Saving My Own Game: Break Out of the Combat Rut

One of the things I really spent a lot of time thinking about while traveling to and from DDXP was some of the frustrations I have with the way our current game plays.  We seem to be playing only a part of the game, not really enjoying the full, deep experience of playing D&D.  

Car Wars & Dragons.  

This is where we are right now.  We are treating d&d like car wars -- we build our primo charater at a given level, the take them out for a spin. But part of the joy of the game is the evolution of the character. We lose that when we play car wars style d&d. No wonder all we care about is combat -- that's all we really play anymore.

Car Wars was a great game -- truly a lot of fun, and an important part of my geeky childhood.  But I want more out of my D&D sessions -- both as a player and as a DM.

So What do we need to do?

1. We need to try to de-emphasize the mechanics of the game, to make room for story.
2. We need to create a game culture where there is a reason to engage with the story.
3. We need to get all of the players in on the act.

So the idea file:
- start to encourage players to describe their actions in narrative, descriptive terms, rather than just the mechanical terms we are so used to. Consider making these descriptions a requirement for the use of the "bump" chips.
- consider switching to a more traditional battle map style of presentation to foster more ad-lIbbed action.
- develop a system of campaign currencies that will matter to the players in game terms. Daily powers, healing surges, magic items.... These are not enough. But any additional currency needs to be intrinsic to the campaign or adventure, not to the game mechanics. It has to matter for story reasons.
- develop a set of Lego block tools for creating varied, complex, interestig skill challenges.
- stop handwaving the non-combat action. We are so focused on combat we never really play through anything other than combat. It sucks.
- make much more significant use of quests. There should be personal quests, groups quests, secret quests, faction quests, power source related quests, and so on. There is a LOT to be explored in the quest system.

It's a start.  Any other suggestions?  Any suggestions for how to actually deliver on these grand ideas?