I believe that the focus of game play should be based on team work and problem solving, not pouring over every issue of Dragon Magazine until you find a way exploit game mechanics.
I usually play 3.5E Gestalt games where players are limited to the classes & races in PHB I, feats from PHB I + PHB II + Dungoenscape, and a few non-munchkin role play enhancements from UA. Monsters + enemies + NPC's are full 3.5, can be any race/class/prestige class ever, and it's a low-drop world.