Top Ten Most Influential RPGs

[Schadenfroh]

Text

1. World of Warcraft
2. Morrowind (Elder Scrolls III)
3. Diablo
4. Star Wars KotOR
5. Ultima series
6. Fallout
7. PlaneScape: Torment
8. Baldur's Gate Series
9. Final Fantasy series
10. Fable

Schadenfroh's Comments on ActionTrip's list:
1. World of Warcraft: The commercial success of which guarantees that almost all future MMORPGs will be clones of it and many current ones will try to clone it as they progress.
2. Morrowind: Good game, interesting 1st person perspective, but I do not like the direction that the Elder Scrolls series is headed in.
3. Diablo: The commercial success of the Diablo series guaranteed that the bulk of the RPGs developed afterward would be action RPGs, aka shooters with stats and classes.
4. Star Wars KotOR: Best Star Wars game ever made, IMO. Solid story and gameplay, as usual from Bioware (pre private equity firm buyout, I do not like the direction Bioware is now headed in, but as long as they do not cancel Dragon Age or turn it into an action RPG then I am ok)
5. Ultima Series: Never played, not on "my list" to play
6. Fallout: On my list to play, although I do not hold high hopes for the third installment from Bethesda
7. Planescape: Torment: Excellent game, gave me exactly what I was looking for in a roleplaying game, great story, excellent dialog choices and interaction with consequences. One of the best games ever made, main rival being Baldur's Gate 2. But how was it influential? There has not been a game like it since.
8. Baldur's Gate Series: Popularized the infinity engine, Baldurs Gate 2 was a true masterpiece, it was the last great Advanced D&D game.
9. Final Fantasy: Never played, not on "my list" to play
10. Fable: Mediocre Action RPG, was fun, but I doubt that it would be on the list if Peter Molyneux was not involved, I think he should just stick with Populous and Syndicate games. How I :heart: syndicate.


But then again, that is just my opinion and I am sure that most will disagree with me. This is afterall a "most influential" list and not a "best of" list. I will have to put some more thought into it if I am to devise my own list.

 

[Aikouka]

I'm surprised Final Fantasy was so far down on the list. It's probably one of the most well-known RPG series.

I think some may disagree with WoW being #1, but it's existence on the list is definitely warranted as I know I've spoken to a number of people that WoW was actually one of their first games that they really played. So I'd say it was partially influential in bringing non-gamers into gaming. Then there's also the influence that it has on the gaming community in itself. The game may not be the best in one area, but it's decent in all areas pretty much.

 

[bfdd]

Ultima Series is that far down the list? The only reason any of those games exsist is because of that series.

 

[Phokus]

Final Fantasy should be much higher on that list... maybe even number 1

 

[mooncancook]

What about Sierra's Betrayal at Krondor?

 

[James Bond]

CronoTrigger?

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Why is a MMOPG on a RPG list?

 

[soybeast]

This is influential, not the best

 

[MarcVenice]

Garfield, it's still an rpg, simply with a lot of people playing together. My first game I ever bought, back when I was a little kid and could barely afford games, was baldur's gate, so you could say I'm an rpg lover. Another good rpg would definately be NWN. Fable was another game I bought, for the xbox instead though. It SUCKED BALLS !!! Honestly, it was overhyped, and barely contained any promised content that could have made the game very cool, for that it should not be on the list. I've also played planescape: torment, it couldn't quite keep me playing to be honest. I suppose it was quite refreshing and 'different' though. I haven't played fallout, and I think I should, might just pick up fallout 2. Morrowind is a really good game, lotsa freedom, lotsa choices, lotsa fun, lotsa free time wasted

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: soybeast
This is influential, not the best

Which is why WoW and Diablo are on there. Ultima should be much higher, they were the some of the first RPGs ever.

Secondly, where are the Gold Box games from SSI? Also trendsetters.

Fable shouldn't be on the list at all, it was a mediocre game to begin with and its too early to see if it will have any impact on other game develop in the future.

Torment may have been the best RPG ever produced, however, it set the bar so high that no other RPG has even dared to reach for it. Its universally praised by everyone, and yet no developer seems to want to undertake the epic task of besting it.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

What's World of Warcraft doing in first place? Even though it is the most popular MMO by far and probably the most polished, surely it didn't influence the genre as much as Everquest and Ultima Online before it.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
What's World of Warcraft doing in first place? Even though it is the most popular MMO by far and probably the most polished, surely it didn't influence the genre as much as Everquest and Ultima Online before it.

Its on the list because of its intense popularity. It will result in the next generation or two, possible more, being WoW clones, each failing to live up the original. Eventually, someone will 'roll the dice' and create a good MMO again.

Oh, WoW was not the most polished RPG. I would say that honor belows to some of the older RPGs. Possibly even titles that received patches to polish them from a rough release, such as NWN1.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Its on the list because of its intense popularity. It will result in the next generation or two, possible more, being WoW clones, each failing to live up the original. Eventually, someone will 'roll the dice' and create a good MMO again.

Oh, WoW was not the most polished RPG. I would say that honor belows to some of the older RPGs. Possibly even titles that received patches to polish them from a rough release, such as NWN1.

Sure, it got many non-gamers into the world of gaming, but how is that any different from what Diablo II and Final Fantasy 7 did? They both broke sales records in the arena of RPGs as well IIRC.

I haven't seen any "WoW clones" yet, so it seems odd to put something as being the #1 most influential RPG simply because it may influence games in the future. Even if it does spawn forth many new MMOs, what difference will it make if they do all fall short? If anything it's games like Everquest that should be listed, for influencing the creation of even greater games.

 

[Molondo]

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
What's World of Warcraft doing in first place? Even though it is the most popular MMO by far and probably the most polished, surely it didn't influence the genre as much as Everquest and Ultima Online before it.

When i figure out why halo is so "good" i'll let you know why WoW does the same job. Its probably simplicity.

 

[aCynic2]

I've posted my response about what makes an RPG an RPG in another recent thread, but I'd say most of those on the list are not RPGs.

PS:T and, to a degree BG, should, but definitely not Diablo or Morrowwind, if Morrowind is anything like Oblivion.

 

[bfdd]

I still think the Ultima series should be 1st or second. There was only ONE mmo before UO came out and there was a TON of Ultima RPGs before the MMO. It's the whole reason EQ came out and we even play that genre today. Ultima is probably the single most influential western RPG of all time yet it gets snuffed out by WoW, Kotor, Morrowwind, and Diablo. All good influential games. My top 3 of that list would look like this. 1. Ultima Series 2. Diablo 3. Final Fantasy. The rest are good, like WoW is definitely changing the face of MMOs today, but it only exsists because of those that came before it.

 

[Shadowknight]

I love Planescape, but it shouldn't even be on the list. It was extremely story-immersive and had a lot of way you could play the character and mini-quests, but I've never really seen any games that really try to replicate even a small amount of that style of writing/gameplay.

Considering the rise in first-person role-playing games (Bestheda and the people making Bioshock) I'm surprised System Shock 1 and 2, and Deus Ex aren't on the list.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Molondo

Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
What's World of Warcraft doing in first place? Even though it is the most popular MMO by far and probably the most polished, surely it didn't influence the genre as much as Everquest and Ultima Online before it.

When i figure out why halo is so "good" i'll let you know why WoW does the same job. Its probably simplicity.

you have to give WoW some credit... it has 8 MILLION people, for crying out loud.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

The list is a joke, and a bad one at that. It has very little to do with influence, and is essentially a 'games I liked' list.

No rogue on influential rpgs list = bad. And since Diablo's on that list, can't claim hack n' slash isn't rpg. The game essentially created the underlying game mechanics every last rpg uses (kill stuff, get bigger, kill bigger stuff).

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: aCynic2
not Diablo or Morrowwind, if Morrowind is anything like Oblivion.

Morrowind was a good game, loads better than oblivion.

 

[novasatori]

i dont see why wow is there and not EQ
everything is basically a copy of EQ now a days, sure wow is refined, but eq was basically the first widely popular 3d mmorpg

 

[aCynic2]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: aCynic2
not Diablo or Morrowwind, if Morrowind is anything like Oblivion.

Morrowind was a good game, loads better than oblivion.

I'm not saying it wasn't, I'm considering getting it since it's still available, but it's not likely to be an RPG, if it's anything like Oblivian. I don't really consider Oblivian an RPG. It's more a sword and sorcery FPS.

 

[bfdd]

EQ should definitely be on the list if it was a list of MMORPGs, but a list of RPGs no. I don't personally think WoW should be on there. Fallout for sure I'm suprised it's that far down.

 

[novasatori]

Originally posted by: bfdd
EQ should definitely be on the list if it was a list of MMORPGs, but a list of RPGs no. I don't personally think WoW should be on there. Fallout for sure I'm suprised it's that far down.

well yes I don't think either should be there
but if wow is going to be there, EQ should be there instead

WoW is a carbon copy of random things from many different games, but they all stem, basically, from EQ

That was all, I don't think any MMO should be on the list, but like someone else said the list is garbage anyways as a whole, its a favorite game list.

 

[martensite]

No Oblivion?