D&D =/= Reality
You can interpret the dice rolls and mechanics in many ways, but is it really that awful that your party's rogue didn't one-shot a random enemy?
DM: "The warrior of the Red Hand army chuckles to himself as he looks out the window, staring at a cloud formation that vaguely...
I remember that bell, and it's guard, from my own group's RHoD campaign. I'm not sure if that encounter was intended to be full of "minions" that could get dropped in one hit. I can see certain situations where an NPC guarding a wall or tower with a bell really should be a minion, but that...
I didn't buy much beyond the core books last time, and would be OK with D&D as a closed system. However, I don't think it would make any sense for them to close it after 3/3.5 were open! I know other gamers who by a LOT more books than I do that would certainly be disappointed by that...