What's the best RPG game of all time?

[devilmunchkin]

moogles are in alot of them....i think almost all

[MrFun]

They were never in Final Fantasy I, nor Final Fantasy II.

But yes -- they were in later titles after Final Fantasy III.

Final Fantasy III though, IMO, was the best RPG ever for several different reasons.

[devilmunchkin]

ok..what? (maybe i'll have to play that one..although i do believe 7 is next on my list)

[MrFun]

The use of Espers was awesome -- I also really liked the idea of using a combination of Relics to give your characters special boosts or abilities.

And I really, really enjoyed the story line and its drama centering around the Espers and Terra.

[Urban Ranger]

IMO, all RPG systems can be good or bad, mostly depending on wether the GM is good or not, whether he can weave a good story within the system or not.

After that said, some systems are prone to make campaigns disintegrate into utter silliness, usually of the variety where characters grabbing for power (e.g. magical or technological items), due to inherent design flaws.

I'd say AD&D is very bad for that, particularly the earlier editions. Campaigns just became a linked series of fights, characters are essentially combat monsters, precisely because there were no other skills they could use. If you are good, you can go around and kill orcs (and goblins and kobolds and gnolls and bugbears and trolls etc. etc.) because they are always Evil. If you are evil, it's even simplier, because you can just go around kill everybody else in sight.

Some other systems, such as Ars Magica, were designed to encourage actually playing a character (instead of playing for power). Those sytems are better.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
say AD&D is very bad for that, particularly the earlier editions. Campaigns just became a linked series of fights, characters are essentially combat monsters, precisely because there were no other skills they could use. If you are good, you can go around and kill orcs (and goblins and kobolds and gnolls and bugbears and trolls etc. etc.) because they are always Evil. If you are evil, it's even simplier, because you can just go around kill everybody else in sight.

Your players must suck. I think the game has far more to do with you and your players than the ruleset; anyone who needs rules to confine them into good roleplaying isn't a good rp-er anyway. I've never had players that played any alignment as shallowly as that, and usually the people I play with particularly like adventures that call for ingenuity and creativity, combat or no.

I admit that the system does not prevent people from being action fiends with shallow characters, but that's the idea: It's loose enough that you can play anything from hack-and-slash to a very social, rp heavy adventure. Other systems I've played tend to pigeonhole you into a certain mode of play, which I can't see a reason for.

[Edan]

Sentinel Worlds 1, or possibly one of the Quest for Glory games or Darklands.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by cyclotron7
Your players must suck. I think the game has far more to do with you and your players than the ruleset; anyone who needs rules to confine them into good roleplaying isn't a good rp-er anyway.

Yes and no. The problem with AD&D (and Rolemaster to a lesser extent) is characters gain experience by killing. A player is not rewarded to be a good roleplayer by the book, a player is rewarded to be a combat monster. This flaw cannot be fixed unless the GM heavily modifies the rules. Compare this with DragonQuest or Champions where you get rewarded for being a good rp'er.

A lesser problem that could be contained is the prevalence of magical items - many of those items are very powerful. This can be avoided by limiting the number and power of magical items.

Originally posted by cyclotron7
I've never had players that played any alignment as shallowly as that

When all the Orcs are evil, your character is free to kill them, right?

Originally posted by cyclotron7
I admit that the system does not prevent people from being action fiends with shallow characters, but that's the idea: It's loose enough that you can play anything from hack-and-slash to a very social, rp heavy adventure. Other systems I've played tend to pigeonhole you into a certain mode of play, which I can't see a reason for.

My experience is otherwise. As I pointed out before, there are virtually no noncombat skills in AD&D before, while the list of skills in 3rd edition is sill very incomplete, with some skills too generic and some others too restrictive.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Planescape: Torment

There's your answer. You can lock the thread now.

[monolith94]

In real life - AD&D 2nd edition.

On the computer - Avernum

[Nubclear]

Umm...I like Morrowind

[Dis]

I haven't played that many pen and paper RPG's.

Of course my vote goes to D&D. I love it, I love, and I love it some more. Sure you get experience from killing monsters. But a good DM will not just make the game a pure monster kill fest. There is so much a DM can do. He could only put 1 monster in a campaign.

I have also played gamma world. But I was too young to fully understand it. I have also played Top Secret. That was a pretty cool game as well. I also played car wars- but that wasn't a rpg in the normal sense. You built up your car instead of your character. But Car wars was probably my second favourite pen and paper game.

[Ted Striker]

wizardry

[Master Zen]

I've only played computer and video games

my fave: Ultima VII, both parts. Loved the story, loved the characters, loved the interaction with the world, loved the plot. Loved the game, period.

2nd place: Wizardry VII. Very challenging traditional-style RPG.

runner up: Final Fantasy I (NES) and II (SNES). I loved the medieval/futuristic mix, both were extremely addictive. Never played any other FF game.

[Master Zen]

Originally posted by Edan
Sentinel Worlds 1, or possibly one of the Quest for Glory games or Darklands.

Whoa, Sentinel Worlds I is a true classic! Too bad I was too young and found it extremely complicated. But I do have it as abandonware somewhere on my HD...