Over on Hardcore Gaming, there's a new timeline up for reading called "A Brief History of Western Action RPGs". Brief? Are you kidding me?
Spanning over thirty years of role-playing games (mostly) free of teenagers with stupid haircuts and over-sized swords, the timeline begins with the likes of Adventure and Dungeons of Daggorath and ends with 2010's Mass Effect 2 and Fallout: New Vegas.
The highlight though, at least for me, is the halfway point when we hit what many believe the "golden age" of role-playing (with at least some kind of action) on the PC, with series like Quest for Glory and Ultima Underworldin the late 80s and early 90s.
If you're a fan of any of those games, or Diablo, or Jade Empire, or System Shock, or Elder Scrolls, you can check out the whole thing below.
A Brief History of Western Action RPGs [Hardcore Gaming 101]