Are feats the problem?

[Crazy Jerome]

With fiddly bits, I find that a little bit (heh) goes a long way. I've seen this in every system I have ever run, that had a bit to fiddle. You can take an otherwise normal 1st ed. AD&D game, give the party lots of niche but not too powerful magic items--and promptly watch them forget half of it until totally desperate.

In 4E, I'd prefer that magic items average a little less fiddly and a bit more powerful to compensate.

 

[Spatula]

Would limiting feats tone down the level of potential abuse?

Somewhat. You'd probably also want to ban Themes and FR/SoW backgrounds. It's the proliferation of options that can be synergized that is the primary issue, IMO. That includes feats, powers, items, and race/class/theme/PP/ED abilities.

Having character, skill, and combat options all mixed into the same pool (feats) is another issue, I think.

 

[darkdragoon]

Characters get the vast majority of their damage from items and features. Attack and defense are much the same. The feat system in 3E misfired because they were small patches trying to compensate for huge gaps in competency. Not a big fan of the CP system either as the point disparity combined with "why does the equivalent of Toughness cost as much as a Major Sphere?"