Dungeons & Dragons 4.0 your thoughts

This site seems pretty much based on video games but maybe there's some paper geeks out there too. I'm curious as to your thoughts on D&D 4th edition vs 3.5.

In my opinion the system is waaaaaaaay more fluid then 3.5, the combat especially. It seems to have simplified and at the same time added way more options. Also, it seems to have evened out the classes as a whole example: in 3.5 Fighter early lvls was great, dealt awesome damage and was all around fun to play, Yet if you advance 10 lvls and casters wipe the floor with any fighter in sheer power and versatility. (Yes it's all in how you play your character, but over-all casters get a hand up). 4.0 fixed all that, basically every class is awesome from beginning to end, and not only that but they're fully custimizable.

4.0 also made your characters interesting at every single lvl. Every lvl you advance you get something new whether it be a power, feat, or a stat (Sometimes all 3!). In addition 4.0 simplifies all the skills in the game which makes it alot easier to play instead of rolling every 5sec for something that could be taken care of with roleplaying.

So, please give me your thoughts, your likes/dis-likes and we'll hopefully get to see which is the best.

I basically don't like how all the 3.5 supplements are now null and void, and it's gotta start over.

Melee looks (we haven't tried it much) better, but magic is a lot more boring (less options mainly).

It's more tactic-y, while my group kind of likes to just go with it.

There are a lot of little things I like though (having new abilities every class for combat as you progress, the whole paragon thing versus taking a whole 'nother class, stuff). I kind of want to hybrid it some, but my group doesn't have the drive to do work to play D&D, so oh well.

So yeah, my group just plays with the 3.5 rules.

They're just guidelines anyway.

Our group played D'n'D 4 for about 6 months.

In the end we got bored. It wasn't conducive to actual role play. And really dumbed down. More designed for kiddies I guess.

We are now playing Hackmaster version number 5. That's looking like a really great game. Old school and the battles are brutal. Zero hit points and you're dead. That's it. Very intense and you have to be careful and on to it all the time.

You dont have to give up. Even though there are not gonna be any new 3.5 from Wizards of the Coast (or whomever owns it now), there is a new system, that really isnt new at all. Its called PATHFINDER. New name, same stuff, just a lil tweaked. Still your clerics, druids, fighter, ect. But some have been adjusted, its still all 3.5. I haventt bought the newbook, cause I dont need it yet. 1 differnce from 3.5 to PATHFINDER is the druid, exactly the saem as 3.5, but in Pathfinder, a druid now gets a domain, but can only choose 1 and only either animal or plant. Sooo, if you want new moduals, or new books, just look up Pathfinder. The owner of my local gaming store, toldme about it, and showed me the book. Soo far, its basically the DM guide and players handbook, combined into 1.

... Peace