I’ve actually seen it posted that RPGs aren’t what they used to be.. does anyone agree with that?

Hmm, They were more simplistic usually had less depth (save Darklands) and were worse in most ways.
However I do think Music was never the same since Salieri died, I mean everything since then has basically been a downhill slide.

I think PnP RPG's were better before 3rd Ed d&d (the main game i play) as for CRPG's the graphics have gotten better, but some of the other elements have lost out (save for bg1 & 2 and Torment)

Yeah, no one cares much about storyline that much anymore. Nowadays it is all about graphics, sounds and multiplayer capability.

Agree with Morgeruat about PS:T and BG being great, and I regard BGII as the greatest RPG of all time.

Pardon me for asking, but how do you figure that? I've think they've improved but then again my old days are a lot newer than anyone's in here. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I'm playing FF 4 right now, this sure beats any other FF game (well maybe not tactics) Then again maybe thats just my Dragoon Fetish talking [img]tongue.gif[/img]

DRAGOONS DRAGOONS! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

They need to make a Modern FF game with Kain in it [img]tongue.gif[/img]

How far back are the games that "used to be"?

I loved:
Ultima 3, 4, 5...
Bard's Tale Series
Dragon Wars
Wizardry Series
Might & Magic 1, 2, 3...
Champions, Death Knights, & Dark Queen of Krynn
Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret Of the Silver Blades....
Magic Candle
and more....

Good memories...I wonder if I'll feels the same about the games of the last decade?

Mark

I'm an ultima fan from way back! Also liked Fallout 1&2, and Deus Ex. Never played PS:T, one day I'll get around to playing that...

Modern CRPGs (excepting the BG games) are definitely going downhill. Very few implement usable AIs or a deep storyline. Dungeon Siege, for example. I played it faithfully for a couple of weeks, and I did enjoy it - for a while. Frankly, the storyline amounts to variations of "hack then slash", "slash then hack", "repeat until done". I never finished it, and now it's uninstalled likely never to be reinstalled.

Another thing I find interesting is that game developers are targetting shorter play times with their releases. Ultima VI had upwards of 120 hrs of gaming in it, if you tracked down every little quest. Games like NWN have game times in the range of 40hrs. Heck, I finished it in two weeks! That's the shortest time I've ever spent on a CRPG.

blatant plug: check out Exult, the opensource implementation of Ultima VII for modern o/ses.

Pardon me for asking, but how do you figure that? I've think they've improved but then again my old days are a lot newer than anyone's in here. [img]tongue.gif[/img] </font>[/QUOTE]Take NWNs as a classic example of bad storyline [img]tongue.gif[/img]