OK, RPGs, the glorius games that they are, if they''re not great, they''re pants. That applies in most cases anyway, it''s either good or bad, you gotta get it right.

My favourite rpgs were:

Chrono Trigger - SNES
Secret of Mana - SNES
Seiken Densetsu 3 - SNES (Translated version)
Final Fantasy 7 - PC and
Final Fantasy 8 - PSX

I liked Chrono Trigger because of the twist it had, the emement of time-travel captured the Sci-Fi side of me, while the other elements of the plot that were more related to other games. Secret of Mana was an interesting game, the Battle System was interesting, though I''m not sure whether I prefer it over the ATB system. SD3 was Secret of Mana''s sequel (not Secret of Evermore) It was good because you chose three main characters at the start and the game was different based on the characters you picked. I liked FF7 more so that FF8 because it had an immersive story line and good character development, Cloud started out selfish and emerged into a selfless man who wanted to save the world. I also found the terrible story about Barret and Corel quite emotional when he was revealing the story. FMV is a nice but not compulsory element to an RPG, you can do some nice looking graphics with little programming effort, you just make up the AVI in a 3D raytracer. I am thinking of adding digitized speech to my RPG to add an extra element of realism.

I plan to implement a character system that allows the character''s attitude to change based on the decisions you make, I''m not sure how to do it yet though.

Have anyone mentioned world that recreates itself every time, just like in Adom or Diablo. Remember to set basic atributes to characters and plenty of skills that he can improve. Like Adom is for real oldschoolers and Diablo is for burger type players. Adom is good meal and Diablo is stupid burger that you can buy in MC''. Levelin'' is big part of game and special abilities that follow leveling like Mage who can kill fighter with one fireball or Monk who can kill enemies with one hit. Don''t make stupid dungeons that won''t lead you anywhere, remember to reward player with new unique sword or spell. You don''t need awesome graphics If you have idead!
Remember to visit www.adom.de there you will find something that blows your mind! =) Well not the graphics or plot just venturing to the deepest section of CoC

I gotta go with the character development people here. The best feeling in any RPG is when your character goes up another level, learns a new spell or skill.

Also, freedom and variety are very important. Variety because people will not want to put their characters up more levels doing the same thing over and over, and freedom because an RPG is supposed to be a world, not a town, village or dungeon.

The freedom bit is the only thing missing from Diablo. Thats why DIablo II is gonna be so great (hurry up Blizzard )

Good luck

Character development and interplay have my vote as strongest RPG component. I want characters to overcome their fears, betray their comrades, slay their worst enemies, master their techniques, and fulfull their destinies. Without characters talking to eachother in important scenes of the game, you might as well be leading a bunch of mimes out of an imaginary box! Give the characters personality!

FF3... Cyan''s slaying of the enemy guard captain in front of Doma castle. That was a great deed. Shadow''s unexpected death in the tower of Kefka. Sad. Gau''s crazy antics in the Veldt. Hah! Those are the things that get remembered about RPGs.

IMHO,
Justin Hust

I play D&D and it''s alot more to it!! We play by the rules, but we don''t at the same time. We play any creature that has intellegence and Any class also! Let the User pick from a greater database of Races, Classes, Proficiencies, weapons, and magic! Also have the user Create Magic. If it is in there power let them do it. Example: Army Of Darkness. It is an illusional spell where an Army of disired creature come storming in so thick that is Frightens to death. I used Imps! I had 16 billion imps flew in a Elfen town and scared the King to death!! THat is what i mean, Have them create what the Character.

Character development and interplay have my vote as strongest RPG component. I want characters to overcome their fears, betray their comrades, slay their worst enemies, master their techniques, and fulfull their destinies. Without characters talking to eachother in important scenes of the game, you might as well be leading a bunch of mimes out of an imaginary box! Give the characters personality!

FF3... Cyan''s slaying of the enemy guard captain in front of Doma castle. That was a great deed. Shadow''s unexpected death in the tower of Kefka. Sad. Gau''s crazy antics in the Veldt. Hah! Those are the things that get remembered about RPGs.

IMHO,
Justin Hust

You should have great music (Chrono Trigger) and instead of just random monster encounters, show the monsters in the dungeons while the characters are exploring (Chrono Trigger)