Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

As stated up there. Halflings are often ridiculed.

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

That's not a question we can answer without more detail. What about them does your group find worthy of ridicule?

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

It depends on the type of game you want to play, and that goes for ALL Races/Classes/etc. It also depends on what point you are at in any specific game. If you like smashing things and collecting the treasure all for yourself, an Elder Gnome Warrior is amazing. If you're getting lots of treasure for Races and Classes you don't have, Halfling is really good. In the later stages of an Epic game, being an Orc has its advantages. Want to screw people over? Lizard Thief.

Each Race/Class lends itself to a specific type of gameplay. If your style of gameplay doesn't lend itself to being a Halfling, don't be a Halfling (personally, I've never found the Ranger Class to be very useful, but that's just me).

SS

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

Being able to re-roll if you fail a Run Away attempt is nice, and being able to go up a level by selling only a 500 GP item can be VERY nice (in our last game, my son went to level 9 from level 7 late in the game by selling a single item worth 1200 GP, so I think HE was glad to be a Halfling).

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

Personally, I love Halflings. The ability to buy levels cheaply can be an insanely powerful tool in itself. We usually find that Halflings and Elves tend to race ahead, and thus end up getting their race cursed away before anyone else. :)

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

Perhaps 1b2a has an older set where the Halflings had the Run Away penalty and doesn't know about the changes. I'm assuming that's part of the reason why Andrew asked him for further comment about exactly what he dislikes. Hopefully he'll chime in soon so we can find out as I also don't see them being ridiculous in their current form.

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

That could be. I know, before the change, I was reluctant to be a Halfling most of the time, and would dump the Race at the first sign that I might have to Run Away from something scary.

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

Halflings used to have a run away penalty instead of a bonus chance? I imagine they would be pretty terrible to use then.

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

Yep, it was part of the 2010 changes:
Gnomes had a Run Away penalty too instead of their name beginning with G/N bonus.

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

No, not really. The ability to sell one or two Items to get 3 Levels kicks butt, halfling-sized or normal-sized.

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

It's definitely nice to be able to sell a double priced item every turn, but I always liked them because I got to reroll after I fail my run away roll

Re: Are halflings just awful or is there something I'm not getting?
 

Halflings have some good "usable only by halfling" items as well. Step Ladder and Limburger and Anchovy Sandwich are items with good bonuses and require no hands.