Wow, first time I've seen someone call Diablo an RPG...

and stfu stage, it's not called an JRPG only because of Turn-Based combat

And looooool Bethesda WRPGs full of soul and life, does that include Oblivion (only bethesda game I've played)? xDDD
That's just horrible, the game has no people at all who you ever feel attached to. There only like 10 people in the whole world pasted 1000 times. The game has one of the worst stories I've ever seen, it's at the same level as your average FPS story. The game is only long if you want to do those horrible side quests that repeat themselves over and over. The only interisting things in the game are those guilds, but after you get the top rank it doesn't really matter at all.

Let's compare it to a JRPG let's say... Persona 3 FES, is that alright? The game has great characters, and many of them. There are small stories going on between minor character (like the boy and his stalker). It's the major characters that are the most awesome though, I mean all those characters and I felt attached to almost all of them. The game has an awesome story, and solid villains. The game is also longer than most WRPGs, and has more replay value. And even with all those it manages to have choice and a mute main character, which all of WRPG fans seem to adore. The game is turn-based, but it still manages the be faster and more interesting than Oblivion and Mass Effect's combat.

And yes I DID play Mass Effect, though only for a couple of hours.

Ok, you listen carefully now. Carefully:

Xenosaga is not solely based on great pieces of literature. It uses intertekstual references from literature etc. and that`s A HUGE DIFFERENCE.

Xenosaga have it`s own story.

If you don`t understand this I will try to explain it to you, but only once because I`ve tried to explain this so many times on this thread, I`m getting tired.

It seems to me that many people here don`t understand the word "Intertekstual references".

So you're rating a game on two hours play before the story was even apparent, remind me never to trust your judgement of a game.  Also if you cannot argue a point without resorting to telling someone to stfu then it just about proves your intellectual prowess in a discussion.

For the record Diablo as always been classed a RPG, shows your knowledge of the genre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_(video_game)

No need to tell another user "stfu" just because you don't agree on a topic, just nicely debate them please :) thank you

Story:
JRPG: Annoying story that you can't meaningfully modify. No matter how hard you try, Aeris always dies and the end fight always goes down the same way.
WRPG: Annoying story you can modify, kind of. Best was in the original Fallout, where you could convince the main villain to commit suicide, beat him in combat, or set the nuclear reactor to override and escape.

Characters:
JRPG: You're never anybody in the story. Even when there's a 'main character' like cloud who you're supposed to be associated with, there's no real 'you' in the action. Despite the fact that the characters are all designed by character designers, they end up being annoying, replaceable transvestites. (Imagine you replaced Cloud, a magically-endowed supersoldier with a unique weapon, severe amnesia, ridiculous hair, and a weather-related name with Squall, a magically-endowed supersoldier with a unique weapon, severe amnesia, slightly less ridiculous hair, and a weather-related name. Or even with Tidus, a completely normal guy who is able to fight off the gods themselves with a unique weapon, severe amnesia (Not remembering you don't exist counts), ridiculous pants, and a ocean-related name. Would the game be any different at all?)

WRPG: You're pretty much always just one jerk. Because you can infinitely modify your dude, everything's super generic. You're just a guy, or a girl, wearing generic cloths with generic skills and generic everything. All the NPCs refer to you by a title because they don't want to use your real name.



Basically, my point is, computer RPGs suck. Tabletop or death.

I didn't say anything about the story of Mass Effect, I said the gameplay was slow. I can usually judge gameplay after 5 hours.

Nice Wikipedia article "Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name." Nice way of showing your knowledge. Besides I just checked it's an Action RPG and if we go by stage's standards that would mean it's not an RPG. =)

Most people call it hack 'n slash anyway, and I didn't get any sort of rpg feeling from the game. I wouldn't say you get to choose very much in the game, so where's the "role"-playing?

STAGE, wth dude, do you hate JRPG's or something?
I mean, not all JRPG's are turn-based, there are a lot (of great ones) action/strategy as well. You speak like that all there is to it.

And @Christhor
the links from wikipedia that end with ) always cut them out from the link you can press. And I count Diablo 2(and 1) as a RPG, WRPG in this example. As in matter of fact, my favorite WRPG.

You know, being drowned by hours upon hours of crappy c-grade quality animu isn't a requirement for a rpg. 

In fact, Diablo's RPG mechanics are beyond any jrpg out there. Which is no surprise since Diablo is nothing but a roguelike/statbuilder in disguise. Mention one jrpg with the breadth of character and equipment customization available in Diablo 2. Heck, you can even custom-build a barbarian to end the game just killing the required bosses to trigger the next chapter. Or a very succesful melee sorceress.

Also, that list of great wrpg's is missing Ultima series, Might & Magic series, Wizardry series and some classics like Bard's Tale, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, etc.

@Citan: sigh, you are stubbornly blaming ignorance instead of blaming your own weak arguments. Intertextuality (note, correct spelling) isn't necessarily good in itself. Neither original, neither an intellectual achievement. But we could be arguing this forever because the forums, the forums never change. See? now that's some useless intertextuality there. Woooh my post is an intellectual achievement!.

personally:
console jrpgs vs console wrpgs this gen - pretty much equal.
handheld jrpgs vs handheld wrpgs this gen - jrpgs all the way.

Sadly, I never played those games. I wanted to throw NOX up there on my list, but while it was fun for myself. I didn't view it as "Awesome" at least as awesome as some of the other WRPG's I've played.

Oh, and for your last paragraph.