Oblivion had some good features, the alchemy/spell making were decent but the design focuse was clearly on the graphics. Though I think I played Daggerfall longer than Oblivion.
Neverwinter Nights had some great stuff too, and Dragon Age holds some promise.
The early games like wizardy etc.. really engaged me. So for me it is mostly a preference of turn based over real time, and most modern RPGS like oblivion are real time. Many of them make me motion sick so that's a non starter right there
I like isometric/topdown over first person but that probably comes from starting as a PnP player long ago. So for me it is a matter of presentation. Minimal presentation usually means the focus has been on the gameplay. There are always exceptions.
Opportunity to play plays a great part of it too. When I can play and what I have available to play on.
Re: Off topic: How are games failing you?
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