Top Ten Most Influential RPGs

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: 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.

Compared to pure Sword & Sorcery FPS's it really is an RPG. Its just not a very good one.

I have to agree the list is BS. Some of those games didnt have actual influence, they were just big sellers.
And like aCynic2 pointed out, some of them are not even RPG's, more like action games with experience points.

EDIT:
And even if we pretend they were real RPG's, Final Fantasy was a hell of a lot more "influential" than WoW or Diablo.

EDIT 2:
I think I would have dumped Fable and one other game and put Might & Magic and the SSI AD&D games up on that list.

 

[imported_Imp]

List isn't too bad, but Baldur's Gate, Planescape and Fallout really need to be higher up. They were, honestly, some of the best and most "true" roleplaying games ever made. World of Warcraft is an RPG, but in the end, it's just really another more complex Diablo. And like others stated, what do they mean by influential. By the comments they make, seems like they're leaning towards the "oh, more people know about it, TV talks about it, it sells, bla bla bla". And finally, where the hell is Deus Ex and System Shock. If they can put Morrowind (which deserves to be among the top 5), then they definately belong on that list more than Fable.

 

[Vampirrella]

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

I agree here. The ultima series, especially Ultima 4 (1985 i think it was) has made what all current rpg's try to emulate now. Wow at #1, sorry but that doesnt make one bit of sense to me seeing all current games are somewhat based off old school succesfull games to begin with.

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: 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.

Only "WoW clone" that I could think of is Star Wars: Galaxies, the NGE changes were done after WoW was released.

 

[DaveSimmons]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: jwpeer
I was looking at influence from TWO axes...the popularity/business impact AND technological/design impact. You can't look at just one. I feel WoW had both, and in greater amounts than EQ. </end quote></div> The SSI Gold Box games qualify on both counts.

They were quite successful commercially, and I've seen them mentioned over and over again in interviews with game developers as games they played, liked and learned from.

Picking just 10 instead of building a timeline is silly though.

I do give WoW a lot of credit for influencing solo RPGs in a very negative way: By making publishers lust after monthly fees enough to shift development away from solo games to MMORPGs.

 

[nismotigerwvu]

no dragon warrior/quest? pretty much set the formula for electronic rpg's

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Originally posted by: nismotigerwvu
no dragon warrior/quest? pretty much set the formula for electronic rpg's

Some would say the original Zelda was a starting point for all RPG's. It was the first one I played, followed closely by Ultima series, Bard's Tale series, TSR gold series (Curse of the Azure Bonds and a number of other great games). You could go on and on about this subject but the fact they left out so many of the great old school games it makes me wonder if the guy who wrote it was around in the 80's.

 

[tw1164]

I thought everquest would be on the list

 

[meltdown75]

Aw man, no Times of Lore from the c=64

no love

 

[bullbert]

#1 HAS to be "Aklabeth" unless you only mean the (Top Ten Most Influential RPGs) of the last several years

also "Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura" needs to be somewhere between #6 and #10

 

[Skacer]

This makes me want to make a timeline. Or like a flowchart or something, how the different works released throughout the years impacted and influenced more recent stuff. I just don't want to commit that much time to it

 

[rudder]

Diablo? That game could not figure out whether it was an arcade game or RPG. The game consisted of click.. click... click...

click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...click.. click... click...


You need Dungeon Master on the list. And break out Ultima Underworld.. that game deserves its own mention.

 

[TheSlamma]

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

QFT

Lord British FTW!

It was most likly children who wrote the article who where not even alive back in those days.

 

[bullbert]

Originally posted by: TheSlamma
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: bfdd
Ultima Series is that far down the list? The only reason any of those games exsist is because of that series.</end quote></div>
QFT

Lord British FTW!

It was most likly children who wrote the article who where not even alive back in those days.

Yup, that was back in the day, where coders actually coded critical (if not all) code segments in Machine Code (or Assembly Language, if they insisted in using one of those gall dern fancy High-Order-Languages). If Vista were coded directly in Assembly, it would only require less than 4MB DRAM, instead of 2GB, and only consume a few dozen MB of HD space, instead of many many GB.

 

[Oyeve]

Kings Quest.

 

[KMFJD]

Wasteland

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: Phokus
Final Fantasy should be much higher on that list... maybe even number 1

 

[bullbert]

Originally posted by: KMFJD
Wasteland

Wasteland! Definitely, since it brought the RPG out of the D&D world and started the entire Apocalypse theme.

Bard's Tale has also been mentioned by several above. Agreed.

 

[TheSlamma]

Originally posted by: bullbert
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: KMFJD
Wasteland</end quote></div>

Wasteland! Definitely, since it brought the RPG out of the D&D world and started the entire Apocalypse theme.

Bard's Tale has also been mentioned by several above. Agreed.

That is one of my friends all time fav game. He still has it on his Apple II+ with the floppy that sounds like it's sawing through a log

 

[TheSlamma]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: JBT
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Phokus
Final Fantasy should be much higher on that list... maybe even number 1</end quote></div>

</end quote></div>
Part 1 was the only one that came close to even being an RPG.. where you made your own charactors and role played them.

After that Final Fantasy became a bunch of story reading. IMO it comes off as some japanese programmers who couldn't make it as movie directors so they make a bunch of games people have to push the buttons through and read their lame story they made. The only control you get is the cheesey fight sequences that have no tactics whatsoever.

YEARS before Final Fagtasy was even made Ultima charactors were moving around on a battlefield.

 

[Sureshot324]

Originally posted by: TheSlamma
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: JBT
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Phokus
Final Fantasy should be much higher on that list... maybe even number 1</end quote></div>

</end quote></div>
Part 1 was the only one that came close to even being an RPG.. where you made your own charactors and role played them.

After that Final Fantasy became a bunch of story reading. IMO it comes off as some japanese programmers who couldn't make it as movie directors so they make a bunch of games people have to push the buttons through and read their lame story they made. The only control you get is the cheesey fight sequences that have no tactics whatsoever.

YEARS before Final Fatasy was even made Ultima charactors were moving around on a battlefield.

Final Fantasy evolved in that direction because that is what Japanese RPG fans wanted. It still has all the core elements of an RPG, it's just heavy on the story and light on the character development and depth of combat.

 

[KMFJD]

I used to like the old Final Fantasy games but FF7 turned me off all consol rpg's...just did not like it

 

[Engraver]

Quest for Glory 1

Only game you can kill yourself by picking your nose with your lockpick.

 

[TheVrolok]

Originally posted by: Engraver
Quest for Glory 1

Only game you can kill yourself by picking your nose with your lockpick.

Fantastic game! One of my favorite series of all time!

 

[Smilin]

That's quite a short sighted list.

These are THE most influential RPGs of all time. These games are the mothers and fathers of all RPGs that have ever been:

"Adventure" has got to be number one. It (or colossus caves?) was the first RPG ever. Before this there was no such thing as an RPG outside of paper and dice.

"rogue" would probably be number two. The "rogue-like" games were the first that introduced characters with race, class, stats, inventory & equipment. It also introduced the concept of mobs with stats and levels as well as the idea of a sprawling and ever more powerful treasure/item/weapons. Rogue, Hack, Larn, Moria and Angband (who's variants still rock) are all examples. Rogue like games also allowed the transition from mainframe to PC.

"kings quest" needs to make the list. It is what allowed the adventure game to move from Adventure & Zork (series) to graphics.

"muds" needs to at least make the list. There would be NO MMORPGs ever without these games. None. I'm a big Warcraft fan and I like it better than Everquest but Everquest was the first to take a mud and wrap a 3D engine around it. I'm not surprised Warcraft made the list but I'm surprised Everquest didn't.



I think the OPs quoted list is a strong one but it seems more of a popularity list than a true "most influential list".