Lord Mhoram
Hero
I'm a fence sitter, so I thought I'd join the pro and con lists. 
I've followed other threads, but never really talked about my thoughts, so this post, in addition to hopefully spawning constructive discussion, is a way for me to work out my opinions and thoughts.
Cons:
The detail for mapping and miniatures. I'm not averse to tactical combat (I play HERO after all), but I never liked the rigidity of squares or hexes. I like to use a freeform whiteboard, and just measure things. I am thinking that I can do that here (1" = 1 square) but I dunno. Nickles and Pennies make great minis though.
Different rules for monsters/NPCs and PCs. This one is taste. The fact that 3.x had the same basic rules for everyone was great. I see 4th as a step back that way... but I understand the reasonings for simplifying the GMs job.
The skill system. I admit that I loved the 3rd ed skill system, and actually wanted mroe detail.
DDI / Electronic Mags. I'm a paper sort of guy. If the collected months work out, I can always find a way to print them. I don't plan to do any gaming online (the closest I get to that are messageboards). So it is of very little use to me, but... I like lots of information (I have a near complete run of the paper Dragon mag), so it is in a non preferred format and will likely cost more than I want.
You are done at level 30. I've had characters that I have played for over a decade (I've got one Champions character that is still being played and is over 15 years old). Stopping at 30 just seems to soon to me.
Lack of Open Gaming. I liked the openess of 3.x. However my main game is HERO which isn't open, so it doesn't bug me that much, and at least with the GSL we will see third party support.
Very tight class definition. I am one of those that saw a class/level in 3.x as nothing more than a package of skills and abilities. Classes never defined my character, and I often had multiple classes (and/or gestalt). The 4th looks restrictive to my approach.
Pros
Lots of ZOWIE. I like the characters to be able to do lots of things, and do them flashily. In 3.x I really only thought the system took off that way at 8th or 9th, and loved it well into Epic levels. I hated low level play for the lack of options, and lack of flash.
Easy GM prep. I may not like some of the simplified systems as a player, but as a GM, I really see the use.
I love the monster stat blocks. Quick, to the point, and lots of them. I don't care about more fluffy things, I always make use of my own in my games, so that was always ignored. Give me a picture, a paragraph of color and stat blocks and I'm happy.
I love at Will powers. My favorite fantasy novels (if no one could guess by my user name) are the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The mages in the world (the lords) threw their lordsfire any time they wanted, and in some battle/war sequences for hours on end. Sounds like an at-will power to me.
I like the paragon paths that we have seen, and while I think the class structure is restrictive (see above), I like what we have seen of multiclassing, and can't wait to see what you do with paragon multiclassing. And I am really looking forward to see epic destinies.
The setting approach. I love the 3 book setting approach. I tended to buy setting books for mechanics, and some nifty setting things that I would use in my own worlds. The way they are doing it now really fits my approach.
Others
The fact that the mechanics are spread out - a new PH every year, plus splats, plus setting stuff. I am something of a rules completest. If I play a game I want all the rules. So WotC is giving me a bunch Yay! But that will be painful to the pocketbook. Sad!!
But I think I like the fact there will be a lots coming more than I dislike how much it will cost.
However it works out, D&D will always be my secondary system (the group is a HERO group, and that is fine with me). So I hope that there will be a way for solo play to work. Either way, I am interested. Just not sold yet.
I've followed other threads, but never really talked about my thoughts, so this post, in addition to hopefully spawning constructive discussion, is a way for me to work out my opinions and thoughts.Cons:
The detail for mapping and miniatures. I'm not averse to tactical combat (I play HERO after all), but I never liked the rigidity of squares or hexes. I like to use a freeform whiteboard, and just measure things. I am thinking that I can do that here (1" = 1 square) but I dunno. Nickles and Pennies make great minis though.
Different rules for monsters/NPCs and PCs. This one is taste. The fact that 3.x had the same basic rules for everyone was great. I see 4th as a step back that way... but I understand the reasonings for simplifying the GMs job.
The skill system. I admit that I loved the 3rd ed skill system, and actually wanted mroe detail.
DDI / Electronic Mags. I'm a paper sort of guy. If the collected months work out, I can always find a way to print them. I don't plan to do any gaming online (the closest I get to that are messageboards). So it is of very little use to me, but... I like lots of information (I have a near complete run of the paper Dragon mag), so it is in a non preferred format and will likely cost more than I want.
You are done at level 30. I've had characters that I have played for over a decade (I've got one Champions character that is still being played and is over 15 years old). Stopping at 30 just seems to soon to me.
Lack of Open Gaming. I liked the openess of 3.x. However my main game is HERO which isn't open, so it doesn't bug me that much, and at least with the GSL we will see third party support.
Very tight class definition. I am one of those that saw a class/level in 3.x as nothing more than a package of skills and abilities. Classes never defined my character, and I often had multiple classes (and/or gestalt). The 4th looks restrictive to my approach.
Pros
Lots of ZOWIE.
I like the characters to be able to do lots of things, and do them flashily. In 3.x I really only thought the system took off that way at 8th or 9th, and loved it well into Epic levels. I hated low level play for the lack of options, and lack of flash. Easy GM prep. I may not like some of the simplified systems as a player, but as a GM, I really see the use.
I love the monster stat blocks. Quick, to the point, and lots of them.
I don't care about more fluffy things, I always make use of my own in my games, so that was always ignored. Give me a picture, a paragraph of color and stat blocks and I'm happy.I love at Will powers. My favorite fantasy novels (if no one could guess by my user name) are the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The mages in the world (the lords) threw their lordsfire any time they wanted, and in some battle/war sequences for hours on end. Sounds like an at-will power to me.
I like the paragon paths that we have seen, and while I think the class structure is restrictive (see above), I like what we have seen of multiclassing, and can't wait to see what you do with paragon multiclassing. And I am really looking forward to see epic destinies.
The setting approach. I love the 3 book setting approach. I tended to buy setting books for mechanics, and some nifty setting things that I would use in my own worlds. The way they are doing it now really fits my approach.
Others
The fact that the mechanics are spread out - a new PH every year, plus splats, plus setting stuff. I am something of a rules completest. If I play a game I want all the rules. So WotC is giving me a bunch Yay! But that will be painful to the pocketbook. Sad!!
But I think I like the fact there will be a lots coming more than I dislike how much it will cost.
However it works out, D&D will always be my secondary system (the group is a HERO group, and that is fine with me). So I hope that there will be a way for solo play to work. Either way, I am interested. Just not sold yet.
