Most Important RPG

What is the most important cRPG of all time/so far?

  • Ultima IV (or I, III or VII or Online)

    Votes: 14 28.0%
  • Wizardry I

    Votes: 1 2.0%
  • Rogue (or Diablo I or II)

    Votes: 2 4.0%
  • DnD (the original open source Apple ][ game - not D&D)

    Votes: 1 2.0%
  • Final Fantasy VII

    Votes: 2 4.0%
  • Legend of Zelda

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Wasteland (or Fallout)

    Votes: 4 8.0%
  • Wing Commander (or Space Rogue or Starflight)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Gothic

    Votes: 10 20.0%
  • Baldur's Gate (or Planescape: Torrent)

    Votes: 16 32.0%

  • Total voters
    50

Lucky Day

Daywatch
Joined
October 19, 2006
Messages
5,212
Location
The Uncanny Valley
The Most Important RPG Ever Made

With the recent silly list of top 26 RPG's at Gamepro having little, if any sense at all, one game stood out to them as the most important RPG of all time. The consistent response here has been the general scorn, laughter, stomach wrenching and total agreement that you would expect.

Here then is a list in another variation of Best RPG Evah that we like to do every few months. This time the them is "most important".

I was limited to 10 choices so don't shoot me.

edit: Wizardy should also include IV, V, VII and VIII - V signifying the first DW Bradley version
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
5,212
Location
The Uncanny Valley
I did see this coming, and I've prepared the following responses:

1. Most important? If we accept that you can earnestly ask which CRPG is the most important, then you open yourself up to taking seriously quesions like, "Which is the most important candy bar EVER?" and "What's the most important brand of laundry detergent... OF ALL TIME?"

I figure what we mean here is not important but influential.

2. All time? I don't even understand how that expression got coined. We can only look backwards.

3. I don't think this lends itself to a poll. Hey where's Daggerfall? Hey where's WoW? Hey where's Gold Box games?

4. But OK, the answer is of course Jagged Alliance II.
 
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
374
Location
too poor for Manhattan
I find the "X (or Y or Z)" choices rather baffling, especially as some of them are vastly different games. BG and PS:T, for example, don't have much in common beyond using the same engine; even PS:T's interpretation of AD&D was very loose.

Legend of Zelda never was ported to PC, so what is it doing in a "What is the most important cRPG of all time/so far?" poll? Does anyone even think the Zelda games are RPGs of any sort, even by the definition of JRPGs?
 
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Messages
290
If we accept the most 'influential' as the appropriate rendering, then Ultima 4 should be the clear cut winner. I don't think it's the best rpg ever, but it was certainly a powerful influence on everything which came later. PS-T was a fantastic game, but it has had little real influence except for forum discussions like this one!! :)
 
Joined
Aug 31, 2006
Messages
12,806
Location
Australia
I miss BardsTale. It was the game that opened up the genre for me and defined (for me) that a RPG should be played in a "3d world".

WingCommander? However i really like its there. Its the best gaming serie evver created. Still load up and run WingCommander Saga from time to time.. ;)

(Didn't vote).
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
420
Location
Sweden
With the recent silly list of top 26 RPG's at Gamepro having little, if any sense at all, one game stood out to them as the most important RPG of all time. The consistent response here has been the general scorn, laughter, stomach wrenching and total agreement that you would expect.

Hey! Speak for yourself! Not everyone had such a inappropriately strong emotional reaction to that list. In any case, I agreed with their assessment of "big titles" in RPGs across the board. And, like others said, this poll is as useless in determining a "winner" as was their Top 26 RPGs.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,915
Location
The Netherlands
All in all, the most influental game is probably some old Wizardry, M&M or Gold Box game from the early 80s. However, I still voted for PS:T/BG, because I consider them the "pinnacle" of the RPG genre - not the games that have been the biggest influence, but the games that shine as the brightest examples of what is truly possible in cRPGs.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
7,583
Location
Bergen
Uh, personally, I'd say PS:T, but not BG or its "derivates". So I just can't say.

I'd also say Rogue, but ... well, it's actually how you define "importance" ... Blizzard's action-RPGs are "important" to some point, but the idea came from the rogue-likes before them.

So I feel as if I just can't vote.

By the way, I never considered Wing Commander as an RPG ... Only as a flight sim ...

Some others of the list are unknown to me.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
21,909
Location
Old Europe
I think it's really hard to pinpoint THE most important CRPG of all times. It's more a certain timespan that was extremly important for the CRPG genre and that's the 80s of course. Games Like Wizardry, Ultima, Bard's Tale and Dungeon Master really shaped the genre.
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2006
Messages
758
Although I disliked the game back then and like it even less now, you've got to give BG some love since it supposedly revived the computer RPG genre.

Everquest deserves mention for putting MMO on the RPG map. WOW does it far better today, but Evercrack was the "firstest" MMO to live past infancy.

Ultima deserves mention for bringing 3d to the cRPG world.

Diablo 2 probably deserves mention for bringing something RPG-ish to "teh 1337" masses.

Rogue certainly earns a spot for being the beginning of it all.

I'd vote for MM7 and Wiz8 because those are my favorites and it's clearly all about me. ;)
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
13,535
Location
Illinois, USA
I agree with Corwin on this.

It's the first game (CRPG) I can remember that puts gravitas on your actions.
 
Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
2,080
Location
UK
I wanted to put PS:T as separate but we only have 10 spots.

This is not a list of "influential" but "important", and whatever that means. If you think that means "influential", that's fine. Personally, I think a list of influential RPGs is a little bit different, such as putting up Meridian 59. Regardless, the language and the list are very similar.

However, Fallout is probably more important than Wasteland .

I would have also liked to list Everquest separately. Its strange to me that WoW dominates now in the same way EQ did.

I think the original Pool of Radiance should be on the list.

The reason for Wing Commander is because its the closest thing to an important Space RPG I could think of. Space RPG's have their own patterns. Space Rogue was first but was never popular. Starflight is nearly forgotten. Wing Commander is really a Space Sim but it was huge, even garnering its own feature length movie.

MM VI I mention because it relaunched the genre. Bard's Tale became bigger than Ultima or Wizardry. It had greater scale and the addition of animation, colour, and outdoor environments and terrific sound. But its been so long since it was out I can't see what it brings to the table in terms of "importance". Many of its innovations would have been a matter of time as better hardware came out.

I have no clue why I forgot Morrowind or any of the Elder Scrolls when it came time to actually post.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
5,212
Location
The Uncanny Valley
Important can mean anything objective or subject then, that makes the poll rather aloof in individuals perspectives.

Important to me means of great significance and that really points to an influential game in my books.
 
Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
2,080
Location
UK
Wing Commander is really a Space Sim but it was huge, even garnering its own feature length movie.

Not to forget ten books and som 15 (?) episode animated series. They all feature the same characters as in the games.

Allthough the game is one of my favorites (I own all the books, games and movies) I have never thought it as a rpg.
 
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Messages
3,160
Location
Europa Universalis
Baldur's Gate.

It put D&D on the cyber-map, as far as I'm concerned. I know, I know, the gold box games or some other blah blah blah. BG put a good looking, easy to play yet surprisingly hardcore at times rpg product out there, that got people interested in the concept of RPGs and more specifically Dungeons and DRagons.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
5,228
Location
San Diego, Ca
I put BG as it revitalised the genre and probably is the most influential RPG I've played (I havent spent much time on the 80s classics). In general I find it hard to compare the old games as they had different kinds of puzzles (find the lever/button), much more Hack n Slash, and nonexistant NPC interaction. Even if I can enjoy some older games I find it really hard to roleplay in anything prior to Ultima Underworld, Betrayal at Krondor, or the Dark Sun games (quite comparable to BG).

Gothic is IMHO at least as good as BG, but I would put it very low on a list of "influential" or "important" RPGs as I dont see it having any impact on the genre as a whole...
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
2,013
For me it's a very close race between

Ultima 4
Wizardry 1
Wasteland

I vote for Ultima 4 because it's a genre defining game.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
19,818
Location
Germany
Important for me? Well, many games not on the list.
Important as genre-defining? Ultima Underworld I/II. Not on the list, either.
 
Joined
Aug 31, 2006
Messages
3,754
Back
Top Bottom