To be honest. I think my negative view of game designers started back in 2E. I was much younger back then and my favorite world then and still is Dragon Lance. I saw support for it completely shrivel up and die out and the reason for it from the talking heads was always the same. "DL does not sell as a D&D world." I really felt that some people in the office had an agenda and they were trying to stamp out my game. By the end of TSR i was pretty much ambivilant about TSR's demise. I still read Dragon and such but by that time I had moved onto other games. I was very glad that WOTC bought TSR and resurrected D&D. The owner of WOTC (the guy who created Magic: The Gathering. That little card game that TSR believed would never work.) was a fan of DL and worked hard at bringing it back. Suffice it to say that DL did arrive at 3E and every one in my gaming group rejoiced. It really seemed like WOTC was on the right track.
Now I am just not sure. There are Major Changes with the new 4E. These are just not different from 3E but they are SIGNIFICANTLY different from any previous edition. It's alot like seeing a Ferrari being made into a family sedan and still being marketing as a sports car. Something just dosen't jive. For this I do blame game designers because they
designed the game. I just don't trust the quality of the work as much as I used to. When they provide a high quality product that stands up over time I'll gladly back them. All of my fondest memories of modules are all either basic or 1E such as Ravenloft, Keep on the Borderlands. The Isle of Dread, Palace of the Silver Princess, original DL series of mods, Against the Giants series and a few others. I cannot say that there are and 2E or 4E modules that inspire fond memoires. The 4E modules have been very uninspiring so far to say the least.