OK, so now a personal question or two.

[xdeath]

1: How old are you?
2: Where are you from?
3: Top 5 RPGs (however you define them)?
4: Top 5 non RPGs?
5: What was the game that made you a gamer?
6: Which era in you opinion produced best made the best RPGs? (defnitions at bottom of post)
7: What is your gaming platform of Choice?
8: On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is ultra casual gamer, and 10 is obsessive uber geek where would you place yourself.

1: I am 20 years old.
2: I live in London, Ontario Canada.
3: Skyrim, Morrowind, Neverwinter Nights, Final Fantasy 4
4: Half-Life 2, Deus Ex:Human Revolution, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., The Longest Journey, Amnesia: The Dark Descent
5: I first played Banjo Kazooie on the N64, but my first real break through was Morrowind on the PC.
6: I personally don't consider the "era" thing fair. But I will say 2002 which had the release of Morrowind and Neverwinter Nights.
7: PC.
8: 10, for now.

Edit: I was actually considering putting Grimrock on this list, but I don't consider the RPG mechanics to be all the great. Final Fantasy 4 is that great RPG wise either, but it was the first one I ever played.
As for my second list, I think some explanation is due.
Half-life series is interesting for it's unbroken narrative. But HL2 is the real gem of the series. With good pacing, fun gameplay, an interesting side character(Alyx), and a cinematic approach to story telling.
DE:HR deserves more appreciation. It has an excellent soundtrack, memorable characters(notably David Sarif, Eliza Cassan), deep themes, and a few truly memorable moments.
STALKER is a series that deserves more attention. Challenging gameplay without being overly brutally and a dark atmosphere.
I only recently played through The Longest Journey, yet it's funny, compelling, mature, and may well be the best example of adventure games in the industry.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the scariest game ever made hands down. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who put it on my list.

[Outsa]

1: How old are you?
...22
2: Where are you from?
...Slovakia
3: Top 5 RPGs (however you define them)?
...Might and Magic 6, Fallout 2, Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate 2, VtMB: Bloodlines
4: Top 5 non RPGs?
...Half Life, Settlers 2, Operace Flashpoint, Tomb Raider, Red Alert 2
5: What was the game that made you a gamer?
...Wolfenstein 3D
6: Which era in you opinion produced best made the best RPGs? (defnitions at bottom of post)
...Silver Age (Infinity engine)
7: What is your gaming platform of Choice?
...PC
8: On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is ultra casual gamer, and 10 is obsessive uber geek where would you place yourself.
...7

[Rozy]

1: 25

2: Texas. Will be moving to germany within a year or two.

3: Fallout: New Vegas, Morrowind, Etrian Odyssey series, Darklands, Disgaea series

4: Doom series, Borderlands, Quake 2, STALKER, X3 Terran conflict

5: Donkey Kong on the colecovision. Also my first game ever.

6: The names of the eras and descriptions are fairly weasaly, so I decline to answer this one. I tend to enjoy what was listed as "Modern" rpgs more these days however.

7: I have no preference.

8: 6 - I play a lot of games, but they're secondary to my friends, my girlfriend, my family and my daughter.

[bluesshoe]

1: How old are you?

50

2: Where are you from?

Bremen, Germany

3: Top 5 RPGs (however you define them)?

Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Wasteland, Baldurs Gate, Fallout -Series, Elder Scrolls - Series

4: Top 5 non RPGs?

Doom/Quake, Halflife - Series, Thief, System Shock, Adventures like Monkey Island/Zak McKracken

5: What was the game that made you a gamer?

Pong (Console), Elite & Bards Tale (C64) & a few machines at the arcades. Oh, I always love to play Pinball!

6: Which era in you opinion produced best made the best RPGs? (defnitions at bottom of post)

I cannot decide over that... every generation of gaming had it's highs and lows.

7: What is your gaming platform of Choice?

PC, Mac, iPhone... and a real-life pinball machine.

8: On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is ultra casual gamer, and 10 is obsessive uber geek where would you place yourself.

Nowadays I count myself as a 4-5. A decade ago I was between 8-9.

[Chaostos]

1: 24
2: Latvia

3: Oblivion (+mods\dlc's), Fallout:New Vegas, Icewind Dale 2, DarkStone, Diablo 2

4: thats a tough one... Quake 4, S.T.A.L.K.E.R CoP, ET:Quake Wars, Mirrors Edge, Killing Floor. Tbh, I love all Quake 1-4\Doom 1-3\Stalkers and like +100 more games btw The Gun - what a nice game, oh and Gunman. and Heavy Metal FAKK 2, and The Thing.k Ill stop now.

5: first Nintendo games, TMNT fightings, Tanks, Jackal , Life Force, Contra, Duck Hunt, some 2-3 helicopter games. There are realy many good games what influence my 8-12 years old mind.
on PC - Doom 2, Quake 2, Duke Nukem 3D - after all of these there was no turning back. I would also add what Terminator(1,2), Predator and Alien(s) were the movies what made me love FPS games and Sci-Fi setting even more, part of the reason I never was much in to Fantasy\RPG games, books, movies & lore. I was a kid who ran around with 1 stick, pretending it was a pulse rifle and the other stick was my hi-tech saber

6: Im an RPG cadet\newb at best, I love new RPGs\action games, tbh there are good games in every era. Its just i love more of new RPG\action\open world like games more.

7: PC and someday PS3 or PS4, those PS3 games win me over xbox, personally...Twisted Metal, Mortal Kombat, Motorstorm(s), Tekken, Resistance, etc. but I would love to get X-box if & when I can

8: 9\10 probably, Im a huge gaming fan, the games I dont play because of time\wish\money restrictions - i watch others play
Since Duck Hunt & Doom 2 Im a huge FPS fan, love games what FEELS rewarding if you got skill\play good, I find achievements only as a nice bonus and a bonus reason to replay a game what you love, and would replay anyway, but now also maybe trying some other option\play style.

Im worthlessly bad at multiplayer in RTS, but love C&C,Dune,WH games with passion.
Im good at singleplayer RPG\action rpg\slasher rpg games, love them with passion. the list would be too long to post here.
and I love many different games, not only videogames.

PS. my believes about gaming :
1)Our Life is the most important Game.
2) everyone Plays, and Im not just talking about Life, in general people like competition, to be better, to achieve more, to boldly go where ..."ekkhmm". To be short - sport or table or video Games are part of our Culture and life.
3) Show Must Go On !
oh and I totally evaded any mention of Quest\RTT\Platformers\flying & car simulators I love, quick mention - Mario..NOT, Darkwing Duck all day long ! some Robin Hood platformer, PrinceOfPersia (including Two Thrones, but not later ones) Gorky 17, UFO:Aftermatch, Space Rangers 2: Dominators, Eurofighter typhoon (1st game I EVER personally buyed), Storm:Soldiers of sky, NeedForSpeed 5 : Porsche Unleashed (second game I personally buyed) and many, many russian fantasy& sci-fi\book adaptations in Quests (point & click puzzles & quests) .

If anyone REALLY cares - some Horror\Indie games Im in love & some looks on Indie gaming scene.

SpoilerShow

- Penumbra:BPlague, Amnesia, Resident Evil 3. Lugaru.
now waiting for Starbound & Overgrowth, they will be incredible.
Man, this is some really peak time for Indie developers. Legend of Grimrock made by 4 people ? With such a high quality, it blows my mind ! Amnesia 4-5 who never met each other while making the game. Terraria - 2 people, Minecraft - 1.
somehow from supporting BIG EA\Activison power houses, playing all top FPS games I got tired of, overpriced\overhyped, I find myself really enjoying Indie scene right now ! People, search for Indie games, support those whos ideas you like !
LoG team - you totally deserve 2+ million sales, as you with other INCREDIBLE Indie developers bring such an amazing quality in to gaming in this hard times for originality\ideas with BIG company's, many of which stuck producing copy\paste titles, not daring to even launch a new Title for diffferent game they make.
if you read this - Thank You ! and thanks WTF is Legend of Grimrock video so I can spend my money on something what is actually worth it, and where money goes to people who actually make the game with theyr talent & not just advertisements.

k Peace everyone, whatever you believe - you and your family - be healthy ! gl & hf

[Rensje]

I love stuff like this.. so I'm going to put in my two cents as well.

1: How old are you?
23

2: Where are you from?
The Netherlands

3: Top 5 RPGs (however you define them)?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, System Shock 2, Dark Souls, TLoZ: Ocarina of Time and Golden Sun

4: Top 5 non-RPGs?
Max Payne 1&2, Minecraft, Diablo II, Silver and Mario Kart 64!

5: What was the game that made you a gamer?
Super Mario Bros. for the NES. I was 2 years old when I first played it. Amazingly I can actually remember that moment.

6: Which era in you opinion produced best made the best RPGs? (defnitions at bottom of post)
I would say the golden age.. of the RPGs that I have had the good fortune to play, Skyrim is definitely at the very top of my list for sheer open-endedness, exploration and replay value.

7: What is your gaming platform of choice?
PC, definitely. My rig is a beast and as such I have taken to calling it 'Behemoth'. I do sometimes play on my Xbox 360 for the exclusive games.

8: On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is ultra casual gamer, and 10 is obsessive uber geek where would you place yourself.
Probably a 7 or 8. I can get quite obsessed over games, especially ones that are nearing release. (DIABLO III!)

[Catastros]

Seeing some of the answers in my other thread it occurred to me that unlike many other forums I might not be one of the oldest people on the board.

So just some basic questions so we can get a taste of who is actually frequenting the forum

1: How old are you?
2: Where are you from?
3: Top 5 RPGs (however you define them)?
4: Top 5 non RPGs?
5: What was the game that made you a gamer?
6: Which era in you opinion produced best made the best RPGs? (defnitions at bottom of post)
7: What is your gaming platform of Choice?
8: On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is ultra casual gamer, and 10 is obsessive uber geek where would you place yourself.

Obviously if there is any question you're not comfortable with you dont need to answer it.

1: 35 (born in 1976)
2: Wellington. New Zealand
3: Fallout 2, Ultima VII, Baldur's Gate II, Planescape Torment, Lands of Lore - Throne of Chaos
4: System Shock II, Grim Fandango, X-Com Ufo Defense, Deus Ex, Syndicate.
5: While there are many the first one that took me from kid who likes games to "gamer" was Pool of Radiance in 1988. Been addicted ever since
6: I am smack bang in between Golden and Silver. Truly a great time to be a cRPG fan.
7: I am a PC gamer ( I do own a PS3 but it doesnt get much use)
8: I would be a 7 or 8. I have a very high end rig, and frequent gaming forums. So while I am not obsessive I am very much an active member of the gaming community.

So share a bit about yourselves.

Cheers

***

Classic Age (pre-1985ish)
Examples: Wizard's Castle, nethack, the PnP RPGs
These are the historical underpinnings of the entire genre and represent the first attempts to port the rules and standards of the PnP to the new world of computers.

Golden Age (mid-80s to mid-90s)
Examples: Bard's Tale series, Wasteland, Dragon Wars, Might and Magic series, SSI Gold Box games, Sentinel Worlds
As the OP mentioned, these games allowed RPG fans a chance to play those games if/when circumstances didn't allow for getting enough people together to play. They typically featured the following:
•Player could create, and control, a party of characters
•Character had little to no control over NPCs added to the party
•Character creation was modeled on the dice-rolling methods of PnP
•While story and narrative were of great importance, it was as (or more important) to create a world in which the Player could help craft the story
•Combat was turn-based and tactical but limited by technology
•Actions had consequences and, in some cases, permanent death was a major issue (either due to game mechanics or save game systems)

Silver Age (mid-90s to early-2000s)
Examples: Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale, Fallout 1 & 2, Arcanum
As we enter the Silver Age we find technology improving so graphics, combat mechanisms, and breadth of the games all improve. These games follow, spiritually, from Golden Age games but start changing a bit -- partly because of new technology enhancements and partly as a streamlining of certain mechanics:
•Character creation starts focusing on point buy systems instead of rolling
•Player creates and controls one primary character who is the primary protagonist for the game story
•NPCs that join the party are fully controlled, in combat, by the player but provide personality and story in their own right (via dialogue or their own quests)
•Story is the primary point, propelling the protagonist along. Still well-crafted worlds but with the start of "chosen one" storytelling there is a little less wiggle room
•Combat becomes vastly improved by technological advancements; combat is still tactical based but only sometimes (truly) turn-based and starts heading toward real-time mechanics.
•Players are granted to ability to save anywhere and frequently to allow redoes of difficult obstacles or to reset after undesirable events

Modern Age (mid-2000s to present)
Examples: Fallout 3/NV, Mass Effect Series, Dragon Age series
The RPG starts to merge with the FPS genre, partly to accommodate console play and partly to become more immersive. Some previous traits carry over, and some new things change.
•Character creation starts focusing on point buy systems instead of rolling
•Player is responsible for the main protagonist and all story revolves around that character
•NPC companions may join the quest; dialogue, story, and quests from these NPCs are greatly expanded upon and they become essential parts of the narrative.
•Story is much narrower with the "Chosen One" issue front and center; even in open worlds with many character options the game dictates those options and becomes more of a branching tree than a truly open system.
•Combat switches to real-time with a heavy focus on first-person elements and mechanics. Tactics take a back seat.
•Players can -- and do -- save everywhere, all the time; this is partly to allow the ability to redo or backtrack, partly as protection from the increase in game-related bugs, and partly to see how things could go otherwise.

27
Istanbul, Turkey
Dungeon Master, Dungeon Master 2, Chaos Strike Back, Might and Magic 6 and Legend of Grimrock
Heroes of Might and MAgic Series, Half Life, Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Broken sword
Dungeon Master
Silver Age
PC
8