To me this is the "real" D&D 4th edition. By the official 4th edition I am already annoyed with the excerpts.
Pathfinder adds and expands instead of going retro. Where WoC does go back to 1st edition xp systems and try to avoid compatability with the 3.5 by random changes to the system, Pathfinder does work with the old flair and just streamlines in some parts while not cutting anything out.

WoC will surely lose customers but now these customers have a place to turn to.

Having just recently come out from under a rock [I have been playing ADnD for over 20 years now], only last year finding out about 3.5, and have now checked out 4th. Paizo's take on the 3.5 ruleset has the flavor of DnD that my group and I are looking for. Terrible job, guys and gals at Paizo. I can't wait to see the beta and the hard cover final of the Pathfinder system.

On rpg.net:

PATHFINDER RPG ALPHA RELEASE 3

Striving to be the 3.x heir in the wake of Dungeons & Dragons 4E, the third alpha release of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game still looks more like a collection of houserules than a coalescing ruleset.

I like the rules changes and think that it's more balanced, but not completely so. It still needs some more work, and it's good that Paizo is allowing fans to give feedback before the final release rather than just releasing a new ruleset every year or two. Although people complain about characters being too powerful, it appears that they level up more slowly due to the different xp per level table. I like it and hope it improves even more before the final.

I'll make this simple. I SO looked forward to 4e. It is SUCH a disappointment. We've extensively play tested it.. it's terribly broken. Thank you Paizo. Your product is almost everything that I hoped 4E would be. Thank you for restoring my hope for a bright RPG future! Your alpha has me so excited, I just can't wait to see it in the final hardbook version! After thirty years of play, I must sadly leave DnD.. Pathfinder is like a lifeline.. Thanks again!

Hats off to Paizo for having guts to pick up the 3ed where WotC abandoned it. The changes look good so far, and it seems that the design team correctly identified the major issues with 3ed mechanics.

The open playtest idea is excellent, for the first time in D&D history the players have a real chance to influence the game design and let the designers know what the problems are.

There is still a lot to do, I'm eagerly awaiting revised combat rules and hoping for a lot of improvement in speeding up the game and making it easier to learn WHILE at same time maintaining backwards compatibility.

I'm not giving out 5 stars yet, because that will come when the full game arrives, hopefully being what Rules Compendium from WotC isn't - a comprehensive, all-in-one resource of rules for my favourite game system.

Oh, and why there is no pink sidebar on the cover, with bright green letters exclaiming "NOW WITH ADDED MONTE !!!" ? :)

Arbitrary rules changes? Check.

Annoying new skill system? Check.

Overpowering character classes? Check.

So far, I am not impressed by Pathfinder's attempt at a new edition. THIS IS _NOT_ D&D. Alpha still possesses many of the flaws 3.5 had internalized and refused to let go. Melee classes are still total crap, especially the barbarian, with a 'point system' for their powers, and the paladin, who barely got changed into something playable.

Paizo's new edition has been a disappointment to me, although there is still hope in the future with beta, I would bet that Pathfinder is on a collision course with failure.

The Pathfinder book embraces munchkinism. Everything is powered-up. For example, races all get +2 to TWO stats now. Why? I don't see that as a big issue on the various 3.5 edition forums.

Could we just fix the broken mechanics, like grapple, turning, tripping, etc?

Causing the DM/GM to have to revise all the NPCs in a game is a little much. Perhaps quick changes would be OK, but some of this looks like it will be a real pain for early adopters.

I am loving the Alpha so far. The changes are under constant revision, Jason is doing a great job of listening to the customers, some of us have decades of gaming experience, and know what a good game should be.

A few good ideas are in this file (a little more standardisation of the various combat maneuvers, the altenate xp-progression) but besides this it looks like "D&D turned up to 11". With other words: It does exactly what I hate about 4e, but does it with 3rd Edition rules.

As far as I can tell it's only saving grace is that it keeps the 3rd-Edition in print, but OTOH it dimmishes this point, by making the characters incompatible (I know comaptiblity is a goal, but if the characters are twice as powerful as their 3.5 counterparts I can't see comaptiblity). As I said above: I can't understand the hype about this.