Come on, people. I am taking notes, here. Entries have to be credible. For instance, I do not think "choices and consequences" is a valid entry (so… RPGcodexy). Therefore, I have put aside sophisticated proposals (I am looking at you, mister JemyM !), too generics ones ("challenging combat" for instance, or "strong/epic storyline") and too sarcastic ones also. "Fantasy-RPG" specific as far as possible, please. Why fantasy ? we could enlarge to "RPG", but I think fantasy-RPG are still "master standard" today and through history.
I have had some other ideas I have crossed out, like "HP&mana regeneration", or "munchkinism" because it is too much "mechanisms", not enough "settings" (I am not sure of that word actually : I mean "the world the game is set in, the story that unfolds", not "File menu -> Settings/Options").
Selection done. The current contenders, from what I read here :
- homosexuality
- hair styles
- mazes or a BIG one
- levitation
- HP&mana (mechanism ? but it is very "fantasysch")
- interactive objects (mechanism ? but Ultima VII, people, none did this in a modern settings)
- phat loot (mechanism ? but Diablo ! Wasteland and Fallout did not have those)
I add :
- orcs (from Tolkien's to Dragon-Age's type)
- elves
- companions
- Gender choosing (mechanism ?)
Should some of these enter the top-ten ?
As you see, I am not so sure myself as to what should or should not be discarded (I may have discarded some that did not deserved it). Need your help, friends.
(arr, why is english so difficult to write ? as I wrote, please, correct me)