Drakensang - Updates @ Official Site

I am only fimiliar with TDA 4e, what edition was RoA? Because the rules seem very similar (rolls, tests, talents, stats, combat mechanics, etc). Was 2e that much better? And does anyone know of an english version before I go crazy looking? Or a non-German version? I can buy it and figure it out if its any romance language but French

Realms of Arkania was 3rd edition.

I'm not overly familiar with TDE 4th edition mostly because they weren't published in the Netherlands (TDE, under the nomer "Oog des Meesters" (Eye of the Master) was very popular in the Netherlands during 2nd edition) but from what I know about it, 2nd-3rd is pretty different. I don't know if it's better, I'll try playing 4th edition a bit to see.

4th edition, near as I can figure, is more free-form and less molded than 2nd-3rd, which were more about class restrictions. But I think others can explain that more clearly.

Also, to get to know 3rd edition why not just flip through the Realms of Arkania manuals?

Dice mechanics are never covered. Some key concepts, such as attack vs. parry are briefly covered, but not enough to make a sound choice, especially without knowing the mechanics. I bought 4e out of interest of knowing what the hell I was doing in RoA. I played and beat all three 7,000 times before even knowing how the die role worked.

The DSA browser games are released in English. The first one, Drakensang: Conspiracy at Ferdok is free.
TDE-Games.com

The ruleset changed fundamentally. DSA 4.0 is a point-buy, DSA 2/3 was all about rolling out your character. It had only the basic attributes and no skill system, as far as I know. It could be compared to the difference between the rule set of Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights 2.

Polish Colector's Edition

http://forum.dtp-entertainment.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=11636

Any release info for the states yet? two sites including Amazon say its ready for shipping. I wanted to ask on the official boards but all registration info for their form is in German and my german is nicht gut