Favorite D&D Edition?

[Trisar]

Firstly, I just want it made clear that I'm not trying to incite the flames of thousands of enthusiasts about their favorite edition of D&D (or AD&D, if you like pre-3e).

That said, I just thought I'd ask what everyone's favorites were and why. As an added twist, hearing everyone's least favorites (and the whys, of course) could be fun too, as well as things you disliked from your favorite and things you thought were good from your least. Favorite and least favorite campaign settings from those editions would be a good addition, if you like. I'll start us off.

Favorite edition: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition.
Why?: Probably because I've had a good DM who's worked her rear off to make sure the game is fun for us. It also had, in my opinion, a huge amount of customization potential without getting overly detailed about it. And like all the D&Ds, if a rule is too stifling, you can bend or break it. Also, because wild mages just rock like that.
Dislike?: Conflicting rulebooks, especially when they conflicted themselves. Several points were also a little vague. I also never really saw a point where the BATTLESYSTEM rules looked really appealing to me.
Favorite 2e Campaign Setting: Forgotten Realms, easily.
Least favorite 2e Campaign Setting: I've only really played FR, though we've also dabbled a bit in Spelljammer. Not enough for me to have an opinion on it, though.

Least favorite edition: Probably Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition.
Why?: Despite people saying it's actually easier, the rules just seemed more complex and confusing to me. I also really don't like what they did to the elvish races. Is it a bad edition? A lot of people like it, so I'm willing to say it isn't bad. I just don't think I could get into it.
Like?: Hard to say. The ease of setting stuff up for the DM seems like a definite high point, though, and I wish things were that easy for us 2e players.
Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: I haven't actually played 4e, so I don't know much about it. That said, I've read a bit about the Eberron setting, and firmly believe that any campaign setting with magical trains created just so the PCs can fight on top of them can't be all bad.
Least favorite 4e Campaign Setting: Ironically, Forgotten Realms. So many things done to the Realms seemed too nonsensical or out of place to me, not least of all is the fact that people can still apparently cast magic after Mystra was killed.

Now I'm curious what everyone else will post up...

[AKA_Bait]

Favorite edition: D&D 3.5
Why?: It has enough options that as a DM, I never really feel like I need to depart from the rules as intended in doing just about anything reasonable. This keeps arguments at the table to a minimim and ad hoc rulings to a minimum.
Dislike?: The sheer number of options is also sometimes a problem. Creating a strong character takes a long time, at least for me. There are enough splat books that I really can't do more than glance at some of them and it's problematic when a player wants to use something from a book I'm not familiar enough with to know how it will effect party balance.
Campaign Setting: Homebrew. I've never really played any setting other than FR that wasn't 99% homebrewed. I found FR to be dissapointing.

Caveat: In time, I may come to like 4e more than 3.5. I've yet to play more than a handful of sessions with it and haven't spent nearly as much time with the system is 3.5. I do like it's elegance and the intentional ease of design on the fly for DMs.

Least favorite edition: 2e.
Why?: Thac0 is unintuituve to me. Also, the few times I've played it, my DM was a prick. It has been years though, and as I've said in other places, if I played it again with a good DM and group, I might like it better.
Like?: Staggered xp tables. Seemed like a good way to balance.
Favorite Campaign Setting: N/A, everything I've played is homebrew.
Least favorite Campaign Setting: Same as above.

[Matthew]

Favorite Edition: AD&D
Why: Offers varied levels of complexity and a simple basic structure that is easy to customise and add to. The rules are also often quite vague, which means that much is left up to individual rulings.
Dislike: Attribute tables, I wish those were more like the BD&D tables; the dominance of kits and the proficiency system in the supplements as the primary suggested means of customisation. Gradual move towards an explicit and less yielding rules system.
Favourite AD&D Campaign Setting: Greyhawk probably gets the most play for us, but all the settings have something to offer.
Least Favourite AD&D Campaign Setting: Probably Dragonlance or Spelljammer; not that I dislike either of them, just I have more problems with them than the others. Wonky Spelljammer physics and Dragonlance's "not much to do" syndrome [i.e. the prominence of the novel line]. Not problems once junked, but a bit annoying.

Least Favourite Edition: Not sure, as I haven't really played much D20/4e yet, but it is looking like my least favourite, mainly from perusing the rule books. Otherwise it would be D20/3e.
Why: Not a fan of "character builds" or of very intricate systems with lots and lots of default rules and rules exceptions. Too much emphasis on the rules and not enough emphasis on playing the game for my liking.
Like: There is a greater emphasis on speed of play in D20/4e than in D20/3e, a return to "you can try anything" idealism, and some of the setting ideas are pretty cool. I also like the way that saving throws have become defences.
Favourite D20/4e Campaign Setting: Haven't played enough to say.
Least Favourite D20/4e Campaign Setting: Haven't played enough to say.

[LibraryOgre]

Copy and paste Matthew's answer onto mine, though my favorite setting is the Forgotten Realms as of the 2nd edition Boxed Set; we played that all through high school and early college, and I know the Realms better than I know parts of the US.

[Morty]

Might as well throw in my two cents before the inevitable flamewar.

Favorite Edition: D&D 3.5
Why? It offers a good blend of heroic and not-so-heroic fantasy roleplaying, has got a good casting system -though the spells themselves are less good- and offers a lot of options.
Dislike: Class imbalance, magic being too easy and yet too powerful and able to solve anything with no problem.
Favorite 3ed campaign setting: Forgotten Realms. It's a solid setting that sticks to the genre in a good way. It's also huge and very rich.
Least favorite 3ed campaign setting: Eberron. Ugh. It's just so mind-numbingly ridiculous on so many levels. Airships? Warforged? Magic Trains? Halflings on freaking dinosaurs? Add to it a modern feel of the setting and magic-as-technology and you've got a setting I'll never even touch. The blurred alignments and good treatment of goblinoids don't redeem it.

Least favorite edition: D&D 4ed.
Why? Well, I like it less than 3.5 and it's the only edition of D&D besides 3ed I've ever played. If I play some older editions one day, maybe I'll change my mind, who knows. I doubt it, though. As for why I don't like 4ed, it's oversimplified, abstract and vague, to name the most important reasons.
Like: Encounter design is much easier and the game is more balanced. A shame that both came at a big price, but they're clearly assets of this edition.
I don't have any favorite/least favorite settings for 4ed, I haven't played it enough. I find basic "Points of Light" setting decidedly unenjoyable, though. It's tailored towards a gameplay style I dislike.

[Emperor Tippy]

Favorite Edition: 3.5
Why: Because it could let you do nearly anything.
Dislike: How badly thought out a lot of it was.
Favorite Campaign Setting: Homebrew. Of the published setting's Eberron.
Least Favorite Campaign Setting: FR.
Least Favorite Edition: 4e
Why: Removed way to many options and went too far in the balance crusade.
Like: Nothing really.
Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: Haven't played enough to say.
Least Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: Haven't played enough to say.

[hamlet]

Favorite Edition: Favorite edition is always going to be AD&D in both its flavors, though BECMI/RC fly in a close second.


Why: Real adaptability without having to wade through the dross of infinite fine variations on rules. The understanding that if I can imagine it, I can make it happen. The adaptability that permits me not to worry overly about how one change here throws everything over there out of whack.

Dislike: The unfortunate headlong rush towards more rules and more splatbooks that characterized TSR's middle and later days that effectively ignored the core design principles of the edition's root.


Favorite Campaign Setting: Kingdoms of Kalamar. It's just the best freakin' setting put to paper IMO. Greyhawk (the Folio Edition) and Dark Sun come in second.


Least Favorite Campaign Setting: Forgotten Realms and DragonLance. FR because it reads pretty much exactly as it was: something initially written by a child. "You've been wandering through the burning desert, parched and without water for several days now. You mount one last dune and find . . . a glacier . . ." DragonLance because it put plot over fun.


Least Favorite Edition: At this point, 3ed, but only by a slim margin.


Why: The concept of the "character build" nauseates and sickens me. The utter inflexibility of style. The metric ton of drecht rules.


Like: WOTC moved the game from marginalia into a more mainstreem realm. This, IMO, saved the game and kept it alive.


Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: Haven't seen any. As for 3ed settings, I guess that'd be Midnight.


Least Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: For 3ed, that'd be . . . probably Eberron. Lazers PEW PEW!!!

[Captain Six]

I've only played two editions and liked both of them so I'll do favorite and second favorite. I also play in homebrew worlds a lot.

Favorite edition: 3.5
Why?: Flexible to do what I like in combat with it and out of all the editions I've looked at it has the most rules for out-of combat situations. I have a good feel of it's balance and I can houserule or homebrew anything I need.
Dislike?: Saturation of Magic, it's near impossible to have a low magic campaign.
Favorite Campaign Setting: Eberron. It really feels like the natural development of a high magic setting, like the NPCs were able to look through the DMG too.
Least favorite Campaign Setting: I haven't done much of anything else. Most other settings don't sound interesting to me.

Second favorite edition: Second Edition AD&D
Why?: It feels like a blank canvas ready to be panted with whatever colors you like. The classes are basic, warriors are strong and mages are squishy. The PCs get strong but are still very, very mortal. It feels a lot more medieval than third.
Dislike?: I'm a tinkerer. In 3.5 I tweak and multiclass even if it isn't worth it just so I can craft something complex and unique. While AD&D has a better feel to it I don't enjoy it on as many levels as 3.5. I also am not incredibly used to it yet.
Favorite Campaign Setting: I haven't played any.
Least favorite Campaign Setting: I haven't played any.

[Project_Mayhem]

Favorite edition: 3.5
Why?: First one I tried, so I have a soft spot for it. I also really like the whole mess of available options for creating characters.
Dislike?: The blasted rules imbalance, and the potential to easily see characters as just numbers.
Favorite Campaign Setting: Eberron. It's just so freakin' awesome on so many levels. Airships? Warforged? Magic Trains? Halflings on freaking dinosaurs? Hell yeah! Add to it a modern feel of the setting and magic-as-technology and you've got a setting I love. The blurred alignments and good treatment of goblinoids are icing on the cake.
Least favorite Campaign Setting: FR probably. There's too much canon material, and the high powered NPCs and such never really did it for me.

Least favorite edition: 1st ed. AD&D
Why?: I've only played this and 3.5, and I like 3.5 more, so this has to lose. Thing I like the least would be the harshness. I do like a chance of surviving 1st level. Also it's hard to navigate the rules.
Like?: Pretty much everything else I guess. It has a very retro feel that I like.
Favorite Campaign Setting: Planescape, based on Planescape Torment. Although thats technically 2ed.
Least favorite Campaign Setting: Forgotten Realms again!



Also, sorry M0rt

[Morty]

Also, sorry M0rt

For what?

[Project_Mayhem]

Eberron. Ugh. It's just so mind-numbingly ridiculous on so many levels. Airships? Warforged? Magic Trains? Halflings on freaking dinosaurs? Add to it a modern feel of the setting and magic-as-technology and you've got a setting I'll never even touch. The blurred alignments and good treatment of goblinoids don't redeem it.

Eberron. It's just so freakin' awesome on so many levels. Airships? Warforged? Magic Trains? Halflings on freaking dinosaurs? Hell yeah! Add to it a modern feel of the setting and magic-as-technology and you've got a setting I love. The blurred alignments and good treatment of goblinoids are icing on the cake.

the inverse parody thing

[Morty]

the inverse parody thing

I thought it was preety clevel, myself. I was all like "Heh, he's using the same argument as me, only in favor of... oh, wait". It was more of a rethorical question.

[Tacoma]

TL;DR: I didn't like most of it, rewrote half of what I did use, and my players all have copies of my homebrew system now.

Favorite edition: Homebrew Simple D&D (mix of 1E plus feats, simplified and homogenized overall)
Why?: It's exactly what I want, including none of the stupid garbage from other editions. It's less than 100 pages and includes all the rules and more from PHB, DMG, and MM. I can scale a human and the sword he wields from Fine to Colossal by referring to one table. You can fit a 20th level character completely on one character sheet. Combat is fast and fun with lots of options. And the "sweet spot" ranges from level 1 to about 15. A book costs $4 for printing.
Dislike?: We're still playtesting so game balance isn't perfect. And I'm finding that the more I improve the fewer recognizable D&D tropes there are. And if I'm going to get rid of everything that makes it D&D, why don't I just start with something else?
Favorite 2e Campaign Setting: Homebrew called Broken World, based in broad strokes on a weird little video game called Septerra Core. Spelljammer is a close second but I cut out the lame stuff like those winged monkey things and the brontosaurus-people.
Least favorite 2e Campaign Setting: Mystara was good, but the Hollow World was just a big stupid zoo gimmick.
Ravenloft wasn't easy to run well - if you're doing gothic horror you might as well play Call of Cthulhu, Vampire, or something else. D&D characters were just too strong to be scared of things unless it obviously overpowered them (vampire vs 1st level group).
Greyhawk was all Gygax all the time, and it sucked because I couldn't shake his poor DMing style (see Tomb of Horrors). When I ran Greyhawk I used the map and scrapped everything else. When I ran Temple of Elemental Evil I rewrote half of it and added twice as much as was there.
Forgotten Realms is all about publishing someone else's adventures and adventurers and telling their stories and having you pay for it. I didn't like the fiction and I didn't want to play Drizzt so there wasn't much left besides the map of the world. The Time of Troubles was garbage both in writing and in effect, and in game it was pretty much just a vehicle for "this zany thing is happening for no reason here!" and "oops here's more dead/wild magic!"

Least favorite edition: 3E sourcebooks specifically.
Why?: While it simplified some things, it made a HUGE MESS out of the open source thing. You basically cannot use any 3rd party books because there is no game balance oversight. And just how many Jedi ripoffs do we need? Even the official sourcebooks were all exclusively about power creep.

As for 3E itself, giving non-fighter classes iterative attacks (and the way they implemented iterative attacks) was a complete wash.
Secondly, making magic item creation so available made it mundane. If a 3rd level character can make a magic item it suddenly becomes just another piece of equipment. On the other hand, the system makes sense and generally works.
Related to this, defining the magic item spaces and bonus sources was at once a good and bad thing. While it makes the DMs job easier, it turns your character into an Advent Calendar upon which you can hang Exactly These magic items, removing all mystery in treasure.

Like?: I liked the skill system. It was a big improvement over nonweapon proficiencies. I liked listing spells in a big chapter and then spell lists (rather than 2E giving the spell block and then referring to the Cleric version).

Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: I don't play 4E and I won't buy another D&D book ever. 3E made me make my own game. They chased me away by making their game suck enough that a diehard player didn't want to play it anymore.

Least favorite 4e Campaign Setting: See above.

[Project_Mayhem]

I thought it was preety clevel, myself. I was all like "Heh, he's using the same argument as me, only in favor of... oh, wait". It was more of a rethorical question.

OK, thanks. Just didn't want to be accused of flaming.

[Aron Times]

Favorite Edition: D&D 4E

Least Favorite Edition: All past editions...

Each edition of D&D is better than the last, at least in my opinion. 3E fixed many of 2E's mistakes in the same way that 4E fixes many of 3E's mistakes.

The best part about 4E is that you get to have fun at all levels of play. In previous editions, casters were horribly underpowered in the lower levels but completely broken once you gain a few levels. The opposite is true for the martial classes. In 4E, you get to enjoy playing a fighter or a wizard from level 1 to 30.

Also, Wizards releases errata much faster compared to 3E. This helps organized play a lot (I play mainly through the Living Forgotten Realms campaign).

The worst part about 4E is paragon multiclassing, though this has been improved somewhat with the release of Martial Power. Before then, it was severely underpowered. For non-4E players, paragon multiclassing involves giving up your paragon path for more options from your second class. Half of a paragon multiclassed character's powers are from his first class, while the other half is from his second class.

[Marty]

Favorite Edition: Castles & Crusades *

* Ok, yes, I know it's not technically D&D, but it's D20, based on the SRD, and uses the OGL, so I'm counting it.

Why?: Classic, old-school feel; improved game mechanics.

It uses the the more rigid archetype classes of 1e/2e, but with many of the improved resolution/game mechanics of 3.x. No feats, or 3.x skills. Like in 1e, classes get certain skills/powers at certain levels.

Dislike?: Hard to get players to buy in to a new game system even though it really feels/plays like AD&D, but with tweaks. For people who like 3.x Feats, it may not appeal, but that's what makes it more like 1e/2e.

Favorite Campaign Setting: C&C doesn't have an campaign setting box set, but you get pieces of it in the early modules (The Blacktooth Ridge series, etc) and some of it is really interesting. Their modules have a lot of side adventure / hook suggestions but leave a lot of detail up to the GM so you're not handcuffed by the material. Nice.

For "regular" D&D, I like the original grey box (2e) Forgotten Realms box set. Before all the FR splat books came out, FR was an awesome empty canvas with really nice maps. The original 80's Greyhawk maps were awesome too, but the setting books were a bit weak.


Least favorite edition:
It's hard for me to to name a least favorite. The 1st edition AD&D rules were a mess, but I grew up with them and there was little else like it at the time, so I can't call it a "least favorite". It will always hold a special place in my gaming heart. Fourth Ed doesn't have the same flavor, at all, as the prior 3 editions, but I can't say that I hate it. It's just a very different game than I grew up with.

Least favorite Campaign Setting:

Spelljammer always seemed completely ridiculous to me.

I dislike the "official" Forgotten Realms, only because it's been re-booted so many times now. Wild Magic, Gods War, Spell Plague, whole continent's worth of land mass disappearing in 4e... Every 2 years they do something goofy with the FR canon. On the other hand, I mostly ignore all that anyway and use the setting as it was written in the grey box, so I still like it.

[potatocubed]

Favorite edition: 2nd Edition AD&D
Why?: Because it's full of loopholes and inconsistencies and bits that make next to no sense, and this means you're not just allowed or encouraged to fine-tune it to your own specifications, it's practically necessary. You have total freedom to create, since the rules cover relatively little. I actually get the same vibe from 4e, although it comes in second in this quiz because I suspect all the 'blank spots on the map' are going to be systematically filled in by sourcebooks.
Dislike?: It clunks. Oh, how it clunks.
Favourite Campaign Setting: Planescape! <3
Least Favourite Campaign Setting: Ravenloft. Not because Ravenloft is bad (not by a long shot), just because I'm not really into horror gaming.

Least favorite edition: D&D 3.5. It's not that I dislike 3.5 - I can have a good time playing it, no problem - it's just my least favourite.
Why?: Too many rules. It doesn't prevent improvisation, but it discourages it. I also loathe the whole 'optimisation' thing.
Like?: At heart it's a nice, simple system. I also like the sheer variety of material available, and the way the OGL kick-started a whole load of small gaming companies.
Favourite Campaign Setting: Eberron is pretty cool. I like wild and wacky pulp adventure.
Least Favourite Campaign Setting: Forgotten Realms. The changes from 2e to 3e kind of robbed it of all the good stuff while retaining all the bad stuff (*cough*Elminster*cough*).

[Skjaldbakka]

Each edition of D&D is better than the last, at least in my opinion. 3E fixed many of 2E's mistakes in the same way that 4E fixes many of 3E's mistakes.

4E doesn't fix any of 3.5's mistakes. 4E doesn't bear even a passing resemlance to 3.5, or any of the past editions. It is a completely new game.

Whether thats good or bad ... well my opinion is pretty obvious.

edit- just wanted to clarify here, what I mean is that if you were to fix a wheel, you would repair the wheel, or replace it with a better wheel. 3.5 could be said to be fixing 3.0, and you could even say that 3e 'fixed' 2e, but 4e is more like taking off the wheel and replacing it with treads.

[Inyssius Tor]

{Scrubbed}

Favorite: 4e.
Why: powers for everyone, long combats w/many monsters.
Dislike: too few powers per character, so not enough options in play. Too few things that can be customized.
Fav setting: PoLand. Ripped directly from my imagination--seriously, you should see my pre-4e half-formed-setting notes.
Least fav: FR. Didn't tell me anything about FR history, only referenced it; didn't give nearly enough info about post-Spellplague events, only mentioned them.

Least fav: 3.X.
Why: short combats, wildly unbalanced, martial characters were boring.
Like: simulationism, gigantic range of options.
Fav setting: Eberron. Wicked awesome, halflings on dinosaurs, blah blah blah.
Least fav: Greyhawk. Formed entirely from unimaginative cliches, or at least they're cliches now. Masterfully evoked that famous "like really being a 4 HP mook in Fantasy Booping Vietnam" feel. Maybe a little biased by really dull Living G. modules.

[clericwithnogod]

Favorite edition: Tie: D&D, AD&D, 3.x, 4e
Why?: Like them.

Least favorite edition: Tie: BECMI, Second Edition.
Why?: Don't like them.

Favorite Campaign Setting: Tie: Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms.

Least Favorite Campaign Setting: Tie: Mystara, Birthright.

[Project_Mayhem]

Favorite edition: Tie: D&D, AD&D, 3.x, 4e
Why?: Like them.

Least favorite edition: Tie: BECMI, Second Edition.
Why?: Don't like them.

Favorite Campaign Setting: Tie: Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms.

Least Favorite Campaign Setting: Tie: Mystara, Birthright.

Succinct and to the point. I like it.

[SilentNight]

Favorite edition: 3.5
Why?: It's the first and only one I've played but it seems superior to its immediate neighbors. I like the massive number of options, there's very few concepts I've had that I haven't been able to crunch out.

Least favorite edition: Haven't played any others.
Why?:

Favorite Campaign Setting: Dragonlance, couldn't say why. Although I like the others a lot as well.
Least Favorite Campaign Setting: Don't really have one. I'm not a huge fan of Eberron aside from Warforged but I've barely spent any time with it and I'm warming up.

[Mushroom Ninja]

Favorite Edition: 3.5
Why? Complexity, options, builds that take hours/level to create, ogres dual-wielding halflings... Of all the editions, 3.5 gives the most options when creating a character.
Dislike: Stupid hour-long rounds at high levels.
Campaign setting: homebrew

Least Favorite: 2e
Why? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy 2e a lot. I'm currently playing in a 2e game. But, between it, 3.X, and 4e, the three editions I've played, it comes out slightly weaker than the other two. The combat system is very clunky and lots of things don't make much sense. Also, I hate racial level caps.
Like? It's D&D! Of course it's fun!

[rayne_dragon]

Favorite edition: AD&D 2nd edition.
Why?: One you got your head around THAC0 it was pretty cool. Lots of optional rules to cover unusual situations. You also only needed one book as a player and two more to DM.
Dislike?: Random treasure tables, unbalanced at times

Least favorite edition: "4e" Damn kids... what's wrong with you? Too lazy to actually say "edition"?
Why?: Because it was designed with the idea of "Let's make a pen and paper RPG that plays like a massively multiplayer computer game!" Which is the kind of philosphy that seeks to limit player ingenuity. I love when players (whether I'm one or not) think their way to a solution that would never be considered in a computer game and wasn't considered by the DM. It also lacks a lot of things I feel are classic D&D, but so did 3.x to some extent. Further, 4e seems to be headed towards what I hated about 3.x, which is mainly the profusion of suppliments with progressively better and better abilities than the core classes.
Like?: It's the best balanced edition so far. In fact, I would go so far as to try to use the racial templates for other editions, although converting the abilities may be a bit tricky. I also like the addition of the Eldarin and Dragonborn. Honestly, it looks like a decent game, but it's NOT D&D to me. I'm pretty sure I said the same about 3.0, but I'm pretty fixed on the idea that D&D needs THAC0.

[Skjaldbakka]

Favorite Edition: Toss-up between 3.5 and 2nd ed.
Why: Can't really find anyone to play 2nd anymore. People complain that it is too complicated. Come on people, I figured it out in gradeschool!

Least Favorite Edition: 4th
Why: It is bland on a mechanics level. There really isn't enough to the system for me to play with. Part of the joy for me with 3rd was playing with the system, and building weird characters that I'd never really want to play. That process just isn't any fun to do with 4e.

Maybe it will be in the future.

Also, I really don't like binary skills.

Favorite Setting:
Spelljammer

Least Favorite Setting:
Not sure. I've not really seen a setting I hate. Living Lands maybe?

Why:
I was young enough when first exposed to Spelljammer to have nostalgic feelings about it. Living Lands is really heinous. Unless you are a from the living lands.

[ken-do-nim]

Favorite Edition: Tie between 1E AD&D and BECMI/RC
Why?: You can scrutinize minute rule differences between versions ad nauseum and debate the merits of this and that, but at the end of the day what really matters is what kind of stories can you tell and what kind of game can you play with that ruleset. For me, these two editions allow me to tell the stories I want to tell. Why is this so? Power differential is a biggie. In 3.5, a 20th level character has little to fear from say 2 10th level characters. In these editions, the 20th level character is at best on even footing fighting both of them, and that's because of the way the power curve levels off. Also the whole experience for treasure not monsters is a big big plus, because it changes the way players think about overcoming challenges.
Favorite campaign setting: Mystara

Honorable Mention: Castles & Crusades. It looks great; I just haven't played it yet.

Least Favorite Edition: 4E.
Why?: I don't want to knock 4E; it sounds like a great game for its target audience. However, I take one look at the PHB cover with that green toad guy wielding a sword and I realize it isn't the game for me.

[Grynning]

Favorite edition: 3.5 - Mainly for the reasons that other people have named above...but I also admit that I'm a power gamer, and that's why I like 3.5. While optimizing in 3.5 takes skill (unlike 4th where they do it for you), characters do have the most potential in that system.
Dislike?: That melee characters were nigh useless at high levels. The fact that some options were just bad, while others were so ridiculously good you felt bad for writing them on your sheet.
Favorite 3.5 Campaign Setting: Eberron. It was a cool world where the impact of magic and the supernatural were integrated into a functional society. Granted some of it was silly, but at least it averted the "Reed Richards is Useless" phenomenon of other settings.
Least favorite Campaign Setting: Probably Dragonlance. I just never got into it, it seemed like a mess of cliches to me.

Least favorite edition: I don't have one. I've liked em all, including 4th.
Why?: Because D&D is always D&D as long as I have books to read and friends to roll dice with.
Like?: I'll just talk about 4th since I barely remember anything about 1st/2nd ed. - Balance, tactical movement, Warlords.
Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: Don't know yet - playing in a homebrew setting, attempting to DM FR, we'll see how that turns out.
Least favorite 4e Campaign Setting: see above.

[BobVosh]

Favorite edition: 3.5
Why?: Options...so many options...
Dislike?: Poorly written rules. Drown to heal? PERFECT!
Favorite 3.5e Campaign Setting: Does the user update for Dark Sun count? If not...I'm going with Forgotten Realms, at least parts of it. Stupid Drizzt and Elminster
Least favorite 3.5e Campaign Setting: Dragonlance. It was really a close call with Eberron though. Dragonlance has an annoying race that all DMs who love the setting can't help but spam. Why hasn't the racial cleansing of kender happened yet?

Least favorite edition: 4th
Why?: "Binary skills" is what Skjaldbakka said, and it sounds exactly right. Every character feels exactly the same for the most part.
Like?: Fey-pacted warlocks. God it is fun to teleport that much for no reason. Seriously though, I like minions and the ease of setting up appropiate CR fights.
Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: Haven't done much, only one setting so far. So FR I guess.
Least favorite 4e Campaign Setting: ?? FR as it is the only one I have done

[bosssmiley]

Least Favorite Campaign Setting: Tie: Mystara, Birthright.

So my mirror-image doppelganger evil twin, we meet again...

Favourite edition: 3.X, modded to within an inch of its life
Why?: You can re-skin all your old edition stuff and re-use it without your head bursting.
Dislike?: fiddlyness and needless complexity - 3E fails the "two drink rule" hard
Favourite 3.5 Campaign Setting: n/a (I use adapted 2E settings - Birthright, Planescape, etc.)
Least Favourite Campaign Setting: Ghostwalk

Least favorite edition: 4E
Why?: 3 types of elf in the PHB, or stupid (obvious IP-building) monster names, or "We couldn't fix it, so we removed it", or "This is COOOOOL, not like the suck you've been playing since '74...", or any one of a hundred other groggish gripes. Take your pick.
Like?: Integrated resolution system and streamlined status effects
Favorite 4e Campaign Setting: n/a.
Least favorite 4e Campaign Setting: the new Misbegotten Realms. "What the hell? I turn my back for five minutes!"

[KKL]

3 types of elf in the PHB

There are only two types of elves in the PHB, Eladrin and Elf.