Objectively:

 

1. Bioware (Kind if undisputable)

2. Bethesda (No matter what I think of them, they're huge and popular)

3. Obsidian (I still feel we haven't seen the real potential from this team)

4. Piranha Bytes (They are so small and they always release buggy games..)

5. ?

 

Horrible, I can't even think of a fifth company that focuses mainly on RPG's!

You're not including any console devs though.

I'll have to second Gorth's SSi.

CD Projekt may have a good potential if their RPG game "The Witcher" comes out as good as we can expect it to be.

 

Irrational games for their Freedom Force and System Shock 2. Not sure if those are considered as RPG though.

You're not including any console devs though.

Can you name any console developers that release mainly western RPG's?

Yes, when the hell is the Witcher coming out? They had about 3 hype-runs and then went to sleep.

I'd guess about the same time as S.T.A... Oh wait...

and the men look more like woman then real life woman do

 

Oh no, effeminate men. That is clearly a horrible thing and no decent person should enjoy games with effeminate men.

 

Please.

 

Sorry, but effeminate men are [not to my taste].

Edited April 27, 200718 yr by metadigital

Gone:

 

Interplay

BIS

Troika

 

Existing:

 

Bioware

Obsidian

Blizzard

Living:

1. Obsidian

2. Bioware

3. ????

 

Dead:

1. BIS

2. Troika

3. ????

 

Overall:

 

1.BIS

2. Obsidian

3. Bioware

4. Troika

5. ???

Edited April 26, 200718 yr by Xard

Just wondering which RPG developers you would say where the best of the lot, say top 5.

Oh and I'm talking about western RPGs none of that pansy Final Fantasy stuff.

define 'western' please

West of the planet lol.

European, N American, well to be fair I mean western style RPGs so Australia anywhere.

and the men look more like woman then real life woman do

 

Oh no, effeminate men. That is clearly a horrible thing and no decent person should enjoy games with effeminate men.

 

Please.

 

Sorry, but effeminate men are [not to my taste].

Man, if catering for fangirls in one character, you don't even have to use most of the time, stops you from playing a great rpg, it is definetly your loss.

 

FF 12 is awesome.

It's FF, it can't be good. FF's are consistant in sucking.

From current developers I would say:

 

1. Obsidian (though, I agree with mkreku)

2. Blizzard

3. Bioware

4. Bethesda

How about Irrational Games? They made System Shock 2. While that's only ~29,657% RPG, that bit that's in is still more than...let's say Bio ever achieved.

And they have Freedom Force and Bioshock, that amounts to something as well.

It's kind of silly how a lot of posters giving dead developers lists, don't mention Origin or SSI.

Pointless FF bashing sucks. That it was started by the thread-opener doesn't make it on topic, does it?

when the hell is the Witcher coming out?

They said at the end of march:

Atari and CD Projekt proudly announce that

Edited April 26, 200718 yr by samm

A fan of Arx Fatalis? Sorry to diverge from the topic of conversation, but how well did you like it? It's recently been added to Steam and I've considered purchasing it.

Arx is pretty good, especially If you are a Ultima Underworld fan. The only real problem with it was the magic system. I guess you'd need a wii controller for magic to work properly.

Tale: I'm not too big a fan of it, I just enjoyed it quite a lot. It has quite clumsy controls and probably looks outdated by now (the main char was visually disturbing even at the time of release, how fortunate it is FP). But: it has quite some interactive elements (catching fish and roasting it on fire, baking bread, brewing potions using a bottle, water, herbs, a mortar and an alchemical toolset etc). The magic system is great: you can find hidden runes to combine to new spells, which you draw with your mouse to create the spell-effect. It has (or had for the time) very good sound and music, creating quite some atmosphere. It is humorous, too, and the story and setting is fantasy but felt still all new to me thanks to twists and interactive riddles, though I heard it was similar to Ultima Underworld which I never played.

Hope this helps!

Edited April 26, 200718 yr by samm

The magic system is great: you can find hidden runes to combine to new spells, which you draw with your mouse to create the spell-effect.

 

 

I guess we have to diasgree on that point.

What did you like/dislike about it? Taks will benefit from more opinions. If you felt to slow casting a spell, you could "pre-cast" it and store it in a little Icon, so that would not a problem (to me at least )

On the fly casting was next to impossible, and the pre-casting thing only really worked if you already knew what was up ahead (reload). And anyway, wasn't there a limit to how many spells one could pre-cast?

 

P.S.: We're helping Max Tale not Taks...

A fan of Arx Fatalis? Sorry to diverge from the topic of conversation, but how well did you like it? It's recently been added to Steam and I've considered purchasing it.

I thought the magic system was OK, worked reasonably well and was fun. The game just felt very small. The whole big epic intro suggests a much larger gameworld than actually exists, and that for me destroyed the mood before I got to the end.