Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
Here's my top-ten wish list:
1) Stick to older races, at least in core. I'm not personally fond of tieflings, dragonborn, etc. There's room for them in supplements.
2) Vancian magic. I like it. I like the resource management aspect of it. I like that it works completely differently to, say, a fighter - the player actively has to do different things. I like that each spell is it's own little rules system in itself. My only criticism of it is that the spells are all too familiar. I would like to see a little at-will magic rather than a crossbow, though.
3) Just go back to regular old hit points. I prefer them to healing surges. Keep the numbers lower.
4) Make each class feel different. When you're playing each class, the player should actually be having to do different things. If one class spends most of its time moving, rolling to hit, rolling damage, then another class should be doing something entirely different (links to my Vancian magic point above). Go so far as to make the actual ability structure of each class different. Give fighters maneuvers, but don't make them even vaguely resemble or feel like spells.
5) Allow monsters to keep exception based design. This is the very best thing that came out of 4E for me. I don't subscribe to the "well, if the dragon can do that, then I should be able to, too" school of thought.
6) Flavour-wise, I'd like the grittiness level to be around 1E level. More LotR, less anime.
7) Art - my preferred art style came from the Dragonlance era. Not "dungeon-punk". No spikes.
8) Don't include a default setting. Instead, encourage DMs to make their own setting.
9) Miniatures can be great, but I'd rather they not be required. This probably means reducing the exact tactical positioning elements of the game, and abstracting a little more. I still feel that the best battlemap will always be the one the players imagine in their head. Miniatures can be useful at times, though, so don't rule them out.
10) Decrease reliance no magical items even further. Sure, allow the DM to have a magicness dial if you like, for those who like their magic items. 4E is an improvement on 3E in that regard (it's more a Christmas shrub than a Christmas tree) but didn't go quite far enough. Make every magic item distinct and interesting (see spells, above).
I agree with all of these except (4), which in 4e causes me too much cognitive dissonance, and makes it harder for me to learn the rules. Why does this monster have a Pin attack with its spear that recharges on a 6 while that one has a Pin attack that recharges when the target saves against the Pin? Why are there so many similar but slightly different monster powers that seem to lack rhyme or reason to whether they are encounter, recharge or something else?
I really really agree on 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 10 though!