Is anyone else as resoundingly not impressed with the PHB3 as I am? I don't mean to offend, but I find the races presented rather uninspired, the classes feel a lot like WotC is reaching a bit as well. Admittedly, I was never big into the psionic stuff in my fantasy anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I think that skill powers and hybrid classing (something I'll not use) are things that may bring some light to the game for my more negatively inclined (towards 4e) friends.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the book, and I wanted to see what they would do with the Githamajiggets and I'm happy to see playable, semi-civilized minotaurs a la Krynn. Skill powers are pure awesome! I still feel like there's a lot they still haven't done that I would love to see (I've already mentioned mounts and mounted combat as something I'd like to see more of).

Am I just bitchin'? Well, yes.

...but as I said, there's just a lot of other stuff I'd rather have seen... like more mounts/mounted combat, orcs, goblins, lizardmen, cavaliers, etc. The Ardent is cool, love the Runepriest, and Monks and Scions are palatable (they weren't always).

Really like Hammerfast. It's pretty original with loads of sparks for ideas.

Opinions? Flames? Tomatoes?

I can see where you came from and originally I was underwhelmed too (Only 4 new races, 2 of which were playable since Monster Manual 1?!), but the more I looked into it, the more I liked. The 4 races are really interestingly set up with their bonuses and the changes they made from their original forms. Skill Powers are pretty nifty and a nice alternative/way to make your character unique. Hybrid Characters can be really cool and have a very nice element to allowing people to really fill the role they want. I'm with you in not having much personal interest in them, but I can definitely see their use (especially over Multi-classing).

Ardents are cool and originally I was most excited about them, but now Runepriest is the new hotness. Monks/Psions/Seekers all seem really great, and its nice to see some new controllers with an interesting twist, especially Seekers in that regard.

The feats are cool and complement really well whats already out there. IMO the only thing that really gets the shaft are the runepriest feats just because of how long it takes for anything to be truly useful (For those of you that don't know, runepriests can get specific rune feats which gain more power the more rune feats you have, however you need at least 2/3 for this to be really cool which means not until you're at least level 4).

I think I was only underwhelmed because I've been following the release of this really closer and since I have DDI access, I already knew a bunch of this (like most of the hybrid classes, and whatnot).

EDIT: I forgot about Battleminds which are also really enjoyable. Seem like they could be a fairly devestating Defender.

I saw a lot of it before hand too (DDI), and that may have a lot to do with it. Skill Powers, the new feats, and the Runepriest and Ardent probably make the book worth the price for me as well.

I wouldn't call PHB3 a dud, but I wouldn't call it a home run either.

I've said it often, but each handbook brings races and classes of more complexity, this isn't always a bad thing but for my girlfriend I'm pretty much going to steer her away from the ph3 - too much going on there with the Augments (a mechanic I like) and the Rune Priest (Very interesting mechanic, not sure if i like it) and such

I'm a bit concerned for the races, I'm hoping it isn't the start of a trend to have 1 set Primary stat and optional secondary stats. Changeling it made a lot of sense and I can see it for the more Monsterous races, but if they go back to more civilized, I think they should stick with the +2/+2 dynamic.

The addition of a Controller for Primal is interesting, and the mechanic is weird, it supports a Striker component to most Primal classes and gives us someone else who can actually attack at range. The entire Psionic Power source is all shades of weird, Monk being Full Discipline, Battlemind being Con (Something Conlocks should enjoy) Ardent I'm not a big fan of, but Psion is a lot of fun. Runepriest is my upcoming character, I'm just afraid it'll be too much for the party to track.

One player in my group will basically always play a Hybrid, I'll keep out of them for a while... but one of my favorite additions are the Superior Impliments - a much needed boost for casters.

Overall my opinion is favorable, but i'm really frustrated that both Invoker and Runepriest get 'Hammer of Vengeance' as a Paragon Path name. Wizards uses so many old and fun words, but you have the Ardent Paladin build, with Ardent Strike, but the Psionic Power source gets the Ardent class... Then Warmaster and War Master as epic destinies? come on guys....

This is an issue in my group as well. My wife seems to have kind of glossed over looking at the PHB3. It's a hard thing to do, keeping all the long time gamer friends into it, while also keeping the new folks engaged, and not confused. With a couple of respected and notable exceptions, my group has quite taken to the system. Two of my closest friends just hate 4, and I'm not going to try to change their minds anymore, they're entitled to their opinions.

All this isn't a huge deal, though. The more I think of it, the more I realize that every version of D&D has had a couple of books that I didn't like, but I still buy them... Hence the success of D&D.

I'll have to look more into what Augments are, I haven't done a full read through yet, just mainly about things that really got my interest. There are a few hybrid combinations that actually seem fairly ridiculous, or at least very interesting. Such as pairing a Hybrid Assassin with any striker hybrid is amazing since you can use their shrouds with the other striker's powers (Assassin/Rogue can deal Sneak Attack 2d6 + 2d6 shrouds every other turn, not to mention Rangers Quarry and Monk's Flurry).

I agree, PHB3 isn't a homerun, and it definitely does add complexity, to an otherwise complex game, but I think its still a good direction for the game and doesn't ruin anything.

THUMBS UP TO THAT! did the devs actually missed this parts?

dev1: wat epic destiny can we make for an ardent?
dev2: i know! WAR MASTER!
dev1: but that's a warlord's ED?
dev2: No. his was Warmaster, one word. Ardent's is War Master, two words.

I am not at all impressed with PHB3 but to me, it's a good sign. Some of the things they are bringing to the game are really good, and if they are running out of "new content" to add, maybe they can go back and focus on things that would add more. (For example, I liked the book on Dragonborn. I would like more things to flesh out races/classes they have, not more races/classes almost no one will play).