Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set, 4th Edition

My only criticism is of Amazon's handling of the product.
I actually preordered this set from Amazon.com two months before the release. It was annoying that Amazon pushed my delivery date back a month and a half because they ran out of supplies. Don't pre-order on Amazon.com unless you want to take a chance and not get your item till much later.

The game itself is great because it is simplified down from 3.5 rules. I learned DMing on my own in 3.5 editon and played with people that were newbies as well. The game was very hard to DM in 3.5 and DMing it in 4th is a lot easier due to encounter xp tables, treasure being standardized, and classes working in a similar fashion(i.e. daily, encounter, and at-will powers). I love it, and my players like it better than 3.5 as well.

Very nice books and case with excellent artwork and easy reading. For the old players I don't know if this edition will be a huge upgrade as it seems like it limits players who like to be very creative in their characters. Although the simplicity of the system may make up for that.

I will not send 1 dime on 4th ed. It is not a ROLL playing system, but a computer transition. Hasbro can take it and take a flying leap (the godless fatherless get(bastards)). Do not be seduced by the darkside.

Good bookset.
Combination of the well-known 2nd edition and 3rd edition.
The good old XP system is back. The d20 roll is simplified and used as core throughout the encounters.

Dungeons and Dragons 4.0 should, in theory, introduce new concepts and ideas that augment already existing rules and make them better.

Regretfully, though, it starts gutting established Dungeons and Dragons rules and procedures that have been in existence for decades.

Certain alignments are done away with, certain character classes are let out to pasture, the whole thing comes across as change for the simple sake of change. The 3.5 version was a lot better.

Some things are better left unchanged!!!