You make it sound like a corporate buyout! :)

From my experience, what happens is this:

a) executive management is replaced
b) top management is interviewed;
c) based on answers from (b) the fat is trimmed
d) redundant positions are eliminated

While there's not necessarily a firefight, there is going to be attrition through consumption.

Can you name any turn-based cRPGs that have at-will, encounter and daily powers like D&D 4e?

(As a side note, I think Wizards of the Coast should have called that edition something other than Dungeons and Dragons and maintained it as an alternative system; it's very different from other editions.)

It felt like they where being very careful not to make a defacto action movie based on a video game, took lots of effort to make the plot close to the game and to spend time developing the characters, and explaining motivation and so on.

The issue I had with this is it was an action game. Plot for each level was given to you through 3 pages of graphic novel during the loading screens, then straight into the action. it was genius. 30 seconds of plot and straight into a bullet ballet.
Not turn based, but it smelt like WoW and 10,20 and 30 minute cooldown on some powerful abilities.

Question for anyone, but you seem familiar with later D&D iterations dtgreene.

Has WotC screwed it up? I imagine they would try to over-monetize pretty much anything (Axis & Allies really only needed a couple of editions max - [the large format one with Italy is a nice 2nd one to have]). D&D is pretty engrained in the culture - changing it completely every 2 years seems pretty lame to an outsider like myself...

Under the specific name given to them by 4e? No. But equivalents to those existed in plenty of games. At-will and daily powers appeared in BG2, for one thing. (Also, before you mention it, BG2 was turn-based.)

I'm in a 5e campaign at the moment. Wizards is definitely milking the license, but 5e isn't a terrible edition. Watered down from 3.5? Yeah. But it still has plenty of complexity. And there's no rule against playing 3.5 if that's what you want to play. :P

I am actually not that familiar with the later iteration. However, I do know some of the basics, like how 4th edition gives everyone (including fighters) at-will powers (which can be used every round), encounter powers (which can be used once per encounter), and daily powers (which are something like once per day). Having powers like that, IMO, changes the feel of the game; why use a normal attack when you can just span your at-will powers? Also, having mages being able to constantly use something like magic missiles means they can't be completely out of magic. (Although, they can still run out of more powerful spells.)

Incidentally, if you want to get a feel for 5th edition (which I believe has more in common with older editions than 4e), you can download the basic rules for free:
https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules

Welcome to real life. :)

Actually, the game isn't turn based. Everything happens in real-time; it's just that there are a lot of cooldowns involved. (For example, after starting to use a spell or item, you can't use one for about 6 seconds, but (if you aren't still in the casting animation), you can still move or even attack. This becomes noticeable, for example, if you have a character use a potion in melee and then immediately go back to attacking.)

People have already mentioned Paranoia, but Paranoia really should be a video game. Just the setting would be fine, if the whole game couldn't be duplicated.

The developers themselves considered it a turn-based game. It just has a lot of added animation to makes it seem real-time. Obviously, it's not a perfect reconstruction of the D&D ruleset, but it's still not a proper real-time RPG like Diablo.

Appreciate your thoughts.

What I'm saying is that it is not just the animations that make it real-time; it's the game mechanics.

Here are some other examples:

If a fireball has been cast, it is possible for the target to move out of the way before it hits. Alternatively, you could open the character's inventory (which in BG2 pauses the game) and equip a ring of fire resistance before the effect lands. (You can't change armor when the game thinks you're in combat, but other equipment can be changed.)
Sunfire makes the caster briefly immune to fire. A well timed sunfire can allow a mage to avoid damage from a dragon's fire breath, for example.
If a creature is hit by multiple spells on the same frame (unlikely unless a sequencer with multiple spells with the same projectile type is used), the same roll is used by all saving throws.
With ranged attacks and spells, double kills are possible. A can attack B and B can attack A before the attack lands, and if both attacks are fatal, a double kill will occur. (No need for area of effect attacks here.)
The behavior of some sequencers and chain contingincies depends on the animation length. (In a turn based game, the first effect would complete before the second effect starts; that's not the case in Baldur's Gate.)

I can see two major ways of doing it (in single-player, at least):

1) Deliberately make the game deliberately segmented, with scenarios selected freely from a level-select. Half the fun would be watching how you get hosed, like a Sierra game gone wild. The game would attract some of the Goat Simulator video reaction crowd, but could still be entirely solvable once you get into the vibe of being a horrible, horrible paranoid person, for anyone who really wants to get into the game. So you get two levels of comedy: comedy when you lose, and comedy when you win.

2) Attempt to emulate Paranoia's "Straight" style, where things are still funny but the game is more survivable. Humor more along the lines of Zork Grand Inquisitor. Still some comedy in getting hosed, but without the rapidity. Just existing in Alpha Complex can be hilarious, so a humorous Straight-style game would allow you to survive long enough to see all the levels of the experience, maybe all the way up to High Programmer.

The thing I miss about PnP roleplaying is being able to go beyond the rules and limitations, something what is beyond current game design.

Take D&D.
There are creatures that are magic resistant, so a fireball won't hurt them.

So aim at the ground in front, throwing dirt up and causing distractions.
Blast the tree or wall near them

Spells like Enlarge; In a computer game it just gives +% damage to a friendly target. In a PnP game, cast enlarge on a door to stop baddies opening it, or target the knights saddle and watch him fall off his mount.

As you can tell I loved playing Mages.