Heh, indeed I did. I also remember all the great BoS vs. Enclave arguments I got into. My Baldur's Gate background slapped me across the face eventually (first RPG BG II was... ), something with Skyrim just ticked "hey wait a minute... they took out some things I liked even in Fallout 3 and Oblivion", and I thought something was up when I realized how much more choice and satisfactory writing I got with a current-gen game that never tried to hide the fact that it was an FPS/RPG hybrid (Deus Ex: Human Revolution) in comparison to the Bethesda-claimed "ultimate open-ended fantasy RPG"... the realizations then all came rushing in, however... that and I went through two years of college-level literary criticism courses and while I can't quite label particularly what happened, a large shift in my mentality occurred, and is perhaps still occurring, over the past few years (Entrance to young advlthood?).

I don't know... somewhere along the line the nostalgic effects wore off and I came to realize I wanted more and was getting less... that I enjoyed many of the RPGs I grew up on more than I enjoyed what Bethesda was doing and that the things I had hoped to see improved were instead cut (Fallout 3 and Oblivion had greater choice and consequence + character effect on the world, even). My experience with plenty of WRPGs and even JRPGs predated my experience with TES and Fallout 3 (unfortunately, Fallout was not one of those early series... it was Baldur's Gate and KotOR) and the disappointment of this console generation in a feeling of want for games such as those was satisfied and unveiled to be very much possible with RPGs like New Vegas, DA: Origins (sadly the last of its kind in BioWare's record), and even a hybrid such as Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

I also played some interesting PC RPGs I've never touched before such as Mount and Blade: Warband, took a look and considered some older titles such as the original Deus Ex, IceWind Dale, Gothic, Ultima and Planescape Torment, got a hold of the original Fallout trilogy pack, reacquired copies of my old favorites Baldur's Gate and KotOR, and even got some old, fantastic PS1 JRPGs into my system. The old favorites and even some of those rare new gems brought to fruition just what was wrong with the current generation of RPGs including Bethesda's direction not to mention the general fact that I grew more and more disenchanted and unsatisfied with what was occurring. I had already played TES I-III, as well and the trend is clear. Some things have certainly improved but that sense of RPG wholeness and long-term satisfaction of character-building was evidently progressively lacking and Skyrim just hit it to a degree that crossed a line I couldn't accept... not even a basic reputation system in Skyrim...

I've never played pure shooters and the RPG has, since my introduction to Baldur's Gate, been the only genre I've truly loved and so I've seen all facets of the genre from isometric, turn-based WRPGs, to real-time action-RPGs, to colorful JRPGs, to strategic RPGs, to FPS/RPG hybrids, etc. The exceptions are a few stategy and building simulation games such as Civilization, mostly, with some aside time for action-adventure platformers and the like (Assassin's Creed). I'm considering getting into the Thief series, as well. Anyway, what I've realized is that there are many types of RPGs and I've found places I enjoy in all the different sub-genres, but this console gen and all forms of RPGs, be it PC or console, during this time have suffered.

Mass Effect or DA II versus KotOR and Baldur's Gate is just a joke of a comparison. Fallout 3 versus Fallout 1 and 2 is nearly a 180 degree turn. Final Fantasy XIII versus Final Fantasy IX is depressing. Dragon Quest X is an MMO... so not even comparable to Dragon Quest VIII, for example. Then there's The Old Republic... I really loved KotOR, but nope, the place of the third game had to be taken by an MMO as far as BioWare or Lucas were concerned. Dragon Age: Origins was followed by trash. Skyrim is much closer to its two more recent predecessors than a lot of these contemporary disappointments with the exception being Skyrim furthered a trend of cutting certain RPG-type elements rather than expanding on them. It's a far cry from Daggerfall, certainly... in line with Arena's lack of complexity, but post-Daggerfall, there's a pretty clear trend with this series that I feel stupid for not having seen and worried about before.

I considered this for a while when I was playing Skyrim 24/7 (figuratively) but after some 120 hours I've grown pretty bored with it and have returned to Fallout and other games.

Wow, good for you seti, what did you think of torment? I still think it's one of the best RPG's out there.

never liked other rpgs in the first place, except the new fallouts, & pokemon if it counts.

oh, and this one game called folklore.

i hate having a bunch of stupid stats telling me what i can & cant do.

I wouldn`t say TES ruined RPG`s for me particularly. More like I just haven`t found many decent RPG`s since Daggerfall. The exceptions being the Gothic Series 1- 3, the Witcher series, KOTOR 1 & 2 and FO3/NV.

At least you admit to not being open minded. I guess that's cool. I'll give you credit for honesty.

More like every other game.

Well, except recently i've abandoned Skyrim to finish my import characters in anticipation of ME3. Bioware's cinematic storytelling still has a fighting chance against Beth's huge open worlds

Ummm....okay

Can i ask what is the purpose of this topic ?

Skyrim isn't a Rpg,is an action based open world game with some Rpg elements.
There are plenty of other good games out there and obviously everyone have his personal preferences,so i repeat: what is the purpose of this topic ? make a personal list of games ? to compare Skyrim with "this and that" ?

i really don't see the point sorry.

Reading this forum I have come to the conclusion that the only thing that Skyrim has ruined is some social life perhaps (for those who have one of course )

Absolutely not. I love the Witcher (both), still do one Baldur's Gate 2 playthrough a year, will never let go of the Gothic series or Fallout 1-3. Apart from Baldu's Gate 2 still being the best RPG for me, I don't really want to put them in any order though...

Having just played the ME3 demo, I am looking forward to it's release on PS3 so no, TES hasn't ruined RPG type games for me, Sacred 2 is still on my system. I set TES apart from other games having played them all since Daggerfall as they have thier own distinct feel.

Afraid not. I breath a sigh of relief every time I see Baldur`s gate 2, Morrowind and even Dragon Age, etc on my shelf.

Comparing TES to games like Mass effect series, Two worlds 2, Divinty 2, Dragon Age Origins isn't really fair in my opinion. There is one big difference with TES compared to majority of other RPG's on the market. Games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age is heavy based on story, while allowing you to a certain amount of open world feeling it really isn't all that open and the main story is always there to pull you in once all side quests are done. In TES you can play the entire game with just exploring and don't bother about main quest at all, in most other RPG's this simply isn't possible.

While I do enjoy games like mass effect, dragon age, dvinity 2 etc they all feel like they miss the things that makes TES stand out for my part. It doesn't make them bad games, but they don't have the same re-playability as TES/Fallout 3 games have. However storywise they are good and offers a better story then TES games, but yet I find myself play a TES/fallout3 game for Hundred's of hours and the story based for maybe 50-100 hours. Dragon age Origins being the exception that lasted about 244 hours before putting it away.

I could never get into DA:O, just felt like too generic an RPG to me. Mass Effect is great, but sadly I probably won't be buying 3 since they cut parts out the finished game to sell as DLC..

It has ruined what little I liked of Oblivion and Fallout 3, since Skyrim is clearly superior. Other RPGs? It doesn't come even close to having the deep choice and consequence of TW2, the awesome characters of most Bioware games, and Obsidian/Black Isle sheer superiority in terms of writing. So, not really no.

my comments are based purely on the 360-

TES series, fallout3 and newvegas are the best, imo.

there aren't really any other competitors, as far as i'm concerned: bioware is a distant second.

these games haven't ruined those other games, but, the linear gameplay and ridiculous "good/bad" bioware crap and supposedly superb "storytelling" doesn't come close to the open world diversity of gameplay that gamesas and new vegas offer.