a good story line,hard quest, good game play and replay value

same as above also heavy on the chracter custimization system...

Action outside of turn-based battling (think zelda)

Changeable character, side quests. Study Sonny and you'll fins some good stuff/tips.

Hmm... everything that Final Fantasy 7 offered.

Charater devolopment
Good storyline (above the average FPS)
Quick'n easy item management.
Lots of optional side quests.

I always enjoy the end when you get some ridiculus SUPER ENOURMEOUS POWERFULL attack, like "Knights of the Round" from FF7 or Alpha Omega from MMBN.

The ability to keep getting better gear or spells or whatnot for the whole entire game until you are a master, but then start over from a different perspective (like a different class) and play for a long time.
Pretty much that

Fast Action, and a steady story line that actually makes you interested. Peferably Kingdom Hearts on my part 0_o course thats just me

Everything said but I think the main thing that draws me to RPGs has always been the stories that they can offer.

well RPGs are a breed apart form almost every other kind of games and even still there ar other types of RPGs within RPGs turn based, turn based strategy, adventure etc but what i think makes an RPG is the ammount of customization
mainly because your makeing your own chraechter you decide what he looks like his wepons etc but when you have a base RPG like FF7 were the charechter is set youy need to have a compelling storyline the charecters need to feel real and the world uniqe and if you dont have any of that you dont5 have a good RPG
i cant be a Role Playing Game if your not playing a ROLE.
its alot like flash movies you cant have too much or too little of one aspect
the storyline can be great but if gameplay sucks.....well the gamer is gunna suck
and vise versa you can have alll the customization in the world but if your not drawn into the game world it wont be fun to play
what you need in an RPG and what makes them addictive are these
good storyline
good charecters
customization of some kind
and a fair degree or exploration and freedom
in an RPG its your ROLE to play so you should have control over it or at leat some of it

MMFCL darkhippie

customizable characters and a good battle system all on a complete storyline

The gameplay!
It's also diffrent from adventure games 'cause of the awesome battle stuffs.

I don't care about characters, or storyline.
We don't play games to watch a movie, we play them for fun.

A good story, some creative gameplay features, and most importantly, intesnse boss battles.

Everything!!!!!
The History may be Good, Great Desing, Weapons and Armors with a Dark Style ('cuz the most cool armors and weapons are in the Enemies, and you can't use)

And It's cool to remember, In RPGs you play with the "White Force", "Good Side".
I think It will be GREAT if there's a RPG that you are the "DARK SIDE", 'cuz you know, not everybody like to be Good ;)

And don't forget! MAGICS, Skils, Class and ability points Are the SOUL of a RPG!
And the Body it's the History, Desing

rpg games tend to be longer than fps games so you get more for your money if you buy them

Well in my opinion good characters and storyline.
Who wants to play a game where the game itself doesn't interest you?

"And It's cool to remember, In RPGs you play with the "White Force", "Good Side".
I think It will be GREAT if there's a RPG that you are the "DARK SIDE", 'cuz you know, not everybody like to be Good ;)"--bad1945.

Not only playing as the bad guy, but having a choice, whether you play on the good side, or the bad side, and the ability to change in-game. Much like Oblivion, with the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood, or Mages and Fighters Guild. Everybody loves being a badass.

Locations that are memorable, like Unrest or Plane of Fear in EverQuest.

Also, people love to collect good-looking items.

Addicting to me means having a goal to accomplish. I like the idea of revenge, for instance, say the antagonist beats the crap out of you at the beginning of the game, and then later on you get a chance to mess his day up.

Revenge is sweet in games like that. I like the ability to roam freely. Being able to go to places in the story before the story actually occurs there. All that stuff is good.

Good luck with it man.

A wide, big world and a decent story.

There are a wide variety of RPG types out there, and some have aspects that work better than others. Personally, I can do with or without a story, it really depends on what type of gameplay it is. For example, Kingdom Hearts I and II are two of my favorite games ever, quite possibly because of the compelling and deep storyline and character development. That being said, games such as Maple Story and World of Warcraft, while not being story or character driven, still pull me to them, because of other parts of the game. I think a vast number of people would agree, due to the sheer number of people who play MMOs like that.

I think what separates good RPGs from bad is not story but how well the game incorporates the individual playing the game. Some games try too hard to tell a story and forget that the point of the game is to have interactivity and player involvement.

So, that aside, some good pointers are:

- Story
The story should be not too long and not too deep but it should be there, because players will lose interest killing monsters without a purpose.

- Individuality
Let the user play the game as he wants to. For example, things like character customization and side quests will give the player the idea that the game isn't all about linear plot lines and beating the game. Rather, he can spend time gathering cool looking gear, or leveling up so he can unlock a neat skill.

- Timing
One thing you have to remember is that you are making a Flash game, not a retail RPG. If you make an experience curve to high, make the story drag on too long, or make characters perform tedious tasks over and over again, players will most likely click that dreaded little X at the top of the window. Experiment with the timing so that just as a player gets bored of fighting wild boars he gets to level 10 and can now where new armor. It will keep people interested, and that is what will make them like your game.

I'm getting tired of typing now so I'll leave it at that. I don't usually write long winded posts like this but look at that, you got me going. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your release.

- AF

Good Story. Good Graphics. Good Game play. Many Skills/QUests/Characters/STATS :)

Customizable characters. Party based or pets or something liek that? Good storyline and cutscenes.

A good intresting non medeival plot with some not too serous graphics and a sense of humor.
Flash RPG's are lacking that lately.

Beta testing plz, pick me!

Yeah it needs to either be turn based and needs to have a good storyline. Like those on Final Fantasy.

Make it real time, if your a stud (which u r cuz u answered my debugging question) make it like maple story but make it more dramatic in the sense of jumping
(a real time sidescroller where u can find things that have a decent A.I) make it so u could have either a melee of a ranged weapon and theirs a good fighting system.

as for the story line, put 1 or 2 twists in it, make the characters meet up in weird ways, yada yada yada...

Start out ur first game with a STRONG reason to keep playing (killed ur family, tortured you, destroyed your village, owes you money, he pissed on ur shoe, lol yada yada)

Truly, thats all u really need.

Many ppl say they want replay value, I would rather have an epic battle in a 1 vs. 1 match of world changing poportions.
Thats just me. lol
Example, Final Fantasy 7, a great game, but I haven't ever replayed it. To me it's still one of the top notch RPG's around, realize this, your game doesn't need a high replay value to be top notch.

Hope that helped.

== Story ==
Start the story off simple. I dont really like to be thrown immediatly into an Epic where I'm suddenly the hero. Like in FFVII, you start out as a guy just earning his money and trying to help out a girl he likes but you are gradually pulled into something more.

Also, since its a flash game I think the story/game should only take me about ten - fifteen minutes then end with quite the cliffhanger. Then two weeks later have another episode ready to go (hint: episodic content. I love how valve keeps screwing me with questions in the half life series).

You can still have a long, engaging story, just split it up early. After all it's a flash game.

== GamePlay ==
I like turn based battles (I guess that's just what I grew up with, FFVII, Mario RPG, etc). But since you are making a flash RPG turn based is no good. It means constant leveling and long battles (esp. with bosses). So realtime, zelda style is probably best.

== Sound ==
I don't know a lot about making music and sound effects, but I do know that a good theme song/ end of battle song can make a game memorable. I hate to keep refering to FFVII but their end of battle theme song was great.

== Flash ==
Just remember, it's a flash game. Some of the best flash games around are very, very simple. I suggest starting out simple and (assuming you follow my episodic release suggestion) you can slowly add more complex features.

Hi Im the guy you just replied to in the BBS. Personally I think it should a turn based combat, real time and flash just dont go together unless its a fighting game. But I would actually like to explain an idea to you I had tried to make a reality once but we lost our steam. Maybe we could talk about it sometime if you PMed me.

well dude, gaia its a good example, its simple, but it have everything that its going to need, chat places, various zones, clothe changing, and its make it kinda adictive @_@ well, you know it, but it looks like ragnarok its also more adictive, but i havent played it, oh well, you know it, also online its the ovious one, haha, long answer O.o, see ya!

New and original features always increase playability :).

And so does a good storyline ;D.

That you can play over and over again :)

Character customisation, for me is a pretty big one. Also the ability to have a bit of freedom, not always stay stuck in one place and fight battle after battle

I'll happily alpha or beta test for you ^.^

I don't usually like turn based RPGs but if theyre really good, I like them

Just make a Good weapon system , Fighting , graphics etc.
hehe

First and foremost, lack of grinding. Eliminate the sections that are done for a purpose (i.e. to level up) rather than for themselves (whether they're fun, or impart some emotion in and of themselves) and you make a shitload of Flash games instantly better.

This applies not just to RPGs but pretty much anything imo.

a good storyline hooks me.

I am addicted to Fallout and Fallout 2.

FO3 comes out this fall and I am sooo ready.