Re:Possible Alienation (Score 1)

This is also my main concern with the new addition. Since 3rd edition, the entire game seems to be creeping more and more toward a munchking power gamer's dungeon crawl, without much support for actual roleplaying. This definitely appeals to some of the younger players I know who use the term "roleplayer" to make fun of people. They're more interested in whether a high level cleric can do more damage than a high level wizard than they are in any story or character development. They'll love the variety and flexibility of abilities in 4e, not because they can define more individual and interesting characters, but because they can spend hours arguing over optimal builds for each class that will result in the maximum damage spells or best heals (sound familiar?). It will be more like designing a deck of Magic cards and less like a story, and they'll love that. I won't, however. On the surface I like what I see in 4e - the use of a consistent abilities mechanism for all feats, spells, etc. should provide more flexibility in defining characters - but under the covers, the reality seems to be that the whole game is turning into a miniature-based board game similar to heroquest. The nature of the abilities I've heard rumors about, the specifics of the new Delve format for official adventures, and the early feedback from other D&D authors I know who have some inside information seem to indicate that the role-playing aspects of the game have finally breathed their last in 4e.