Optimizing my free time
I don’t have anything against DnD 4e. In my opinion, it’s a big step up – a real evolution – from the 3rd edition rules.
I don’t have anything against the folks in the monthly game of DnD 4e that I play in. They’re all decent enough folks.
I like my character. I like the way my character works in play. I even like the storyline.
But I’m done. I was at the game for eight hours on Saturday, not counting travel time, and we managed two fights and one scene that might nominally be deemed ‘role-play’ that ended becoming a player-discussion of the inherent morality (or lack thereof) of groups of adventures who categorize entire sentient peoples by racial stereotypes, then kill ‘em and take their stuff.
Fascinating, in a petri dish kind of way, but not what I signed on for, general.
So I’m done.
What shall I do instead? There’s a weekend writer group that invited me to join in, and I think I’ll do that.
As for gaming in general, I think I’ll stick with things that produce a better fun to time ratio.
This might be a problem with your current adventure’s encounter design. Certain setups (eg the monsters have several soldier-types) lead to long and drawn out combat encounters, a pitfall which a lot of people have noted.
It’s definitely possible to get a much faster pace going in 4E, but it requires careful encounter design and a concious effort from the GM and players to keep things moving.