Attractive Flaws

Our group has been discussing 4th edition at great lengths lately. I've never been a big time DnD guru, generally gravitating to the more modern games, but even I feel like DnD 4th edition is lacking something crucial.

Now, if you have any gamer friends or frequent the internet, you would know that I am in no way alone with this feeling. But numbers alone will not satisfy me today. I would like to take a stab in the dark at what mystical component is missing from the DnD 4 experience.

4th edition is a seriously solid system. Your level one character doesn't suck. One person's character isn't way better than another's. It is easy to make a character. It is easy to play. It is easy to DM. The flavor is as fantasy adventuring as it gets, and there are party-based teamwork mechanics built into the game. These are all things I like a lot..... but do they come at a price?

I ask the question "Is 4th edition too perfect?" This may sound silly, but hear me out.

In DnD 3, being low level sucked. You then eventually got to the "sweet spot" (levels 6-12) where you started to be powerful enough to contend with the world. Any higher than that, and your DM had a hard time challenging you. But in DnD 4, every level is balanced and fun, but here is the catch: While no level isn't in the sweet spot.... no level is in the sweet spot either.

Its all the same. You level up, but its just more of the same. You don't have to go through that right of passage, and then a turning point, and finally end up at the victorious end. Its all just kind of fun the whole way through.

So am I saying that getting killed at low levels is fun? Well, probably not, but the experience as a whole maybe comes together better, or at least is more endearing.

Character customization is the same way. DnD 4 is balanced, but the characters aren't nearly as diverse. No character is much better than another, but none of the characters are all that good! No powers or spells are too good, but then there are no really good powers and spells!

DnD 4 fixes so many of the problems that plagued the previous edition, but in fixing those issues, has it become too vanilla? Too bland? I'm sure some of those problems are much better off fixed. But maybe some of them were more interesting broken.

I bet by now what I am trying to say is clear, but feel free to think of more examples yourself. Hell, maybe post a comment and we can discuss. I eat your brains to steal your knowledge.