First Impressions: D&D 4th Edition - Player's Handbook

The Dungeons & Dragons: 4th Edition Core Rulebook Collection that I ordered from Amazon arrived today. I wasn't expecting this until the first week of July that's why I'm so thrilled to be holding it this early. The whole collection contains all three of the core rulebooks: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. Nothing is really special with this collection except that it is contained in a slipcase and it's much cheaper ($58 for the collection as opposed to a total of $105 when buying all three rulebooks separately).

I've only read a portion of the Player's Handbook, and I haven't put the new rules to the test. So I can't say if I'm disappointed with it or not. But I do have some gripes with the new edition. First, in the new book, you can only multi-class at levels 11 and 21, or take a multi-class feat so your character can gain other class' powers or skills. Since I like to play and experiment with multi-classed characters, I don't like this new rule. Secondly, Barbarians, Bards, and Monks are no longer core classes. Bards and Monks were two of my favorite classes, so that's quite vexing. Hopefully, they'll be made available in future modules or campaign settings.

One thing I'm certain about the new edition though: It has been simplified, especially the character classes. Unlike in 3.5 edition, there's no base attack bonus, spell progression and feat progression that varies with each class. Instead, in the new edition, all classes gain the same amount of feats and powers. So there are less tables and grids of information this time. That's the beauty of 4th edition. Less complexity means less arguing and more gaming. I'm sure it'll appeal to those who wanted to try D&D but have been intimidated by the rules. As for me, I'll need to put the new edition into play first before I could wholly decide if it is better than the old.