I think an RPG should be as long as it needs to be …ahem…(was trying to be profound ;-) For me, a nice RPG has good mechanics (lots of character build potential, interesting permutations) and a good, engrossing and consequence-rich story with lots of opportunities to affect the way the story unfolds around your character. Some of the games which are called "RPG's" these days are simply too dull (both mechanics and story) to engage me for any length of time. They should be shorter - but also , much cheaper - so tehy can provide mindless hack'n'slash if you're bored. For an RPG, I think the main plot-line should be fairly long, and should have some sense of urgency if possible. I dislike RPG's which have endless world content, but a short plot driving your onwards. I'd rather have a long plot line, with a less free-form world but with lots of lovingly crafted interactions (NPC's, world etc) which bring the world to life and capture your attention. I could happily spend hours interacting with interesting NPC's with their own motivations, even if these are somewhat tangential to the main story. But they need to be interesting and plausible in some way. The many hours I logged in BG1&2 were, on average,very enjoyable. Perhaps because you *were* an adventurer and finding out about your dark past was an every present goad, but it also made sense that you could (and woudl) need to adventure to find fame and fortune and build up your strength once you had some sense of what was pitted against you. I also liked that in Morrowind - you were told to go out and get some skills before trying to confront what lay ahead. No artificial level scaling - you had to be up for the challenge, and to prepare yourself accordingly. That was, imho, worth investing time in and something that I consider as being necessary time in addition the main quest (as opposed to frivolous grinding time). Not sure the abortive made much sense, but there yiou have my 2 cents