Seerow said:It should be a game where four or five people can just go out and buy it and *start playing that afternoon*, and where the decision of who gets to be the DM is as simple as "Who wants to do it?" "I have an interesting idea for a campaign!"
*Not* "Who wants to do it?" "I will, because I'm the only one who owns all the relevant books...
I wish people would quit bagging on older version of D&D for having many books. It really weakens whatever case you are making. Having many books isn't a weakness of the game, it is a symptom of the game being around for a while. 3e/3.5/2e can be played with core, and 4e will have its own splatbook and setting creep soon enough.