I've come to the conclusion I'm not part of the target audience for 4th Edition. There's quite a few reasons why:
1. I don't find any of the basic math in D&D to be difficult. I can do it in my head. I'll admit I do need a calculator when totalling up all the wealth from selling off a big dragon's hoard, but that's not a bad think :)
2. AOO aren't confusing. After the first few sessions of 3.0, they were straightforward.
3. I don't enjoy playing WoW, Everquest, or any other MMORPG. Nothing wrong with them, just not my cup of tea.
4. Some of the most memorable gaming sessions I've ever had involved little or no combat.
5. Almost all of my gaming has been in long term (25+ session) campaigns taking place in detailed worlds.
6. I enjoy high level play. It does take a little more planning to run a high level encounter, but it's very doable and often really rewarding to watch some 18th+ characters pull out all the stops.
7. Though rarely used, I never realized how much the mere presence of Profession: Tailor was killing the fun in my games. At least WOTC finally pointed this out to me.
So the more I think about it, the more it makes sense a *LOT* of what I hear about 4E makes me either indifferent or disappointed.
welcome to the club !
Ditto. Let me show you around.
This, guy, for instance, is able to do simple additions and subtractions in his head, and is thus constantly picked on by classmates. One day he mentioned that he liked the Power Attack feat. He was in a coma for two weeks after the goons were through with him.
That guy over there? He said he liked all those nice campaign settings and their diversity, like Legend of the Five Rings d20, Midnight, Pathfinder Chronicles, and so on, and some bastards overheard him. Called him a commie. "You want to be red, commie-boy? We give you red." He was locked into solarium for 10 hours, and they wrote "3etard" on his forehead with sunblocker. That nurse has to put cream on his whole body every 10 minutes, or he'd dry out like a fish in the desert.
And that shivering wreck? Some 4e cultists ganged up on him and started shouting at him, using the worst insults they could think of, and over and over telling him how much his game sucks. They got him so far he wanted to kill himself, but they held him down, sneering and shouting at him. "Still in the past, huh? This is 4e, you dinosaur, no one dies! HAHAHAHA!"
And those are the lucky ones.
;-)