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From the article, talking about the silly monsters of D&D: "... heck, back in 1st Edition, silly was a large part of the game in many cases." Funny. Do they think the current edition isn't silly? I think the 4E MM has the largest number of silly creatures since the old Fiend Folio. :)

It's up to the DM.

The new style is a mixed blessing. Maybe if the adventures had the substance of the old Gygaxian era ones I could better compare, but they are just fluff nowadays (fun tactical fluff, but still fluff - and no, not in the fluff/crunch meaning of the word). Easy to read and run they may be, but...

There are actually a lot of great traditional fantasy artists out there online, the only difference being many of them do fully digital art as opposed to paint and canvas. The look is similar though. I guess WotC doesn't like hiring "amateurs" though, no matter how awesome they are. I think...

"Power Source" is even more useless as a game term than Alignment. I'd rather not see them at all, or like the OP said: magic/not magic. All the classes/roles have basically got the exact same type of power effects, and Power Source seems to be merely an ineffective way to ad a dash of flavor...

No, it's just that 4E keeps looking worse thanks to WotC's handling of it.

Forgotten Realms is last year's campaign world, and was designed for last year's races. This year has new races and will have a new world for them!

Genius would have been designing a game that allowed flight from the start, but I guess we need to take what we can get.

I agree with the OP, but don't think it's a big deal. This is a new game, not traditional D&D, and the basis in classic myths and sword & sorcery fiction is long gone. Yeah, I looked through the Player's Handbook 2... there were maybe one or two races or classes that seemed like things I'd...

That depends entirely on the individual player. Some people loved playing Fighters and the like at least partly (perhaps mostly) because they didn't have to think about a list of various spells and powers and manage that throughout the game. Opinions stated as absolutes don't really wash in...

First, memorizing all of those things wasn't necessarily that hard. I managed to do it, and I'm not that bright! ;) Second, the many different subsystems also had at least one advantage over the unified mechanic: it meant they weren't as interwoven mechanically, and a bonus here didn't always...

This. But I wouldn't discredit anyone for preferring THAC0 or feeling it's easier for them. For me, THAC0 is more effort to use, and I have never gotten used to it or liked it. I'll admit there are certain benefits to using it, but I don't mind trading those for easier (for me) calculations...

Wow, it is amazing that the magic-using classes survived and were popular for 30 years when they just weren't any fun! ;) Really, I see what he was saying there, but it is just one view. Personally, I see fun as being directly tied to satisfaction, and being satisfied with a game or game...

I've customized WOtC's D&D minis, which are the same style as the Star Wars ones. It's really easy to do and the results are worth it. That article is a good introduction, so just give it a try using some minis you might have extras of and don't particularly mind "losing." Just realize they...

Not really the same though, is it? In those editions, yes, a high STR would be good, but the game math does not assume you will have it and calculate monster defenses, etc. around that. The high score makes you exceptional, since it's largely luck that gets it for you. It's not punishment to...

Couldn't disagree more with your entire post. Level drain was a good design element and it did indeed inspire fear. See, the idea is to avoid combat with such things whenever possible, not rush into it expecting you will survive, then blaming the game design when something bad happens. I'm...

His point seems to be that the ideal characterization comes out of play, not before it begins. And that players need to accept that their character can fail and die, regardless of the work they put in or the hopes they have for his or her future. Inventing the character personality before play...

Some of the skills you listed under INT are not INT skills...

I'm not using it at all. If I ever went back to the Realms as a setting I'd just use the original gray box set from 1st edition AD&D, regardless of what set of rules I was using.

I've never used a skill challenge yet, and don't feel like anything is missing. I was never a fan of the concept, and never saw a need for them in D&D. The "oops, we got the wrong version printed in the rulebook" problem also left a really bad taste in my mouth. Don't worry about it or...