I've now almost finihed the game for the second time, and while I can think of other parties to run, I want to wait awile. Any recomedations for other RPGs that will run on a new system with Windows xp that have similar qualities as Wizadry?

unfortunately, no, ashara. wiz 8 has wrecked me for other RPGs. i liked both arcanum (for the open plot) and divine divinity (for the character development and items), but there's just not an RPG supergame alternative like wiz 8.

my break from wiz 8 has mostly involved reading all those books i let pile up when i was playing my umpteenth party... :D

You might want to try Jagged Alliance 2. It's another game by Sir-Tech and has even more personality. It isn't a traditional RPG though being based on guns and grenades more than swords and spells.

I can think of 2 that are pretty good.

Might and Magic 7 is pretty good. It is like a watered down Wiz8. It is old, but I had a lot of fun with it for a long time.

Gothic is very good too. Great character interactions, and a very open story. Gothic II is out also. I have not played it, but hear it is also very good.

I agree with Holywhippet, I too played JA2 and I think, it is a very good game ( especially in SciFi mode) .
I also think Might and Magic VI was o.k.
I have Gothic II, it is a little bit like Morrowwind ( no party ). Good graphics and sound, but IMO you have to talk very much in this game . Maybe it changes later , the game is new to me.

[img]graemlins/monster5.gif[/img]

Wizardry 7 Crusader Of The Dark Savant (the Gold edition) the game is even better than Wizardry 8 but the grapihc is a bit dated [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Well, Fallout I and II have great stories, but are set in a (non-magic) postapocalyptic earth.

If outdated graphics (VGA) don't matter, try
Betrayal At Krondor
Its a really great game with a story from one of the best fantasy authors (Raymond E. Feist).

Sierra even released it for free some time ago to promote the (not so good) sequel. So you can find it anywhere on the web. Just google it.

Also a great story has Planescape:Torment.

Unfortunately rpg's aren't what they used to be. Nowadays everything with swords in it is a rpg. I even read a review for a action game a short time ago, where they said it had a rpg-feeling, because you have swords and can collect healing potions :(

I ditto the sentiments about M&M 6/7, Wiz 7 and Betrayal at Krondor. All are huge worlds, tricky and well written.

thanks for the sugestions, and excuse the typos in my initial query (recovering from an arm injury and somewhat immobilized- therefore the query). keep the ideas coming......

My favorite crpgs are

Wizardry 8
Gothic
Divine Divinity
planescape torment

Gothic 2 is excellent also.

Party based first person games...

Well actually Kotor is sort of like that. You only have 3 people and its not turn based though.

Wizardry style games...

The only recent ones were might and magic 9 and wizards and warriors. I honestly didnt like either of them as much. Wizards and warriors is still pretty cool if you can find it.