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I had the opportunity recently to play in an epic game with the Pathfinder rules set. The module we agreed upon for this test was the Quicksilver Hourglass. Spoilers may follow.
I ran a level 30 barbarian, while the other party members were an Arcane-blooded sorcerer/archmage, a cleric/radiant servant of Pelor, and a highly-researched powergamed rogue/aberrant sorcerer/duskblade impersonating Nightcrawler. I will relate my observations about the barbarian first, and then comment on the other PC's feedback.
At first, I was reluctant to play a barbarian because I would be required to keep track of a new set of numbers; i.e. rage points. Once I created the character however, I found tracking my rage to be no more trouble than hit points or spell slots. In short, it was quick and simple. I made immediate use of the extra damage, surprise accuracy, fast movement, and the extra Will save rage powers.
In the first encounter, the party was forced to immediately make several Will saves or lose all actions, a fear ability generated by several undead around them. Unfortunately for me, this happened before my initiative. I did not take the feat for Raging as an immediate action, so I had no special bonuses to Will saves and did not have access to my rage power for an extra saving throw. I was out for the entire combat, as was the archmage. The second encounter was much more fun for me. Facing several glooms (a race of epic rogues, basically), my barbarian truly shined. He could not be caught flat-footed or be considered flanked by any of them, and his Terrifying Rage epic feat sent most of them into panic on his turn. He had the same effect on the devils in the next room, and gave the dragon the 'shaken' condition. Against the dragon, I made use of Dire Charge and spent nearly 80 rage points on my first turn. +30 to hit x5 swings, +30 to damage x5 swings, no rage penalties, boosted DR, +15 Dodge AC vs. melee. My full attack contributed slightly over 500 damage, and the Nightcrawler character (abusing an oriental adventures prestige class that allows a full attack after a teleportation effect) finished it off on his turn with two full attacks with duskblade channeled spells. The poor dragon didn't even get to use its quickened epic spell.
When we had to close the game for the night, I took stock of my character again. He had taken no more than 1/4 his health in damage, which nearly made tracking temporary health from raging a moot point. He spent 130 rage out of 302 rage points in encounters that represented half of the adventure; a pretty even rate imo. He dealt damage equivalent or above a truly powergamed munchkin in the right situations, and he maintained some weaknesses covered by other classes. For example, he was the only party member without a bypass for a doorway covered by Wall of Force.
The arcane-blooded sorcerer was built as a blaster focusing on the Intensify Spell metamagic. She used Bonded Item for her staff and made it quite powerful at half cost; quite significant in the range of Millions of goldpieces. The 20th level ability was a great addition to the class as well, and helped her remain mobile while providing support with metamagic'ed spells. Versus other spellcasters, she used Antimagic ray and Ice Claw Prison to great effect.
The cleric was by far the least flashy PC and did the least amount of damage. However, her Destruction spells were quite effective, and her positive energy channeling turned the first encounter from a TPK to a smooth victory. Restorative magic continues to be a staple for the party, if this example is any guideline.
Sounds like you had fun! I hope that Rage Points don't go away before I get a chance to play them again. They worked really well in our playtest.
(Although again, I'll post that there needs to be a mechanic for spending more points than you have - I want to feel my character's heart explode!)
Peace,
tfad