- The presenter makes it very clear that it is a roleplaying game, not a board game.
- There is no map or board
- There is no GM vs. Players component
- The components are an aid only, not the focus
Link - Fantasy Flight GenCon Video
One of our regular posters in our forum - Fulminata - has scoured the FFG forums and has come up with the following - it really meshes with what the presenter says in the video -
There's more information over at the FFG forums if you can wade through all the various posts arguing back and forth over whether 3rd edition kills babies or is the greatest thing since sex.
The Wizard and Priest books are the only special character books as they need more rules for handling the magic aspects. The rules for everyone else are in the core book in the box. The cardboard minis are allegedly just there as placeholders/eyecandy and that there's no board.
The character boxes are descent-like, but that appears to be the main aspect borrowed from that game.
I think they'd be better off leaving all that crap out if it meant lowering the price of the game by $20 or so.
The main game includes humans, dwarfs, wood elves and high elves, and IIRC 40 careers. Expansions will add back in Halflings and more careers, possibly even in the first character pack that should be released about the same time as the main game.
I'm still underwhelmed, but waiting on more impressions to come back from the demos at GenCon.