[Fey]

I've been in many a campaign of DnD, never been the DM(I suck at plotting). I've played 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 and I have to say that 3.0 is my favourite followed by 2.0. I tend to play the same character over, and over, and over again or at least the same type.

As to your comments though: You really don't need all the books, just the basic guide if you're a player, or the basic DM book if you want to run a game(though a monster manual would be helpful as well). The additional books are if you play a class of character SO MUCH that you need to know all the ins and outs.

The character sheet is usually there just for quick reference. Once you spend the time to get it all initially rolled and filled out you'll only occasionally reference it during fights or to do an inventory check. Your GM is gonna be the go-to person for this, talk to them about what they want in the party and plan accordingly!

The dice are the fun part!! I've dice that go to specific characters, specific campaigns, and even have 'evil' dice for when bad stuff has to go down.

Look at local comic/gaming shops, chances are they'll have either games on-site, or DMs looking for players :) I've been lucky that most of my DMs have been friends first, but I've played a few 'pick up' games with random groups and they have their own charm.