LockandLoaded points are also on the right track as well. Even in the PnP side the people who still game tend to make it a high tech affair with bringing in laptops and all sorts of aids.

Well given that 1st edition characters were normal folks, 2nd you were slightly larger than life an adventurer, 3rd you were definitely a hero, I imagine in 4th edition your a junior diety.

The games probably go something like this:
DM: Ok you are being attacked by an ancient wyrm, despite the fact that it ambushed you and had a 20 point bonus to its initiative, you guy still roll first.
Muchkin #1 (M1): OK, I swing my sword at it, I rolled a 12.
DM: OK you slice the dragons right foreleg off.
M1: I didn't kill it?
DM: No, but you did severly wound it.
M1: WTF, I'm level 2 damnit.
DM: Whatever, it's still alive, it's an Ancient wyrm damnit, the things been around for 10 millenia already. Muchkin #2 your roll.
Munkcin #2 (M2):Alright I'll use my dagger, woot a 20!
DM : Er, you... cut its head off?!
M1: No way I'm a wizard and she's only a druid.
DM: Alright I think its time to call it quits for tonight... M1 next time you'll be level 5, M2 you'll be level 4 so have your sheets updated with your new stuff for next time, OK?
M1&M2 pack their stuff up and leave.
DM looks at 4th edition books and weeps.

Well, you could check the Wikipedia entry, or Google Grey Ghost Games. Honest, you won't be too sorry you did.

And after they either sell WotC, or rape their assets and dissolve them, because they've not earned according to shareholder expectations...?

Yup; tabletop will never truly be replaceable for me. Being actually gathered around the living room or table or whatever and joking around & chatting while gaming can never quite be recreated sufficiently in an online format.

I agree with the physical tabletop experience being irreplaceable, but I'm looking forward to the online features with only mild apprehension. My gaming buddies and I have moved all over the country, some of us are married and others aren't, we all have different work schedules, etc. If 4th edition helps us find a way to sit down together for two or three hours a week and game, we'll be all over this.

Cheers to that, to be honest. THACOs and all.

I don't play D&D anymore, usually because of the refried feeling I get after I play a character and the problem I have the the inclusion of all of the wonderful new rules still makes combat ultimately... a ho-hum dice rolling competition.

I sincerely wish someone would make older systems like ICE's Rolemaster, where combat with anything was a frightening (and exciting) prospect and really forced RPers to actually RP because of the inherent fear of death. For those unfamiliar with Rolemaster (or Rollmaster to some) Your attacks to a hit damage with a chance to do a crit damage, generally from A-E, with each letter going up being more severe, though not necessarily any less dangerous..crits are then divided into categories such as Pierce, Slash, Blunt, Tiny, Smash/Bash/Falling, and then your elementals for mages, including Ice, Fire, Earth, Light, and so on. I once died from a rat inflicting an 'A' Tiny crit that actually severed my achilles tendon and I couldn't climb the rope out of the cave and busied myself lying there being eaten to death by starving rats. I've had my head exploded too, at the end of a morning star that I probably should have had the good sense not to go up against.

If someone could simplify that system somehow, I'd be all over it...

The irony is that I was contemplating picking up the 3.5 core books next weekend as a local bookstore was having a huge 10th anniversary sale on everything. So, I went to the wizards site to check if there was any Eberron books also worth picking up. That was 2-3 days ago when the site went into that countdown mode. So now, I'm debating picking anything up since it'll just be "unsupported" or whatnot in less than a year.

I'll echo everyone else who saw 3.0/3.5 as a tremendous upgrade to 2.0. It was night and day frankly. However, I read this awesome comment on slashdot about the homogenization of the classes and essentially the MMO-ing of the tabletop game:

http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=272173&threshold=1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&cid=20256871

Fascinating read. Basically, you're playing the MMO/WoW/EQ equivalent over Cheetos and soda -- oh, and next to a laptop of three since your dndinsider login is practically required to get the most mileage out of the 4th edition. (Question: if the DM and players need to log in over a virtual tabletop... why not just, uh, play WoW?!?!?)

Do I begrudge Hasbro/WotC making money? No, but it reeks a little too much like desperation.

p.s. I think I'll pick up the 3.5 books and some Eberron stuff. It'll be the last "true" paper-only RPG version of DnD...

Online tools and support for a TT RPG. Didn't we just talk about that with Alpha Omega RPG?
http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/33789

The online dungeon makers and playing online with chat support and stuff looks neat. The online community is a growing trend though honestly the hanging out together in real life was part of the fun. Just another knock against tangible society. Sad really even though it's a useful tool. What would be funny is 5 friends in the same room all using laptops via wireless and playing the game on their laptops using this feature while all in the same room together. What's next probably the coffee table PC that everyone gathers around, which they already have prototypes of. Then the holographic table is the ultimate version at some point in the future.

Looks like I see a new trend in TT RPGs. I expect to see something like this come out for White Wolf and Palladium in the coming year or something similar. They've had programs and information online for years for reference and other things but this level of interaction online is I guess a new thing for them. I think it's a good new step.

I have no clue how I managed to double post. Too early on a saturday morning.