tuxgeo
Adventurer
So far, I do not think the playtest is a "modified 4e skeleton."
When I read your post, I did not get the sense that you were asking only about the skeleton statement; you asked whether we saw 4e influences. You also said, "Any other <acronym title="D&D 4th Edition">4e</acronym> players can jump in," so I did, providing my own list of influences, which is what I thought (at that time) you were asking for.
As far as a "skeleton" is concerned, the fundamental approach within the playtest rules seems to be one of "Rulings, not Rules" -- which looks more like an old-school tendency to me rather than 3E or 4E.
[I do have a copy of the Moldvay Basic rules set (purchased on eBay because I thought it looked neat), but I haven't read it yet. If I come to a different conclusion after reading it, I'll try to find this post and edit it to include that different conclusion, whatever it might turn out to be.]
