We recently played a level 30 dungeon delve and we were able to complete each combat encounter in about an hour mainly because we were familiar with our characters from running them through lower level delves. Had we played these PCs from level 1 I think the combat would have been even faster. Familiarity is the key.

IMO D&D 4e is an extremely fast game. However, it requires as the author reported that the people be familiar with their characters and the system.

in our game we have the following rules to help move things along in a friendly way.
1. If a player is not ready to take their actions we simply remove them form the initiative order and proceed with the next player / monster. After that next action if the player is now ready they can get back in the initiative order. This is a nice way to help people get ready without delaying the game and doesn’t penalize them to much.
2. Only in character short suggestions. No coaching and managing of other players. Let their decision stand and let your characters reaction be the only reaction.
3. When we first started and had new players and characters we actually spent time doing practice runs.

I have found that the players spend a lot of time discussing things and our goal is to continue to stop this behavior and let the game just play out.

Also, our combats tend to last longer than the 45 minutes. This is mostly because the campaign is a dangerous one and I’ve set most of the encounters at the hard level.

@Wyatt
I’m not interested in having combat over in one round, I’m much more interested in a long battle with good tactics and unexpected twists and turns. But if each round takes 10-15 minutes then this just isn’t practical. As long as each round can be completed quickly I’m all for longer combat.

Your adjustments to monster stats sound interesting. I may have to try this kind of adjustment and see how it works for my game.

@Anarkeith
I agree that experience with 4e will speed things up in the long run. I hadn’t considered the “spotlight” factor. It’s an interesting observation and remarkably accurate.

@jonathan
Welcome back, it’s been a while since we’ve heard from you. I like your suggestion to have basic and advanced versions of the game. I’m actually surprised Wizards hasn’t thought of it. After all they could sell even more books that way. But in all seriousness I agree with your rationale for slow play. D&D 4e requires commitment and I don’t think all players are willing (or able) to put in the time and effort required to make their gaming experience great. Thanks.

@Mike
My group uses laptops at the gaming table (we don’t use minis, we use MapTool from RPTools.net) and the internet often causes distractions. A guy’s turn comes up and he has no idea what’s happened since his last turn. We have to waste time bringing him up to speed when he should already know. But when everyone’s focused things run smoothly. We’re a pretty experienced group so the learning curve wasn’t that steep.

It took everyone a while to catch on, but most of them got it and fight are coming together a lot faster. I have one player who spends too much of his not turn time txting and isn’t prepared when his turn rolls around, but other than that, it’s smooth sailing.

Also, I wonder how much of it is just a human need for attention. I’ve run across players old and new in 4e who look to their character sheets first for answers. Combat is the one time you have a formal turn, so I wonder if people struggling with 4e might subconciously feel the need to spend more time there? Can giving players more rp opportunities outside combat speed it up?