Vidjagames and Such

I'm faced with something of a dillema: I want to get Fable 2 (I enjoyed the first Fable, despite the fact that it was nothing like what it was promised to be), but Fallout 3 is coming out in a week. Add to that the fact that NBA 2K9 is out, and I have three major games on the to-play list. NBA 2K9 can wait a while, but the other two are kind of a toss-up. I can buy both, of course, but then I'm liable to get absolutely nothing done between now and finals. Difficult choice.

Both Fable 2 and Fallout 3 are supposed to be really awesome RPGs. They don't make many of those any more - Black Isle is dead, BioWare is making RPGs that are more like adventure games, anyways, and only Bethesda is still making real, American-style role playing games.

I still think, eight years after the fact, that Baldur's Gate 2 was the greatest CRPG ever made. I still play the fucking thing. It's awesome. Never gets old, especially with all the mods available for it these days.

What's a shame is that no companies are making this type of game anymore. BioWare makes party-based games, but you have little control over your party and less over the story (don't get me wrong, Mass Effect is great, but I'd like to be able to, you know, pick whether or not I'm going to let the weird aliens tag along with me. I'd especially like to be able to take them with me when I'm on a mission. This "party of three" thing they pull with all of their games these days really pisses me off.) Their Dragon Age game might be cool, but it still seems like it will pull that same bullshit.

If I were making a new RPG, here's what I'd do:
1) Real time, but pausable. Baldur's Gate innovated this, so why do companies keep half-assing it a decade later?
2) Party-based. Lots of party-able NPC's available, and I get to take 5-6 of them with me. Again, this has been around since the 1980s, so why does everyone fuck this up?
3) LET ME FUCKING CONTROL MY PARTY MEMBERS! - Christ, I'm tired of seeing my party members run into my line of fire (I'm looking at you Fallouts 1 and 2). Just let me control the dumb bastards. Makes it more tactical, to boot.
3) Non-epic story. Games don't always have to be "save the world." I'd like to see storylines pursue slightly more down-to-earth goals, like save the country or whatever. This makes it easier to add sequels, too, since you didn't just wreak havic on your fantasy world.
4) Non-linear, lots of side-quests. I like to take my time. Let me. I paid $50+ for your fucking game, after all.
5) If you're going to pursue the moral angle, give me more than "good and bad." I'd like to see a legitimate difference between a Utilitarian world view and a nihlist one - all too often, games try to pigeonhole the player into pursuing only two paths. That sucks.
6) Elves with guns. Arcanum was cool.

See? It's simple. They should pay me to do this shit. I'd be pretty good.