Getting used to 4th edition?

[LurkerInPlayground]

Well here's the main complaint about rituals:

You have to play money and 10 minutes to pick a lock that the Rogue could do for free and at a fraction of the same time. You'd have better luck just trying to pick that lock yourself. Or for that matter, just blasting down the door (at-will powers).

Nor can you do big exciting things that influence the game world but wouldn't necessarily have a lot to do with direct combat. Divination is a good example of this, except that these Rituals tend to be hellishly restrictive and/or expensive.

Other good concepts would include things like carving out a tower from the rock face of a mountain. Immortality. Gate. Wish.

You know, big and important stuff that introduces roleplaying opportunities or makes life convenient but doesn't directly influence combat power.