rd edition came out, we didn't get a 12th class until the Psionics Handbook came out, and we only have seven races until Savage Species came out. Plus, the plan, as posted on their website, is for the edition to last at least the same eight years that the combined 3e/v.3.5 lasted, which means that they'll have sixty-four races and classes (assuming the same 8/8 per PHB spread) by 2016, and that's not counting the monstrous races from the Monster Manuals.