Random thoughts, musings, ideas, and opinions for your consideration. These gnotions are not likely to increase the sum of human knowledge. Favorite topics will be literature, music, fine drink, and RPG.
As noted in previous post, I am not experiencing a lack of roleplaying. Granted I am no newbie to roleplaying, and for new players there might be something which discourages roleplaying, but I am happily playing my character during encounters and between them.
I continue to experience a very tactical game, and cannot see playing without a grid. I do not see that as a negative since I have been using grids since AD&D days as preference. I also continue to find 1st level characters to be very powerful, much more than previous editions. Sort of like starting at 2nd level or more in another edition. Clearly in 4th you are already a hero, and the environment is more high magic and high fantasy. This might not fit the setting you want to play, but where it fits the setting I am not finding it 'un-fun'.
Some rituals are often a little too vague and require some DM adjudication. For example the Silent Image ritual did not give a range. I had to query the DM if my use of it was going to work. The Passwall ritual was fairly clear (you need to be able to touch the entry point of the passage) and the Silence ritual was not so vague that one could figure out you needed to be inside the area to be warded to use it - no casting from a distance. I am finding the cost of ritual components to be a bit prohibitive at first level. We will see as time goes on if that is really a control point for lower level and becomes inconsequential as my character advances.
In our last encounter our party druid was brought to zero hit points and tossed off a 40' high wall into murky harbor water. No one was nearby to help him, and the first one get to the wall section where he went off could not see him (it was dusk and he had already sunk beneath the waves). I now understand some comments I heard that 4E characters were hard to kill. Even unconscious, he was burning through healing surges before he took drowning damage. Wouldn't you know it on his second death saving throw he rolled a 20 to stabilize, and became conscious. We thought him dead for sure... but it seems 4E characters are truly heroes.
I also learned that one of my jobs as the controller wizard is minion sweeping. I say that humorously, because it is kind of cool to blow away a bunch of fodder and clear the decks for the others to attack the BBEG (big bad evil guy). Some may turn up their nose at this, but hey, it makes me stand out from the others and gives me an opportunity to roleplay big ego and I annihilate a bunch of enemies.
It seems to me 4E has another thing in common with earlier editions: resource management. Even though I have at will powers, I must manage encounter & daily powers, action points, healing surges, etc.
The litmus test so far as been passed. I am having fun. That may be more about the people with which I am gaming than the rule set. Either way, I am a bit of a grognard and I can play this edition just fine.
The dice never lie (even though I rolled a statiscally improbable number of 1s in our last encounter).
Fantasy Literature, Libations (usually Beer or Whisky with character), Music, and of course FRPGs. War gamer corrupted by the "The Keep on the Borderlands" (Holmes). It didn't take long to move to AD&D which we enjoyed (and heavily house ruled) for 15+ years before moving onto 3rd Edition D&D. I tried 4E and we are now enjoying D&D 5th Edition.