@crpgnut @khaight @Shagnak
System Shock on PC (1994) had no less than 9 disks (3.5"), it was a long installation process for the time :) And it was too bad when one of the last disks had read errors…

Today, MSFS 2020 comes on 10 DVDs for those who want to limit the download (about 90 GB of assets). And that's not all, it still requires online access for the missing or updated parts of the world map of course ;)

Then some have just given up, like Orbx for which one flight simulation terrain takes 210 GB only to cover a part of California, for instance (meaning you may want to buy several of those)…

To bad physical boxed BD disks never caught on the PC. It's mostly all digital downloads nowadays. You can still buy some physical PC games on Amazon from Europe though.

But you have to check, the last games I bought on Amazon, years ago, were empty boxes with a key for Steam. It's probably safe when it's a special edition with extra stuff like cloth map, figurine, special fancy metal box and so on. :)

That depends last time I bought a few boxed editions a few years back they had the full games and didn't need steam. It was the Drakensang Anthology and Eleven Legacy.

PoE and Torment have standalone editions that don't need steam as well. Still yeah most have a Steam key, some have you install the DVDs and download the updates only.

By the way, perhaps not that many people have Blu-ray drives? I took one but it was such a mess trying to watch movies on a PC, either you have to buy a program to work around the protection, or you have to use one of the few, crappy (and expensive) players.

Or has it changed?

That's due to Sony's protection and the other various ones as well. They implemented them to stop piracy but it didn't. Just messes with consumers just like game DRM.

I had to buy a program/media viewer to watch Blue Ray's on the PC.

Yeah, it's sad. Sony…
I just checked, to be sure, but the few viewers I tried are still unable to read a Blu-ray, it's limited to the "legit" ones that are usually not very user-friendly (and make sure you watch all the ads and other announcements).

Sorry for the out-of-topicness ;)

Still have the original Wizardry (Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord) around here somewhere, in its original black box … early 1980's I believe. Remember buying it actually - cost a lot for a young teenager!

Wow nice topic,brings back some good memories.Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System.First RPG I played and still have a copy and the system too…

I don't have many classics left in my collection; I sold most of them.
Todd Howard acquired the last of my Ultima collection about 20 years ago in a private transaction. (Yes, that Todd Howard.)

At least I still have my sealed mint Fountain of Dreams, EA's 1990 Wasteland spin-off, which someone is asking $745 for on eBay. That is insane! I'd never sell it so cheap. :p

Yeah, I tend to give away my things that are not worth selling, so I only have physical things for the GBA / Nintendo DS, PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch. All my Mac/PC stuff is digital. So I am in the 2000’s as well.

When I think of my big boxes and the terrible way I treated them, coffee rings on boxes, cloth maps used to mop up spills, glossy paper maps blu-tacked to the wall and absentmindedly chewing on figurines. How was I to know that one day I could be considered a person with a mighty fine collection of antiques :-) I have a handful in a box gathering dust somewhere but no doubt incomplete.

I found a box of my old toy soldiers & Dinky cars in my Mum's attic and sold them on ebay. Have to say the collectors of those are some of the nicest people I've encountered.

I'm just fastidious to cling on to those things. In my youth I'd keep stuff like that around in boxes, these days I just give them away or set them on fire. I don't abide clutter anymore.

Threw most of them out back when they were filling up my apartment. Let's see, there's Knights of the Old Republic which was 2003. Oh wait, I have some disks that are in a binder! There's Deus Ex, which was Y2K. Oh good, the poll is set up so I don't have to decide if Deus Ex is a "real" RPG!

(Populous is the oldest, but that's no RPG.)

Nah, it would be far from pristine. It was in great condition when I bought it but it was treated more like a kids toy than a collectors item. I wouldn't want to sell it, anyway!

Did you manage to keep yours in good condition? :)

What was the first RPG for Amiga, Ultima 3 I think. Still have the Documents and map but no box.

Ultima VII…still a cool looking box proudly displayed on my desk.

My oldest "legit" game… Not a rpg, however.