Game of the Year 2004 Awards: Dream Game
Myrthos, 2005-02-23

The last couple of weeks you could vote for the best RPGs and MMORPGs that have been released in 2004. Not us but you the player decide who receives the RPGDot 2004 Awards in the various categories. We thank all those who entered their votes and helped us in making it possible to select the best games of 2004.

Dream Game
If only there was a game, a game that would be made by someone somewhere. If only dreams came true...
Until they do, you wished these games were in development.

The winner: Planescape Torment 2
It has been a while since Black Isle Studios brought Planescape to the PC. And what a refreshing game it was to many. Placed in a dark setting and with enough dialog options to actually be able to get out of a fight in most cases combined with the fact that you could not get killed, made Planescape:Torment a very different game from the others that were released in those days.
This was one of those games that people actually loved or hated and even though it did not do bad in sales it wasn't a major hit either. With the demise of Black Isle Studios it remains doubtful that a second version will actually be made, but one can always dream.

(Myrthos)

Runner Up: Baldur's Gate 3
The first Baldur's Gate game was released in a time when creating RPGs was not a very 'hot' thing to do for developers and publishers. But Baldur's Gate came at the right moment and turned out to be a rather surprising hit, although with its shortcomings. The second version and the expansion Throne of Bhaal took the engine to its limits and improved on the game in several areas.
Bioware had other interests and wasn't interested in a new Baldur's Gate game, while Interplay lost the license for another RPG in the D&D universe. Rumor has it that Baldur's Gate 3 might be in development or is it just a dream?

(Myrthos)

Second Runner Up: Ultima X (single player)
I think that if one thing can be said about what an ideal Ultima X should be, it is that there are differing schools of thoughts on the matter. On one hand, there are those who believe that any Ultima X should be a "return" in a sense, a return to a more familiar Ultima after a departure from the norm that was begun by Serpent Isle, continued in Pagan, and hammered home with shattering force in Ascension. On the other hand, there are those who believe that an Ultima X should be a continuation of the departure from the "old" Ultima, but a cautious one.

Though I didn't always think so, I now believe that any Ultima X should not borrow heavily from the storyline of a previous game. No attempt should be made to replace the Avatar, lost to Britannia in Ascension. Even though it would be possible to script a new story around mastering the Eight Virtues, it would be better to tell a new tale, one in which Lord British played a major role - but not one in which he is helpless to save Britannia from a new peril and must rely out outside help. This is the departure - the story of Ultima should continue to break new ground, and carry forth into an era post-Avatar in which the people of Britannia learn to fend for themselves instead of relying time and again on their perennial champion.

At the same time, there should be a return not to old plots, but to old aspects of Ultima. World interactivity in the Ultimaverse reached its peak with The Black Gate/Serpent Isle, and any new Ultima should exceed what was achieved in those games. Likewise, the focus of the plot should, in true Ultima fashion, not be centred on experience and combat, but on story, character interaction, and social justice/moral issues. It should be possible, as in The False Prophet, to pass the game without ever gaining a level, and without ever having, absolutely, to kill more than 3 or 4 people/monsters. Of course, there should be other (easier) ways of getting through too - a non-linear storyline is a must. Finally, Ultima X must give heed to its predecessors - even the much-disliked Ascension. To do otherwise would be, for lack of any tactful way of putting it, stupid.

So in short, what should Ultima X be? It should be the best of all the worlds Origin once created - new, innovative, and yet aware of what preceded it and able to build off of the entries in the series that came before.

(WtfD)

The Numbers
To make it complete we now give you the top 10 as voted by our visitors:

The team members list shows an exact match in the top 3:

List of the awards
Awards on RPGDot:
Best graphics
Best Sound and Music
Biggest Surprise
Biggest Disappointment
Most Anticipated
Dream Game
Best Console RPG
Best Non-RPG
Best RPG

Awards on MMORPGDot:
Best graphics
Best Sound and Music
Biggest Surprise
Biggest Disappointment
Most Anticipated
Dream Game
Best Expansion MMORPG
Best MMORPG

Note that percentages are rounded to the nearest number.