Are we in a new RPG Golden Age?

GrangoKhan and daveyd sort of have a combo of my thinking on this.

For me the Golden age was not so much about the quality of the RPGs of the time but the expectation of a ton of RPGs coming down the pike. There was always a hope that the next RPG soon to hit the shelves will be better than the one I was currently playing. Additionally when it came time to buy the next game there was always a choice.

After I finished M&M Zeen, I had a choice of Menzoberranzan, Utima 8(?), Elder Scrolls Arena, and I'm sure some SSI gold box. I had hear about Albion but that wasn't out at the time.

So last night I finished ShadowRun and I now have my choice of two current RPGs to play, LOD and Mars and a DLC of Dishonored.

I'm loving all this choice.
BTW, the game I picked was Menzoberranzan
 
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Dont forget Tom Clancy's The Division. They even made a reference to Fall Out.

RPG is going strong...
 
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Dont forget Tom Clancy's The Division. They even made a reference to Fall Out.

RPG is going strong…

Yes, but which Fallout? The classic cRPGs Fallout 1 and 2? Or that mediocre first person action RPG that Bethesda made? "The Division" sounds like a shooter with some light RPG elements. And worst of all, it's currently only planned for consoles, while PC gamers are stuck petitioning for a port. … Which brings me back to my point that what makes for a quality RPG is very subjective. I won't be declaring this an age of any metallic substance until some of the highly anticipated cRPGs come out over the next couple years.
 
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Realms of Arkania is apparently an unmitigated disaster, but Shadowrun Returns turned out pretty darned good :). In the next few months we should have Wasteland 2, Avadon 2: The Corruption, Might & Magic X, and Eschalon Book 3, which all look promising. Within the next few years we should have Age of Decadence, Dead State, Underrail, Dragon Age 3, Witcher 3, Avernum 2 remake, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Project Eternity, Cyberpunk 2027, and probably Fallout 4. It may well be a new RPG golden age.
 
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^
*Cyberpunk 2027 (not 2020)
*Fallout 4. (not 3)

Sorry. Just had to correct...

Yeah I'll go stand over there now...
 
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^
*Cyberpunk 2027 (not 2020)
*Fallout 4. (not 3)

Sorry. Just had to correct…

Yeah I'll go stand over there now…

Hah, sorry :) I can justify the Cyberpunk error as an honest mistake, but I can't explain typing Fallout 3 :).
 
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There's a lot of RPGs out now, both big budget and indie. There's some really good ones out too. However, I don't think any of them qualify as golden age RPGs. Grimrock was really good. Skyrim was (arguably) really good. Torchlight was good, but not golden. Diablo 3 was meh.

Where are the Ultima 7s or Baldur's Gates or Neverwinter Nights or even Gothics?

I'm hoping these new kickstarters like D:OS, Shroud, Torment, Eternity give us something. At least one of them will right? Maybe it it's not golden yet, but maybe it's coming.
 
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Where are the Ultima 7s or Baldur's Gates or Neverwinter Nights or even Gothics?
Be careful of rose tinted spectacles.

"NWN was awful compared to Baldur's Gate". "Baldur's Gate was awful compared to Ultima 7". "Ultima 7 was awful compared to SSI gold box".. There's always something that people will remember more fondly. It also seems like the buggier something is the more fondly people remember it ;)

My personal list of great fantasy RPGs spans the likes of the SSI series, MM3, Eye of the Beholder 2, Lands of Lore I&II, Ultima V;VII;UW2, TES2:Daggerfall, 'Infinity engine' series, The Witcher, Mask of the Betrayer, TES5:Skyrim... and probably more I've forgotten, so there have been some spurts as a bunch of games come out.. and some quiet periods. Retro has become cool and financially maybe viable with KS, so we've kind of got the luxury of both traditional publishing models and indie/alternate models. This *might* therefore be a good time, or it might not. We'll have to see :)
 
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Yes, but which Fallout? The classic cRPGs Fallout 1 and 2? Or that mediocre first person action RPG that Bethesda made?

I never get much interested by the players feedback about this game, was probably focusing elsewhere than video games or CRPG, and I started play it quite long after its release and not even a special edition but with fixes done.

I have been surprised by the exploration quality and the sneaky exploration potential. From my point of view it's extremely rare to have a good exploration in modern CRPG since many many years. For example FNV I played a bit after looked to me quite awful on this point, and out of the tourism point of view and appart for watching nice looking landscapes, Skyrim is rather pale stuff on that point, better than FNV but not good stuff if you don't have the tourist soul.

Ok if I have to choose I pick FO1 instead but I never found FO3 was such a crap.
 
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...Grimrock was really good. Skyrim was (arguably) really good. Torchlight was good, but not golden. Diablo 3 was meh.

Where are the Ultima 7s or Baldur's Gates or Neverwinter Nights or even Gothics?
...
I feel your question is a bit ambiguous because in sentence before you quote 2011 and 2012 releases. From that point of view you'd better include the 2010 year to use the decade as a base.

But the point is there's currently something rather different than ever from CRPG point of view. You won't find nothing like that in 2010/11/12. 2012 has been an overall good year but it's not that special.

I feel that enough releases will be delayed during 2013 to hide a little the change from the 2013 point of view. 2013 is probably going to be more a year of announcement, promise and expectations. But it's still rather different than before.
 
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