Wizards of the Coast has announced that in May, 2008 they will be releasing the 4th edition of the legendary Dungoens and Dragons RPG. According to Bill Slavicsek, R&D Director at Wizards,

"The game mechanics have been amped up to eliminate the game-stoppers, accentuate the fun factors, and make play faster and more exciting. In the future (now only eight months, 29 days, 23 hours, and 50 minutes from now!) D&D Insider provides its members with immediate access to Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine, to enhanced and expanded content tied to the newest physical book products, to an amazing suite of digital tools to make Dungeon Master preparation and campaign management easier to handle, to a Character Creator that provides not only an interactive character sheet but a visualizer that lets you determine the exact look of the characters you create—and, D&D Insider provides a digital D&D Game Table that turns the Internet into your kitchen table. This amazing application, which we’ll talk more about as the weeks go on, allows you to supplement your face-to-face gaming 24/7, helps you find a group to game with if you don’t happen to have a face-to-face group, or lets you hook up with gaming buddies who long ago scattered to the four winds."

I am alittle hesitant about the whole thing but also abit excited. I've spent tons of money on 3.5 ed supplements and core books which is a pain and had also spent money on 3rd ed supplements and core books. But the idea of being able to play DnD with a truely useful internet interface which would support people playing the game as opposed to computers is my idea of progress in the RPG field. Anyway it is 9 months or so till the release so we will see what happens.