I prefer the previous formats
Yes, the format matters. It matters a great deal.
There are aspects of the 4th Edition rules that I take issue with, but I find that the format of character abilities is no small barrier for some players.
I have two players in my current D&D group of four who are completely new to tabletop RPGs. We started a 4e game near the end of last year and played three sessions to complete The Slaying Stone. The two new players were not enjoying the game that much, as they were finding it to be too complicated, with too many decisions to make.
While there are elements of 4e that are complex (triggered actions and new combinations of status effects each round), the powers system isn't actually that complicated -- but it looks complicated. Standarizing how abilites are presented is a good idea in some ways, but also ends up adding a lot of extra clutter that doesn't communicate anything useful.
For example, the majority of melee attack powers for fighters, rangers, rogues, and warlords share the following characteristics:
Keywords: Martial, Weapon
Action: Standard
Range: Melee Weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs AC
Damage: 1[W] + Strength modifier
Of what use is it to repeat all of this for every attack power? While it makes for a more consistent presentation across the lineup of game products, it takes a lot of space just to say "when you hit an opponent in combat, you can also do this additional effect."
The attached example included as a sample which illustrates this:
Tide of Iron: Whenever you hit with a melee weapon attack while using a shield, you can
choose to push the target 1 square and then shift 1 square into the square the target vacated.
Everything else about Tide of Iron conforms to the above parameters. Without all of that stuff that likely applies to just about every ability the character has, a couple of lines on a character sheet is good enough and no power card is necessary. Other examples might include:
Passing Attack (Encounter): Make a melee attack. If you hit, you may shift 1 square and attack one creature other than the primary target with a +2 bonus on the attack roll.
Comeback Strike (Daily * Healing): After you hit with a melee attack, you may choose to inflict 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you may spend a healing surge.
Twin Strike: If wielding two melee weapons, you may attack with each weapon. If you are using a ranged weapon, you may make two attacks. Your attacks do not have to target the same creature. Each attack inflicts 1[W] damage.
These are all descriptions as they might appear in a book, with specific enough wording to handle "but what about when..." questions. For the most part, they player doesn't need to write it down word-for-word, and this is about all that is really needed on a character sheet:
Comeback Strike (Daily): 2[W] + Str damage, spend a healing surge
It takes a bit of experience with the system to be able to recognize these types of powers for what they are -- variations on hitting a creature with a melee or ranged weapon (standard action, Str/Dex vs. AC, 1[W] + Str/Dex mod damage). Wording them in this manner might have them easier for my new players to grasp, as in their eyes, the stack of power cards looked like half a dozen completely different concepts to have to learn.
Obviously, some character classes will have fewer parameters that apply to all or most of their powers, but D&D has always had characters classes which are more complex to play than others. Powers which function as spells in earlier editions have a diverse range of effects, so they need a longer write-up. Powers which essentially modify a basic melee or ranged attack don't need to include what isn't different.
I have a hard time reading through the walls of power descriptions, as well as the walls of magic item descriptions. I realize that the information contained in a 4e item description is much the same as it is in a 3.x item description, but for some reason it's a lot more boring to read. Pages upon pages of neatly-arranged and color-coded statblocks just make my eyes glaze over.
