My favorite thing to do in rpgs is to progress a story that includes well-defined goals. Whether it's discovering more about what period in the game world's time that makes up the story, getting a new party member, a cutscene/story sequence I didn't expect and/or really enjoyed, or maybe some interesting boss battle or power. Sometimes gameplay on paper really isn't that special (ie. selecting menu options before an enemy attacks/ pushing buttons to swing a sword or cast a spell) but their implementation in the game as a whole can make up for this depending on the player(s).

Some things I would like to see in an rpg are the ability to build a story with a satisfying climax to the experience (again depends on the player, but I find climax allows me to either move on from the game with fond memories or to restart the game). You could start the player out at random points in the game each time a new game is begun and have a number of events to choose between surrounding the player that chain into a story (there should be a limit to the number of events that happen in a single playthrough and events that don't happen the same way just because you made the same choice).

--Stat progression should be just enough (keep difficulty growing with emphasis on in-battle/quest choices) to show your character's not the naive that he/she began as and should accomplish three goals: (1) let the player see how badass they actually are when fighting earlier encountered enemies, (2) give the player new ways to use the character features they chose, and (3) challenge the player to overcome their weaknesses (ie. the features they didn't choose).

--Save and reload at absolutely ANYtime with multiple save slots

--YouTube-like control of cutscenes (if there are any)

--As one poster stated it might be nice to have only necessary dialog/text. Instead of having dialogue maybe just have speech options for what effect you want to happen by the NPCs (ie. "Join Party, Sell Me Something, Lead Me to the Dungeon," etc.).

--Design party members based on people or personality concepts of people that you, the designer, would really love to be around.

Common mistakes rpgs make is having voice acting of debatable quality, ineffectual charaters, complex and ugly "start menu" systems (mostly with 80s and 90s era rpgs, but also Morrowind's stat menus) and, for computer games like the Ultima series and Dwarf Fortress, too many confusing button controls. Also, if you think your game is doing a lot (my earlier suggestions not withstanding and all those finicky details like physics for everything and too many branching game-story paths) and the animation quality and bugs are getting out of hand, get your game back to a focus on core gameplay and making sure it is complete on release (with extensive playtesting).

RPGs I would recommend are Final Fantasy 6 Advance (one thing that a well-known walkthrough pointed out is that 6 has taken pains to make even some of the earliest game items have awesome strategies for use throughout the game), Chrono Trigger (PSX), KOTOR 1/2 (2 is more of how a good idea and implementation can get out of hand in quality of the story, gameplay, and lack of bug control; I've also read how polarizing views are on "ESII: Daggerfall" because of its awesome world and gameplay but also because it is one of the worst examples of lack of bug control in computer games), and the (in hindsight) geniousness of the massive amount of gameplay in Pokemon Gold/Silver (GBC). And although strongly denied rpg-ship by many crpg pundits, Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (extra features played on GBA) constantly makes me think of what can be with an open mind to gameplay being a large part of how levels are designed and vice versa.

Me buying an indie game of any kind would depend on the reputation of the vendor selling your game, your playtesting (I really don't want to have to fight with the game like I did sometimes in KOTOR 2, and ANY downloadable software cuts into that fear of hardware-damaging bugs, viruses, etc.), and what critical and honest reviews of your game are available. As long as price is reasonable, say no more than $34.99 (since this isn't a console-approved game, and the cheaper of the consoles' Wii games start around $39.99 to $49.99) depending on what the game cost you to make, of course, then I am fine as soon as a holiday or something rolls around.

I have never purchaced an Indie game of any kind, but the concept of non-official game company created games is fairly new to me, so I am a little cautious of shopping around (even though I hope to one day make games that people will buy).

Thought your screens looked pretty good for isometric. Could you post any N/PC sprite pics or something else? Anyway, may you enjoy your work and have it be rewarding.

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What's your favorite thing to do in RPGs? (Example: level grind, plot progression, side quests, exploration, etc...)

Plot progression...I love stories and some games really pull you in as part of the story.

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What are some things that you would like to see in an RPG?

A good combat system is a must...but I love when how you use your characters, who's storylines you explore...etc actually matters. Examples would be FF VII where you end up on a "date" with one of 3 characters, or the atelier series where you can explore the backstory and help out friends (or ignore) as you choose. For a turn based RPG cool attack animations and lots of unique animation is a must!!! stale repetitive animations get boring really fast.

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What's some common mistakes (in your opinion) RPGs make, that I should avoid?

repetitive areas, and forgetting about the story halfway through. I hate it when the story feels like an excuse for the action but is never explored and deepened later. Music as an afterthought bugs me as well, the audio of the game has to suit the game fairly well in a rpg else you completely ruin the mood of the game.

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What RPG, if any, would you recommend I play for inspiration?

Atelier Iris 1-3 or Mana Khemia for the ps2 (they're all part of the same series), if you're making it turn based look to the atelier series on how to do turn based battles!! Mana Khemia I'd say has the best turn based battle system of any game. This video here shows the sort of battle I'm talking about. (this is a fairly early battle...first time you get new abilities, I picked this battle to show because it actually explains how the abilities work)

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Would you buy an independant 2D RPG if it seemed interesting enough?

If it's inexpensive and interesting looking (make sure you provide a demo!)

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Have you bought an independant RPG before? If you don't mind me asking, which one did you buy and how much did it cost? Would you recommend I play it?

depends on how you define RPG, I've bought a few games from wolfire and others that had RPG elements..generally in the $5 range, but never a full on RPG, I've yet to see one that suits my tastes. (most opt for pure action and dungeon grinding)