Top Ten Most Influential RPGs

[Worthington]

Sad to see so few people referencing games like Wizardry and Bard's Tale and Wasteland. The whole reason the RPG genre gained such acclaim and spin-offs is that those game were ground breaking at their time.. I'd rather play Wizardry I now then some of the shit "RPGs" that were released in the last couple years.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: effee
where is neverwinter nights?!

In the grand scheme of things, NWN was not really an influencial RPG.
Fun for a lot of folks, and a big seller, but didnt actually change how RPG's are approached.

 

[Skacer]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
In the grand scheme of things, NWN was not really an influencial RPG.
Fun for a lot of folks, and a big seller, but didnt actually change how RPG's are approached.

NWN series has come the closest to having a true "DM" experience. Unfortunately, it hasn't influenced jack shit because nobody else has stepped up and made a similar game. One could put it down for potential influences, if in the future, lots of D&D games start mimicking it's style. But so far it hasn't happened.

 

[Feneant2]

World of Warcraft is first? That bullshit- the game isn't influential whatsoever. It wasn't ground breaking in anyway, it's just popular because of Blizzard's track record and following. Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, Everquest, those 3 were there in 2000 before Blizzard even thought of making an MMORPG so either of them could be here as they influenced the MMORPG genre, not World of Warcraft.


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

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Feneant2
World of Warcraft is first? That bullshit- the game isn't influential whatsoever. It wasn't ground breaking in anyway, it's just popular because of Blizzard's track record and following. Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, Everquest, those 3 were there in 2000 before Blizzard even thought of making an MMORPG so either of them could be here as they influenced the MMORPG genre, not World of Warcraft.

their closing seems to agree with you

When talking about the most influential RPGs of all time, one could hardly omit mentioning the opus of one Warren Spector. Though Deus Ex was a cross-over between a first-person shooter and an RPG experience, the game stands out as one of the boldest attempts in game design to date - a true foray into the problematic of non-linear design, as well as the tackling of moral issues pertaining to game plots.

For that alone Deus Ex should deserve a mention in this article.

In that same sense, System Shock could be perceived as a unique RPG experience, which stands out as the most successful integration of horror elements into a video game to date.

Finally, one should also mention EverQuest. World of Warcraft wouldn't have been what it is today if phenomenally successful games like Brad McQuaid's EverQuest haven't paved the way for it.

their *reason* for chosing WoW seems to just be it's SUCCESS ... influential in the vast number of players:

This is Blizzard outdoing itself. World of Warcraft isn't just a damn fine MMORPG. It practically embodies all the elements of online entertainment and fuses them with what we all want out of a single-player experience. It probably signifies the very pinnacle of modern-day gaming. Not only that, nowadays WoW has become a household word. Exceptional artists and designers were responsible for creating the imaginative universe, while, of course, the bulk of the game, is being propelled by a vast team of persistent programmers. When we first saw the game back in 2004, we knew nothing would ever be the same again. The ever-growing subscriber base of World of Warcraft currently numbers more than 8.5 million. The expansion pack, The Burning Crusade, boasts equally impressive sales. Roughly 3.5 million copies were sold within one month after its mid-January launch in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.

^looks like an ad for WoW ^

 

[Pacemaker]

Originally posted by: Feneant2
World of Warcraft is first? That bullshit- the game isn't influential whatsoever. It wasn't ground breaking in anyway, it's just popular because of Blizzard's track record and following. Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, Everquest, those 3 were there in 2000 before Blizzard even thought of making an MMORPG so either of them could be here as they influenced the MMORPG genre, not World of Warcraft.

World of Warcraft changed a lot in the MMO genre. Should it be first? Probably not. Will it be first in a few years? Probably not. It's just very easy to see its influence in MMOs that have been released since it came out. Almost all of them allow you to solo (basically invented by WoW and City of Heroes), and they have very similar UIs to what WoW is using. Now in a few years will WoW be seen in the same light. I really don't think so, in the end WoW is nothing but the raid or quit mentality of old MMOs wrapped up in a blanket that makes you think it's different.

 

[Engraver]

World of Warcraft changed a lot in the MMO genre.

WoW hasn't changed much of anything in the MMO genre, it only refined the parts of other games that people liked most.

Almost all of them allow you to solo (basically invented by WoW and City of Heroes), and they have very similar UIs to what WoW is using.

Soloing in MMOs has been around a lot longer than WoW and City of Heroes, UO being the first one I played other than a MUD where you could solo effectively. WoW's interface is pretty much the same as Dark Age's of Camelot, just polished and tweaked a little.


WoW only really changed one major thing in MMOs, and that is how it changed the treadmill from gaining experience to gaining equipment/faction.

 

[Skacer]

Originally posted by: Pacemaker
World of Warcraft changed a lot in the MMO genre. Should it be first? Probably not. Will it be first in a few years? Probably not. It's just very easy to see its influence in MMOs that have been released since it came out. Almost all of them allow you to solo (basically invented by WoW and City of Heroes), and they have very similar UIs to what WoW is using. Now in a few years will WoW be seen in the same light. I really don't think so, in the end WoW is nothing but the raid or quit mentality of old MMOs wrapped up in a blanket that makes you think it's different.

Being able to solo is pretty much an MMO standard. EQ was the game that broke the solo-ability of the genre by creating the "holy trinity" of class dependencies.

 

[Skacer]

Originally posted by: Engraver
WoW only really changed one major thing in MMOs, and that is how it changed the treadmill from gaining experience to gaining equipment/faction.

WoW's biggest contributions:
- Questing system (Not just the system itself, but the content) <- by and large their biggest one
- Instanced PvP battlegrounds system
- Flightpaths?

EQ had the faction/equipment treadmill as well. Infact, 10x worse. Faction grinding in Luclin, Being ally w/ random factions for your epics, the shards for Vex Thal. Ugly, ugly stuff.

 

[Pacemaker]

Originally posted by: Skacer

Originally posted by: Pacemaker
World of Warcraft changed a lot in the MMO genre. Should it be first? Probably not. Will it be first in a few years? Probably not. It's just very easy to see its influence in MMOs that have been released since it came out. Almost all of them allow you to solo (basically invented by WoW and City of Heroes), and they have very similar UIs to what WoW is using. Now in a few years will WoW be seen in the same light. I really don't think so, in the end WoW is nothing but the raid or quit mentality of old MMOs wrapped up in a blanket that makes you think it's different.

Being able to solo is pretty much an MMO standard. EQ was the game that broke the solo-ability of the genre by creating the "holy trinity" of class dependencies.

I must have never played the MMOs you played, because all of them I played after level 20 you had to group or be the correct class (usually one option) in order to actually get xp. City of Heroes/World of warcraft were the first two I played where solo was a viable option (until max level). Never played UO so it may have had that. MMOs I have played are EQ, MCO (which barely counts), E&B (which barely counts as a game), FFXI, City of Heroes, WoW, and probably some I forgot. Of those only City of Heroes and WoW have solo that goes to max level.

Really as I stated (in other words) WoWs real contribution is tricking casuals into thinking it's a casual game until they are already hooked.

Edit: Don't forget the fully customizable interface which really changed a lot about how companies will code UI's in the future (even if there's aren't fully customizable). Even Blizzard has taken the best ideas and integrated it into the standard UI.

 

[Skacer]

Everquest had fully customizeable UIs done completely in XML (Not right when the game came out, but added with one of the expansion packs).

You are right in that WoW tricks casuals into thinking it is casual until they are already hooked. I didn't get that from your other post, but that is true. There isn't one specific innovating feature that tricked casuals into playing, it is more a doing of the exceptional production values, Blizzard's massive reputation and marketing.

MMOs that allowed for soloing:
Meridian59
UO
AC
The Realm

MMOs I don't know about:
AO
DAOC
Horizons
Insert all sorts of halfass MMOs here

In either case, EQ was the first to implement strict grouping requirements while WoW was not the first to allow soloing.

 

[Pacemaker]

Originally posted by: Engraver
WoW hasn't changed much of anything in the MMO genre, it only refined the parts of other games that people liked most.

Blizzard has done that since day one, but at the end of the day all they do is make good gameplay. Most of the games they have made had strong influences from other people's IP. They just found a way to make a better interface and more rewarding gameplay. But to say that World of Warcraft is not going to have a huge impact on the way the next generation of MMOs do things is just not true. People see its huge numbers and they want to copy that success. They will have to do it in their own way, but many MMOs that were released around the same time as WoW have changed to make their game more like WoW (EQ2 being the prime example). If that isn't influential I don't know what is.

I agree it shouldn't be first, but it defiantly deserves a nod. However, if they wanted to only have one MMO on the list I would have put UO since IMO it was the first really deep MMO.

 

[SunnyD]

Schadenfroh - you should really pick up a copy of Exult and "borrow" Ultima 7 parts 1 and 2... Ultima 8 would be nice to play if it would actually run on Windows.

To be honestly, the list SHOULD go something like:

1. Ultima SERIES. We're not talking UO, we're talking all of Ultima. It spanned several computer systems and technology bases, and evolved just as gaming did. Starting with the text based Ultimas, which spawned or was spawned by MUDs. The natural progression to Ultima 7 which was the first realtime persistant world there was. EVERYTHING in Ultima 7 happened all over the world, not just as responses to triggers to a player event. Ultima 8 was a refinement of this, and Ultima 9 was (unfortunately) a failed attempt at translating this into 3D. Ultima Online took everything that was Ultima 7, and everything that was MUD, and put it into the first realtime graphical multiplayer roleplaying environment which still stands today.

2. Diablo Series. This type of fast action RPG had less RPG elements than button mashing, which has pervaded almost all current MMO interface strategies to date.

3. Everquest. EQ would be the first and most successful POPULAR 3D MMORPG, taking all that made UO popular, and putting in the first 1st/3rd Person control.

4. Final Fantasy Series. This took the Ultima formula, and brought it to the console world.

5. Planetside. Not the first, but the first commercially viable MMOFPS with RPG elements. (Looking forward to Tabula Rasa to enhance upon this)

I would ONLY note World of Warcraft because they have taken the tried and true formula, combined it with a HUGELY popular worldwide franchise, spent the time, money and effort to polish it to their high quality standards and put it out there. Blizzard really has done NOTHING new with World of Warcraft that wasn't already done in EverQuest. They simply executed a well designed product with the backing of a huge franchise much better than anyone else to date.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Schadenfroh - you should really pick up a copy of Exult and "borrow" Ultima 7 parts 1 and 2... Ultima 8 would be nice to play if it would actually run on Windows.

To be honestly, the list SHOULD go something like:

1. Ultima SERIES. We're not talking UO, we're talking all of Ultima. It spanned several computer systems and technology bases, and evolved just as gaming did. Starting with the text based Ultimas, which spawned or was spawned by MUDs. The natural progression to Ultima 7 which was the first realtime persistant world there was. EVERYTHING in Ultima 7 happened all over the world, not just as responses to triggers to a player event. Ultima 8 was a refinement of this, and Ultima 9 was (unfortunately) a failed attempt at translating this into 3D. Ultima Online took everything that was Ultima 7, and everything that was MUD, and put it into the first realtime graphical multiplayer roleplaying environment which still stands today.

2. Diablo Series. This type of fast action RPG had less RPG elements than button mashing, which has pervaded almost all current MMO interface strategies to date.

3. Everquest. EQ would be the first and most successful POPULAR 3D MMORPG, taking all that made UO popular, and putting in the first 1st/3rd Person control.

4. Final Fantasy Series. This took the Ultima formula, and brought it to the console world.

5. Planetside. Not the first, but the first commercially viable MMOFPS with RPG elements. (Looking forward to Tabula Rasa to enhance upon this)

I would ONLY note World of Warcraft because they have taken the tried and true formula, combined it with a HUGELY popular worldwide franchise, spent the time, money and effort to polish it to their high quality standards and put it out there. Blizzard really has done NOTHING new with World of Warcraft that wasn't already done in EverQuest. They simply executed a well designed product with the backing of a huge franchise much better than anyone else to date.

Don't forget about Ultima Underworld. First-person action RPG in realtime on a 3D map, x, y, and z movement (levitation), with a highly interactive environment where objects could be thrown, manipulated, etc. Graphically, characters and objects were sprites, but everything else was 3D. Released in 1992, 2 years before the arrival of TES: Arena.

 

[MagicConch]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Schadenfroh - you should really pick up a copy of Exult and "borrow" Ultima 7 parts 1 and 2... Ultima 8 would be nice to play if it would actually run on Windows.

To be honestly, the list SHOULD go something like:

1. Ultima SERIES. We're not talking UO, we're talking all of Ultima. It spanned several computer systems and technology bases, and evolved just as gaming did. Starting with the text based Ultimas, which spawned or was spawned by MUDs. The natural progression to Ultima 7 which was the first realtime persistant world there was. EVERYTHING in Ultima 7 happened all over the world, not just as responses to triggers to a player event. Ultima 8 was a refinement of this, and Ultima 9 was (unfortunately) a failed attempt at translating this into 3D. Ultima Online took everything that was Ultima 7, and everything that was MUD, and put it into the first realtime graphical multiplayer roleplaying environment which still stands today.

2. Diablo Series. This type of fast action RPG had less RPG elements than button mashing, which has pervaded almost all current MMO interface strategies to date.

3. Everquest. EQ would be the first and most successful POPULAR 3D MMORPG, taking all that made UO popular, and putting in the first 1st/3rd Person control.

4. Final Fantasy Series. This took the Ultima formula, and brought it to the console world.

5. Planetside. Not the first, but the first commercially viable MMOFPS with RPG elements. (Looking forward to Tabula Rasa to enhance upon this)

I would ONLY note World of Warcraft because they have taken the tried and true formula, combined it with a HUGELY popular worldwide franchise, spent the time, money and effort to polish it to their high quality standards and put it out there. Blizzard really has done NOTHING new with World of Warcraft that wasn't already done in EverQuest. They simply executed a well designed product with the backing of a huge franchise much better than anyone else to date.

QFT! What were they thinking putting Morrowind and WoW at the top?