What drew me into RPGs as a kid was the idea that I would fight monsters and could take my time doing it (turn-based).  I would go into a dungeon and see how much loot I could get and how far I could go before I forced to turn around or exit.  As I turned in my loot and perhaps got better armor I would spelunk again seeing if I could press further until I reached the monster/boss at the end for the elite loot.  

I was happy repeating this over and over as long as the story was entertaining and there were different environments to play through.  You know the staples.  Forest, Lava, Snow and Dessert :-)

I know these are antiquated mechanics by todays standards but wish some MMOs kept this core.  WoW was the closest but the questing just isn't challenging, its more a means to an end.

I miss that level and type of grinding.  Not so much where it was boring. Not too little that I could breeze through content.  Dungeon crawlers today like Diablo III and Torchlight are too action-oriented for me to really enjoy.

Hope it comes back in some form... for now emulation will have to do.

I Am Gamer. Play. Forever.

I'd take a look at some of the  RPG's getting funded by kickstarter right now. Some are very oldschool.

For example:

http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/

Originally posted by darkhalf357x

What drew me into RPGs as a kid was the idea that I would fight monsters and could take my time doing it (turn-based).  I would go into a dungeon and see how much loot I could get and how far I could go before I forced to turn around or exit.  As I turned in my loot and perhaps got better armor I would spelunk again seeing if I could press further until I reached the monster/boss at the end for the elite loot.  

I was happy repeating this over and over as long as the story was entertaining and there were different environments to play through.  You know the staples.  Forest, Lava, Snow and Dessert :-)

I know these are antiquated mechanics by todays standards but wish some MMOs kept this core.  WoW was the closest but the questing just isn't challenging, its more a means to an end.

I miss that level and type of grinding.  Not so much where it was boring. Not too little that I could breeze through content.  Dungeon crawlers today like Diablo III and Torchlight are too action-oriented for me to really enjoy.

Hope it comes back in some form... for now emulation will have to do.

I Am Gamer. Play. Forever.

 dosbox:   http://www.dosbox.com/

To quote from the classic movie Falling Down:

"Not economically viable" :(

Originally posted by darkhalf357x

What drew me into RPGs as a kid was the idea that I would fight monsters and could take my time doing it (turn-based).  I would go into a dungeon and see how much loot I could get and how far I could go before I forced to turn around or exit.  As I turned in my loot and perhaps got better armor I would spelunk again seeing if I could press further until I reached the monster/boss at the end for the elite loot.  

I was happy repeating this over and over as long as the story was entertaining and there were different environments to play through.  You know the staples.  Forest, Lava, Snow and Dessert :-)

I know these are antiquated mechanics by todays standards but wish some MMOs kept this core.  WoW was the closest but the questing just isn't challenging, its more a means to an end.

I miss that level and type of grinding.  Not so much where it was boring. Not too little that I could breeze through content.  Dungeon crawlers today like Diablo III and Torchlight are too action-oriented for me to really enjoy.

Hope it comes back in some form... for now emulation will have to do.

I Am Gamer. Play. Forever.

Have you played the Baldur's Gate enhanced version? I played it on my iPad. Very old school. The graphics is out-of-date, but the game is still fun.

Legend of Grimrock would be a good one to look at.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/207170/

Originally posted by emperorwings
They are still being made but buried in all the crap that is out there.

Nice!  If you know of any please pass on the names.  I would love to check them out.

Originally posted by waynejr2

Originally posted by darkhalf357x

What drew me into RPGs as a kid was the idea that I would fight monsters and could take my time doing it (turn-based).  I would go into a dungeon and see how much loot I could get and how far I could go before I forced to turn around or exit.  As I turned in my loot and perhaps got better armor I would spelunk again seeing if I could press further until I reached the monster/boss at the end for the elite loot.  

I was happy repeating this over and over as long as the story was entertaining and there were different environments to play through.  You know the staples.  Forest, Lava, Snow and Dessert :-)

I know these are antiquated mechanics by todays standards but wish some MMOs kept this core.  WoW was the closest but the questing just isn't challenging, its more a means to an end.

I miss that level and type of grinding.  Not so much where it was boring. Not too little that I could breeze through content.  Dungeon crawlers today like Diablo III and Torchlight are too action-oriented for me to really enjoy.

Hope it comes back in some form... for now emulation will have to do.

I Am Gamer. Play. Forever.

 dosbox:   http://www.dosbox.com/

 

Thanks.  Is this emulation software?  I currently emulate my SNES/PSX RPGs on my cell phone.  I still have to try out Final Fantasy DImensions and Cthulu Saves the World Episode III (or something like that).  A remake of the old school RPG.  Was just cautious how long a cell phone game could be.

Since we are adding what we are playing now/available...

Like I said I emulate most games, play some cell phone original RPGs (though most of them are lacking).

Looking forward to Etrian Odyssey IV which comes out for the 3DS next week or the week after.  But that one is hard core dungeon crawling (just the way I like it).

On a side note, I would love to play a 16-bit MMORPG.   It would be kind of cool having a bunch of 16bit sprites running around taking down Evil Dragon :-)  Secret of Mana like x100 

Originally posted by olepi
This is mostly why I play Vanguard as an MMO: that old-school style. Wide open, virtual world, no instancing at all, even for housing, and lots and lots of difficult dungeons.

I have a love/hate relationship with Vanguard.  I love everything the game stands for but after awhile I get put off by th aesthetics.  I know I'm being shallow but my brain wont allow me to continue.  But it is the type of game I am talking about.

I hope something new will come out with the same level of GW2 love.

Omg someone mentioned Torchlight.

I bought Torchlight 2.  What a crack induced nightmare.  Even with your pet going back and forth, you simply had too much junk.  Literally your choice of weapon was "hmm, which of these 45 axes am I going to enchant?"

And people think this is good gaming.  Short story short:  commoners suck.  But I guess Wal-Mart needs millions of employees.

You look back fondly on games because they were YOUR first games. You have a strong nostalgia about them which adds a lot to the perception of in actuality what was very basic days.

Asheron's Call for example was my first MMO and I look back on it as the best MMO i've ever played. It was my honeymoon period though and frankly if I tried to go back to it, I would pretty much hate it on all levels. Worse yet if they released a game of that caliber, again, i'd pretty much hate it. Sometimes I long for that huge open world with no care in the world about class balance; just give you that monster battlemage who never takes any damage ever but I know that sorta stuff has no bearing in todays world of games. In actuality you'd soon see people crying about "omg so much space but only miles and miles of terrain!" and "wtf my UA cloth wearer does 0 damage i'm leaving this game"

In 15 years the younger generation who are playing todays games will probably come and make the same posts about how they wish they made 'em like World of Warcraft still. :P

Ahh... the good ol' days...

I recall playing Wizardry and early Ultimas with my black and white note book and graph paper to map out dungeons... These were great times...

There was no internet back then and on occasion hints or a basic walkthrough were posted in PC Gamer or one of the actual game magazines of old. If there was a puzzle you had to figure it out or pray it was part of a magazine feature or article. 

Today it's not about that gameplay and complexity it's about magic golden streams of virtual bread crumbs leading you by the nose to the next objective. Everyone is also in such a rush for the "end"...

In some sense graphics killed RPG's... now everyone wants photo realizm which in my opinion takes away from immersion because you are always finding flaws... When you played a game like Ultima IV you had to let your imagination paint the picture and it was great.

Originally posted by Theocritus
Theres not much R in RPGs anymore....The trend now is that everyone can do everything and you dont play a particular role in a group......

ROFLMAO

You are so far off the mark, Role Playing is like acting you act out as a character in a virtual world.  Tanking, Healing and DPS are things you might do as is fishing, mining and dancing.  But your "role" in a group is nothing to do with "Role Playing".