That's actually a good thing.

One that sucks about a lot of games is it's hard to make the beginning feel as good as the end.  Why should you feel weak in the beginning just because it's the beginning?

Shepard is a badass so why should Shepard be weak in the start of the game?

Guys.

THIS ISN'T ABOUT THE STANDARD.

THIS IS ABOUT THE GAME MOST COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE TERM RPG.

Considering today's lexicon and the commercial success and popularity of the series I would have to say Final Fantasy. And most people would associate the term RPG with it too. It may not be the standard, but that's the series that comes to most people's minds when the term RPG is said. Also, many people don't think that Pokemon is an RPG or most don't consider that idea.

It may not be the series that comes to many of your minds, but FF is the series most associated with RPGs IMO.

Horse shit.

Dungeons and Dragons is a part of the popular consciousness in the way that Final Fantasy has never been outside of a two-month period in 1997, and even that was about the cutscenes more than anything concerning role-playing.

Region to region, the only place where FF might dominate is in Europe.

Oh, actually, you know what? Not even there.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT

I didn't know that Dungeons and Dragons was a popular video game. 

So, are you saying that WoW is more popular than Final Fantasy?

I didn't know that the topic, title, or OP mentioned "video game" anywhere in there. I don't share certain primary assumptions about what "RPG" means.

And yes, I am. By a ludicrous margin.

I assumed since this, well, you know, a video game sales website.

And since this is a sales website, would you agree that sales would also equate to popularity?

Guys.

THIS ISN'T ABOUT THE STANDARD.

THIS IS ABOUT THE GAME MOST COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE TERM RPG.

Considering today's lexicon and the commercial success and popularity of the series I would have to say Final Fantasy. And most people would associate the term RPG with it too. It may not be the standard, but that's the series that comes to most people's minds when the term RPG is said. Also, many people don't think that Pokemon is an RPG or most don't consider that idea.

It may not be the series that comes to many of your minds, but FF is the series most associated with RPGs.

I'm going to cut this out from under you, I apologize if it's not what you expected.

In the first place, your assumption that this topic is about popularity is erroneous. Gilgamesh specifically asks what game is emblematic of RPGs for the person making the reply. Not what exists as the standard, but what is the quintessential RPG for the replier. The entire basis of your first post is fallacious and needs to be discarded.

Secondly, sales can only be understood to be a measure of popularity as they are a measure of a consistent installbase. You would need to pull up statistics that suggest there are more current FF players than there are WoW players - or, alternatively, that FF has sold more copies (within a given timeframe) to more people tan WoW has as a current installbase. You are not going to be able to do either.

If your considering the popularity and the commercial success , you should know that pokemon its the first to come in mind. And do you know that FF is the series most associated with RPGs ?

And in japan , Dragon Quest is more popular than FF.

http://www.qj.net/qjnet/news/survey-says-more-japanese-gamers-prefer-dragon-quest-over-final-fantasy.html

Well, fine at the first point. Although, would you not agreee that RPG is mostly assumed to be a video game?

And at the second point, do you think WoW has more players than FF nowadays? Not rhetoric, it's a question.