Manbearcat
Legend
If any of my questions trigger memories of frustrating times then that's not what I'm going for. I guess I'm more curious about reading a bit of a forensic breakdown of how the whole thing played out. Just for my own curiosity. Thanks in advance for anyone who indulges me.
I see you're getting quite a few replies from folks who aren't fans of the edition. I'm try to give you a different perspective.
A stupidly abridged version of a postmortem by an RPG historian might say that 4e's:
1) prolific indie design elements (there are tons, from system elements to GMing role and GMing principles)
2) transparency and focus of its architecture (outcome-based design rather than process-base)
3) unified class resource scheduling which focused on the "genre tropes and the tactical resolution of the conflict-charged scene (see 1)" rather than the "strategic murderhoboing of a sandbox setting/dungeon crawl"
4) presentation including actual formatting, the artwork, and the facepalm editorializing in the initial DMG and PHB - "skip the guards and get to the fun (!)"
5) lack of fealty to canon and aggressively establishing its own backstory
6) aggressively coherent design framework that pushes play toward consistently churning out high-octane action for mythical fantasy as default (rather than - say - FFV or GoT)
7) aggressively taking a stand on historically polarizing elements such as HP
8) 4e "basic" (the initial core books) didn't include the Barbarian, Druid, Sorcerer, and Monk. The prior 3 only had to wait 7 months for PHB2 but Monk had to wait 19 months (ouch) for PHB3
brought out the worst tribal instincts in the D&D fanbase. It was the only edition of D&D that gained a better sense of itself and improved from its beginning to end. I say that as a big fan who thinks it is the best version of D&D to date.
Amusing anecdote. 2 months ago I ran a game for a 50 year old and his newbie (not to life) wife. Good guy. Long term D&D player (since boy scouts) but hadn't played much in the last 6 years due to schedule, work, couldn't find a group, etc. He had all of the edition warring ire and jilted lover stuff pointed at 4e down pat and he had never cracked open a book. I taught him Dogs in the Vineyard. Its my favorite indie game, written in 2004 by the esteemed Vincent Baker. Its a scene-based game, with a system and thematics that pushes play toward resolving the conflicts of an order of gun toting paladins, set in a (fantasy) wild west, who focus on saving their towns from their own sin. We're talking demonic exorcisms, taking down gangs, and more mundane stuff like overseeing religious ceremonies and arbitrating disputes/matters of the faith.
I ran he and his (newbie) wife through 4 hours of Dogs. They were riveted. He loved the mechanics and the GMing principles which push play towards conflict. I did that purposely to ready him for 4e. I taught them the basics and I helped them make Dogs-inspired divine characters; an Avenger and a Priest who were excommunicated from a cult, reformed, and working for a divine, cult-slaying order. They had relevant backgrounds, themes, and we played out a seminal conflict from their past as a prologue to play (same as Dogs and is advice in DMG2). After that, we came up with a minor quest for each character and a major quest for both of them. We then proceed to play a pulpy, action adventure session where they spent much of their time in Skill Challenges; social conflicts (that may escalate to combat), an overarching investigation, and the final confrontation which included fighting the cultists and the exorcism of an inanimate, demon-possessed doll that "led the cult". He was shocked at how much fun he had, how much it felt like the Dogs game we playing, and how well the system and deft GMing worked at producing high fantasy awesome even if the mechanics and focus of play were a bit different than he remembered. Of course she had none of the baggage that comes with being a tribal D&D player so all she knew was how much fun she had.
You can take home whatever you wish from that anecdote.