Are RPG's getting worse every 5 years? (List your top 10 RPG's ever to help!)

The time period is irrelevant for me because I was playing a number of these games through emulation: either because we'd never been graced with an Australian release, or with translation patches. As such, identifying with a specific period doesn't make much sense, at least not for me.

The following are some of the titles that won me over from the SNES/Genesis era
-Tales of Phantasia
-Phantasy Star IV
-Chrono Trigger
-Final Fantasy VI
-Dragon Quest VI

There are others, which probably goes some way to explaining why I skipped the whole PS1/2 era -an explosion of translation releases for the SFC (Star Ocean, Live-a Live, Treasure Hunter G, Romancing Saga 3 etc) kept me more than occupied. I don't think I'm able to comment on whether RPGs have as a whole gone downhill, partially because I've missed playing a huge selection of them.

The more recent titles I have played thoroughly have been on PC.
-Neverwinter Nights
-Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
-KOTOR I & II
-Planescape Torment

Oblivion has been positively mind-blowing yet still accessible. The number of hours I've already clocked up is staggering considering my current partial/casual gamer status. When I think about why I could never get into these types of games in the past, I realise now that the main stumbling block seemed to be in the initial character creation. Compared to the majority of the console RPGs which have defined character/hero roles with pre determined progressions and development; for the young gamer having the freedom of near total customisation can be a daunting barrier to enjoyment. I suppose now I’ve come accustomed to it and my tastes have developed somewhat.

Still, I find them all engrossing and enjoyable just like the old days of the ROM hunting and waiting for translation patches. If and when RPGs do appear to get significantly worse (and by this I mean a consistent glut of crap RPGs across both consoles and PC), I’ll probably skip them and play something else until some higher standard is reached.

Jam it back in, in the dark.