DnD4 Countdown 4 - A week of fives

This final week before the release, I'll be presenting a number of lists concerning DnD4. Todays list is "Five things I'm excited about in DnD4". I know I have written a few posts that seem fairly critical to the game, so I thought I'd make up for that in presenting what I'm looking forward to in DnD4. So, here goes

1. Fantastic worlds
   
• It seems DnD4 is going back to a more simple, straightforward setting that opens up for more freedom and creativity for the DM. The basic setting, as described, doesn't contain lot's of history, politics or civilisation. It just is. This makes it easier for me to just slot in whatever incoherent and fun story I want. If I want there to be ruins that hold the secrets about who is the rightful heir to the "old kingdom" (whatever that is), there is ruins.. and an old kingdom.. and an heir. Also, take a look at my post Starting settings simple
  
2. Ease of preparation
• It seems like DnD4 will be a lot easier to prepare modules for. Take the above example. I want the ruins to be populated by goblins that are ruled by a warlock. He has a personal guard of undead around him. All these things are readily prepared in the Monster Manual, and even if I wanted to flesh the Warlock out in detail that won't take long. Focus is on the story and excitement, not adding modifiers.
3. More group tactics.
• One thing that I have noticed is that there are a lot more rules that encourages group tactics (or at least some sort of coorperation). This holds mostly true for the leader-types, but the rest of the classes also get their share of powers and attacks that can be used to good effect when used in conjunction with others.
4. Reaching lvl 30.
• This is a long term plan, but still. I like that they have added the quest for immortality in the end. It doesn't just end with "the characters settle down and become a barkeep", but the character can actually be a demi-god, influencing millions of people in the future.
5. An interesting setting publishing model
• Some time ago WotC presented a model for publishing settings. Actually, it's nothing remarkable, but that's what I find remarkable. Instead of having a small number of settings that will be bloated with sourcebooks, they will have a larger number of settings (there's even rumours of Spelljammer... yay!) with a limited series of books. Basically one GM Guid and one Players Guide for each setting, and that's it. There are those that doesn't like that, but it's a model I very much approve of.

Look forward to other lists later this week.