Well, generally everybody knows what's good and what's bad. It's just a matter of emphasis. I suppose different people might prioritize differently. I wanna toss my two cents in and see if anyone agrees or how flamed am I going to get.
1. Player character customizability and developement.
This is the #1 reason I play RPGs. This is the one thing that no other genre has and grabs me so much. I like to get the illusion that my trip through the gameworld is unique, that I'm creating a PC like no one else's, making em as powerful as possible in their own truly personalized way. This is also what gives RPGs replayability for me. If I know from the start that there are very few ways to make a really kickass character (example: they'd have to be a fighting class and polarized to either the light side or the dark side), it really kills replayability. So basically the more classes/class combos/attribs/skills/feets/perks/etc. the better, especially if you're quite limited within a very wide set of choices .
2. Non-linear gaming!!!
Who cares about the main plot? Let me explore, just make em all side-quests for all I care, stretched-out a little so they take longer to do. I like it the best if I can go back and forth between places I've been just following my own trail of things to do. I don't like the parts where you get caged in one particular place and have to work on one particular quest just to get out of there <_< . Similarly, I hate when you can't go back and do things you skipped in places that will never again be reachable. So basically, the less linear the better.
3. And ofcourse, playability, balance, the very basics.
Those are my personal top priorities, and then there's everything else, like: interesting NPCs (I can take em or leave them. In a way I like it better when you can create the whole party of PCs like in Icewind Dale. It makes their developement interactive), an original plot/gameworld (they're never that original anyway. No biggie), GFX and sound - beh.. those are all great to have if my first conditions are met. Otherwise they won't really elevate the game beyond a certain point.
Don't get me wrong, I love you guys, I love what these companies have done (Black Isle / Bioware / Obsidian / etc.), I've just gotten really spoiled after playing all those superb renaisannce masterpieces. I'm just saying what I think should be emphasized, and maybe if god likes me I can sway some public opinion over to my side. :ph34r:
