And then 4th went and slimlined things even further.
And what a success that was...
I missed that entirely. 3rd Ed destroyed my interest in upgrading; I'd been playing since 1st Edition, too.
If you get a chance, you might want to take a look at 5e; mechanically it's still streamlined, but lots of people who didn't like 3e/4e seem to like it.
Thanks for the tip. My eldest child is nearly old enough to introduce to tabletop RPGs. I'd been planning to start him on Fighting Fantasy though.