I have played several versions of each game, amung a couple other pen and paper RPGs, and I must confess, that I like the direction gaming has taken over the past 5 years. It has become more accepted, accessible, and fun. I could not have been more pleased that roleplaying rules were taken out of the D&D rules because now our group can do whatever feels right instead of feeling glued to rules.
There is a lot of whining out there about this change or that change in D&D 4, and on every issue I stand by Wizards of the Coast; not because I'm a fan of them or like giving them money, but because I've played a lot of other games and found them all... not as easy and fun to play. Shadowrun and Battletech are covert ops missions that all end in failure or unspeakable cold blooded player frustration induced murder. Battlestar and Serenity looked cool but there's no way you could compete with the TV shows. Don't even get me started on Hackmaster.
In D&D we get to roleplay and do things that aren't covered in the rules and we only use the rules for combat, which I think was the entire point. Finally a game that doesn't lock you into rules for Cooking, Professions or Crafting, or Quirks/Flaws. Either I'm playing every other game wrong and D&D4 is the only one I play right; or the naysayers are right and it is easier (and they say it like it is a bad thing).
Feel free to argue with me, I love to get worked up over something I really enjoy.
-Derek
