Hunter, I hope you didn't take my comments to mean that I believed 4th Ed "Sucked".
Personally, I like 4th better than 3.0, 3.5, or Pathfinder..This may have to do with the fact that I was involved in the video gaming and RP gaming industries during the time that these editions were released. WotC mishandled the development and release of these versions (3.0 and 3.5) and only managed to save themselves by providing the Open Gaming License of which Paizo took and fixed most of the 3.5 problems.
I don't know that I would say 4th Edition "Sucks" especially since I have yet to even play it, but I can say that I do remember going to a book store and skimming through the 4th Edition Player's Handbook around the time that it was release and thinking to my self that it didn't even really resemble the Dungeons & Dragons that I knew.
There didn't seem to be anything about it that caught my attention and made me want to play it, and it didn't help that the reviews that I did hear from those that had played it were generally negative. Most of the negativity seemed to center around the idea that 4th Edition was little more than an MMO that they tried to put to a pen and paper game. Again, I don't know how true this is since I never played it, but that seemed to be what most people were unhappy about. That, and its apparent focus on mini's and the battle grid.
4th Edition is very streamlined.
Maybe for those who have not played video Role-playing Games, this format would be a bit, what word would best describe it, LINEAR. Other versions of Dungeons & Dragons give he creative process to the characters and the GM, not so with 4th Ed.
One unique feature for 4th Ed was their push on miniatures and those things related to miniature gaming. Its like WotC was trying to go back to the roots of Dungeons & Dragons and pickup with Chainmail, hoping to rekindle interest with the game through its accessories.
That's interesting. I can see why it was left out. Its more like for a war gaming table like Warhammer. I wonder if something like that could work in a place like this. Maybe JB could work something up with whatever codes she uses.
The game is scaled to accommodate miniature play and interestingly enough, plays more like a video game than any other version of Dungeons & Dragons .
The challenge is that it relies heavily on visuals to give details about distances and moves and placement of friends, foes, and random objects.
Name: KY
Comments: Some of friends and I came up with a conclusion that can be debated. We think that the Dungeons & Dragons owners felt that by making it more like a video game that more people will be interested in playing an online Dungeons & Dragons rather than the typical live groups. That did not work out well for the core who really love role-playing a single character.