Manny just sent the following email about 4e to our group:
I talked a bit about 4e in the last game, but I was wondering if anyone else has gotten a chance to read through the 4e books?
It's funny because I'm kind of upset about the opposite shit than I would have expected. But looking at the system as a whole, it's pretty solid where 3.0 has become a cluster fuck of options. While there are a bunch of powers and abilities that i would classify as "pointless" I can see the intent: to make the game interesting despite the fact that it doesn't get all that different as you level. For example (I'm making up the names), they could have just said at 11th level all your Daily powers become Encounter powers; instead they give you Whirlwind of Steel as an encounter at 11th, this does the same shit as your daily Spinning Strike, and you can retrain Spinning Strike or have two attacks that hit everyone engaged with you. There are slight differences in the powers, but nothing so dramatic as Whirlwind does twice the damage, more likely it also let's you shift 2 squares before you attack. Now, I would rather they just fucking made it simple and let powers level up as your character does, but I'm a seasoned pro and I don't need all the flavor shit. They are playing that aspect up for the video game & acting crowd that might jump in.
The problem really surfaces when you realize the party never gets that much more powerful, they just get more options, but the monsters get nasty as fuck. Options are cool and interesting, but when you're doing 2d8+3 at 12th level and whittling down 230 HPs... who is having any fun? The modules tend to go pretty heavy handed, and now that I looked at the DMG I can easily see where they went overboard. The encounters don't need to be so brutal to be fun, and the DMG does cover that... obviously the guys making modules are just sadistic fucks. But there is a disconnect between PCs and Monsters, and between using your powers in combat vs. dragging out a fight. It will take some time to see if the rules play out as is, or to come up with options for upping the ante with house rules. Two simple rules would be to give all Encounter powers a recharge time (or a way to regain them, even if it means taking a turn to refocus) and most Daily powers should be Reliable (meaning they are only wasted if they hit).
The main thing people are complaining about are the multi-classing rules, and in truth it kinda bugs me too. I think it's mostly because 3e was such a multiclass whore-fest that this is too much of a radical departure. I think it could use a tweak or two, but mostly because I think multi-classing makes creating characters more fun (once you have done the basic characters to death). The problem in this system, is that powers tend to DEPEND on your class, and don't play well with other classes. If that caveat can be fixed, I see no reason why the system they set up wouldn't work. In fact, the Paragon Paths almost demand some cross class pollination for the sake of realism (ie. why would a wizard suddenly get to become a Battlemage Paragon without at least engaging in melee once in a while?).
I love the Monster Manual, it is set-up beautifully, making encounters is simple. Minions rule and we should come up with something like it for our 3.5 game(s).
The DMG has about 6 pages in it that are worth owning, and that really pisses me off (it's basically full of shit telling you how you can do whatever you want and how to have imagination).