That's what happens when you go on vacation and turn your back on MobyGames. When you come home, people are going over 20,000 points all over the place! This time is our German contributor Sicarius. He's that kind of silent contributor, not very present in the forums but always submitting new items on a regular basis. As himself affirms in his rap sheet, his main turf is cover art (being the 4th top contributor in that category, right behind legendary people like Corn Popper and Servo) and so far he is the top credits contributor for 2008.

Well done, Sicarius!

And thus the article comes to end. Drunken Irishman's history of Western RPGs concludes with an overview from the Modern Age, from 2002 to the present day. The run-down starts with Morrowind (2002) and ends with The Witcher (2007).

In the last pages, the independent (indie) RPGs are briefly discussed, leading up to the final conclusion. It seems the previous sections already stirred up some emotions, and you know he just loves that. Well done!

Continue reading the article, starting from the new section, here.

After having dealt with the eighties and the early nineties, today Drunken Irishman ventures into the late nineties, from the key title Fallout (1997) that introduced realistic choice and consequence in the genre, to Wizardry 8 (2001), a relic of a generation of RPGs that refused to adapt.

Aside from many elementary titles discussed thoroughly, this section, The birth of new era - late 90's to modern age, also shows how three of the most important franchises (Might and Magic, Ultima and Wizardry) come to a grinding halt with the rise of a new force in town, BioWare.

Coming up tomorrow, the final part:

• Modern Age - 2002-2007, the indies and a conclusion

Continue reading the article, starting from the new section, here.

We continue this week of Western RPGs with the second part of Drunken Irishman's personal history of the genre. This era, entitled The craftsmen - early 90's to mid-90's, runs from Ultima 6 (1990) to Diablo (1996) and most importantly explains why it is called the Dark Ages.

In his typical style, you will also get to know about important landmarks such as the first RPG with a homosexual semi-graphic sex scene, the first RPG to introduce a journal and what God's favourite game is.

Coming up the next days:

• The birth of new era - late 90's to modern age
• Modern Age - 2002-2007, the indies and a conclusion

Continue reading the article, starting from the new section, here.

Our resident contributor Drunken Irishman has taken up the humongous task of writing the history of Western RPGs, in the same way Oleg Roschin covered the World of Asian RPGs.

Because of the scope, this article is going to be published on the site in small doses this week. That way it will be easier to discuss parts of it in the comments. Readers need to keep in mind it has not been written in an objective way. As a personal history of the genre, some games have been deliberately left out and there are many subjective opinions all written using his rather unique way with words.

Do not let that detract from his authority on the matter. Most noteworthy is the how the evolution of the genre is described. You will get to know the founding games that defined the elements we now take for granted, who borrowed a lot and how different titles can be compared in terms of design.

The first part contains an introduction to the article, a lexicon of terms being used, an overview of the forefathers of the RPG and the first of four generations (From nerd to an artist – the 80's). This is just a small step however as more hefty sections will follow the next days:

• The craftsmen - early 90's to mid-90's
• The birth of new era - late 90's to modern age
• Modern Age - 2002-2007, the indies and a conclusion

Read the first part of the article here.