Please state your game with a reason why and if it isn't skyrim state why and what it had that skyrim doesn't. There seems to be a lot of complaints that skyrim isn't compelling enough to make you feel like you get to make decisions that have a lasting effect on the game world instead of saying yes or no to fetch quests. Thank you and no flaming! :flamethrower:

i have allot of favorites
The TeS series for on because the detail and time put into the game.
Radiata Stories for its early resemblance of Radiant AI
FF9 for its uniques characters
and last but not least Metal Saga for its unique style of gameplay and vast and unending story.

Hoo boy. Need to think back a bit...

Let me see...

Ah, yes! Suikoden II. Came out way back for the PS. Old school, turn-based RPG.

Spent $150 US for the game, 'cause I slept on it, and it was very difficult to find later.

Anyway, I liked it so much 'cause it had a little bit of everything. Memorable characters. Great character development. Story had a lot of "human" feeling in it; I laughed, cried, got angry, and jumped for joy. Wasn't too over the top. Minus the fantasy stuff, it almost seemed like it could have been a real story. Having a bunch of characters in your party; different combinations, different possibilities. Enjoyed the cooking mini-game. Probably more reasons, but I can't think of any more.

Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn.
I can't pinpoint anything in particular that makes it the best game I've ever played.

Atmosphere, Party members character depth, complex dialog, spells, memorable encounters, mobs.

I was hoping that Dragon Age would fill the gap left by BG2 but it didn't even come close

Either Fallout: New Vegas, or Final Fantasy Tactics. They're both just amazing games. Definitely my two favorite games ever. I don't even know just what to say, they had everything for me.

FFVII is wonderful for me but I may have to give it to FFX, the first game I ever put 100s of hours into (played it before VII)
But I do love Beth. games. Fallout3 and NV. Skyrim is wonderful though, it could end up being my favorite eventually.

Morrowind is my favorite. It punishes you for your weak skills and stats, but greatly rewards you for leveling up (It also doesn't place any restrictions on how high your stats can go.). The spellmaking, enchanting, and customization of equipment is unparalleled when compared to any other rpg that I have played or read about. The level scaling was also very well done.

I'm going to have to say Fallout 3, it was the first RPG that got me really into RPG's. I played FF7 and others before, but I was too young to understand what exactly an RPG was. lol

Systemshock 2?

I dont know, I get so confused as to what is or isnt an RPG anymore I gave up caring.

This is a hard one, but. I think that Fallout 3 might top the list - cool setting, interesting quests, enjoyable character customization, etc.

Morrowind, Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights, and New Vegas come in close as well.

Really enjoying Skyrim so far, but am only 30 hours into it, so too early to judge.

fallout NV currently

next on my list in no particular order would be vampire bloodlines, deus ex HR, baldurs gate 2, someone mentioned suikoden 2 that was a freakin awesome game, chrono trigger, and shadowrun for sega genesis (snes one svcked) oh and new horizons

Picking my favourite RPG is too hard and nostalgia is clouding things.

It definitely isn't Skyrim. I barely consider Skyrim to be an RPG because it lacks a lot of what I consider to be basic RPG game mechanics.

Fallout 2 is one of my favorite western RPGs. Final Fantasy VIII and Legend of Dragoon tie for my favorite eastern RPG.

EDIT:
SystemShock 2 is a great game, though I don't know if I'd call it flat-out an RPG. I still consider it more of a FPS with RPG influences, though it's still a hell of a more RPG than some of what's called RPG today.

Jade Empire.

Why? Asians and an amazing plot.

Never Winter Nights, for the character creation and its many posibilities, every character having stregnths and weaknesses and both could be exploited in many ways. The community and worlds made with the toolset were actually more fun than the official campaign, though they were fun too.

It was a released finished product with no DLC, just the occasional update!!

Morrowind.

Why? Because I love open-world RPGs, and Morrowind is the best of its kind.

Ever heard of the Gothic series?

...no flippin' idea, but i think it is fallout 3/NV (post apocolyptic settings are always fun) or skyrim (it may have its faults but it is still awsome)

Morrowind.

Modded Oblivion is my #1 favorite. For a vanilla game I'd vote for Neverwinter Nights 1 and its expansions.

The first two Gothic games are really great. The second in particular is one of my favourite RPGs of all time. I think they're let down though by poor UI, controls, voice-acting, and somewhat shallow character development.

Neverwinter Nights - maybe nostalgia, but when a very active community keeps on developing single-player adventures (and still do) that have very sophisticated choices and writing, and the parent company continued web/tech support over a DECADE after release, that's a good product. Dated graphics, but the GAME was complex and sophisticated and I felt real attachment to the character's I created (mainly because my character adventured beyond just one story). No amount of lipstick on a pig ie pretties and flash (I'M LOOKING AT YOU DRAGONAGE) and marketing can replace great writing and great product support. It is why people STILL play NWN and Baldur's.

For CRPGs its Morrowind, a different and original environment, fascinating lore, and enough content that I'm still finding things I've never seen
For PnP its between Runequest and Pendragon

I think Skyrim blows Skyrim away as far as compleximplicity.

Gotta go with Fallout 1. Just something about it at the time that was fantastic.