Actually, the market (more or less) *is* the reason we don't get quality cRPG titles in the first place. If the games we like do not sell well enough to justify the develoment budget then the developers focus on games that will sell enough to bring in a profit. Also to blame is a lack of advertising or a surfeit thereof. I don't remember Planescape having as much advertising as say Fallout 3 or even the Witcher.
Personally though I blame the thrice-damned consoles. A game being published on the console gets far more hype generated than a PC title ever will these days. Plus, the console kids don't like difficult games in terms of story and Heavens forbid reading. It's all about twitch action reflexes and the pretty lightshow. Of course I could be wrong...

Well, I don't consider Planescape: Torment much of a game, since it's fairly linear and heavily focused on the story instead of gameplay. It's more of an adventure game or visual novel than an RPG - still, it's phenomenal for what it is, and it is indeed a shame we don't see too many others of its kind.
For developers to start doing that, people would need to consider a proper story more important than the goddamn grass, and stop buying such games. Still, I don't see why both types of games would need to be mutually exclusive - make some for those who like the shiny, make some for those who like the pages of text. Everyone wins.
Just visit the forums and check that out yourself, there are plenty of examples. Though obviously spoilers as well. I don't think the writing stands out that much, anyway. It's the varied choices with distinct consequences aspect that impresses me, similar to Fallout.
Supposedly the two games sold about a million units total, which is not bad for its time. The sales certainly weren't bad, anyway. Otherwise Interplay wouldn't have rushed to make a sequel to such a side-project. It wasn't a multi-million selling smash hit, though, and that's the only kind of success the games industry knows today.

I'd say the huge number of votes for Planescape on this site are evidence that many of us miss this style of gaming. :) I had the budget for either BG1 or Planescape when they came out, I went with BG because of familiarity with the AD&D system, and so missed out on Planescape.
I vote for story over button combos any time :)

I actually miss original-style RPGs, like Might and Magic (Xeen, 6, 7), Wizardry, Ultima and other such games.
Which is probably why I'm currently replaying Ultima 7 through Exult :)

In purely COMPUTER terms, Planescape was never considered much of an RPG, it was more of an adventure game.
Icewind Dale was the action game. Baldur's Gate was the RPG and Planescape was on the Adventure game end.
Of course, CRPGs have never been that much about Role Playing, they've always been much more about leveling up, loot, stats and combat. Pen and Paper allows much more freedom of invention, and you can get out of almost any situation without combat.
On a PC, combat and dice rolls is what the processor does best.
Along with BG and PT, I'd say that the bioware games are the ones that have best aproached real roleplaying, as they often give lots of options for talking your way out, or fighting your way, or using other skills. (KotOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, etc..)
While Morrowind and Oblivion were more focussed on combat, the simple fact of having the huge world to experiment in means that in some ways you do get to roleplay more.
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I'm hoping for a future with AI Gamesmasters. Imagine a MMORPG were there are AI gamemasters that dynamically try to make the game interesting for the players by creating new situations on the fly, and reacting to the players actions... it'd give so much more opportunity for creative, out-of-the-box solutions...

I can't really agree with this one. There is a big, explorable world - granted. But what good is it to have such a world when it's as deep as a glass of water and simply boring?

I miss some of the classics, yes. The one I want to really REALLY play is about 20 years old, it's called Wasteland.
I really hope GOG gets their hands on it! The graphics are pretty stale but it's what created the franchise that became Fallout.

Planescape: Torment, to me is the best RPG I ever played and created (Not to diss on Baldur's Gate, also great game, in fact I have the Baldur's Gate Collection and Icewind Dale Collection).
I'm tired of stories now a day were the players is the hero / chosen one / divine being / what not, and he is the only hope to save the world / country / universe.
Torment was about self discovery, it was about the personal story of the Nameless One, not about saving the world or anything. The multiverse couldn't care less about you and vice-versa. Your party members had real personalities with dilemmas, opinions, problems, just like baldurs gate, but I think even more here.
The story was so well made, that when you though you were reaching the end (Ravel) you figure out you are still in the middle of the game, thru a non cheesy way :)
Well, I could continue here all day commenting on Torment, but I'm afraid I would be telling what everyone else here in this thread knows and feels, so I'll spare you to that.
Icewind Dale on the other end of the spectrum, please me very much, it reminded me of the times of Eye of the Beholder, were you create your own party and go adventuring, no personalities to recruit, no personal stories, but the opportunity to create your own full party and seeing it success was always one I liked very much.
After that golden age of cRPGs, although some good RPGs came out (KOTOR and the likes) none could reach the levels attained by those three Black Isle universes, until more recently The Witcher for me. Its premise remind me a lot of Torment, especially the game being focus on the story of the main character and not saving the world (that in The Witcher cames are the side effect of the discovery of the character).
In conclusion, yeah I miss those times, I miss the times of Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Torment, Eye of the Beholder, Darksun, Fallout, etc.

Maybe. A lot of people complain about that.
But i've been playing morrowind on and off for about 4 years now, haven't really progressed the main story, but i'm still having fun wandering around, discovering new things, meeting strange characters (hundred league boots spell? In love with a bandit, etc..). I'm quite happy pottering around in the sandbox, and doing whatever i want with total freedom... thats a kind of role playing, right?

Sorry, my last post may not have been clear enough - I'm not saying anything about Morrowind, that's an excellent game in my opinion. My only problem is with Oblivion.

Planescape Torment is on my short wishlist of games that i'm hoping will show up here at some point.

I don't think that the RPG genre is defined by the story, or the party system, or turnbased vs realtime combat.
RPGs are defined by the way you handle your main character(s). In RPGs, you 'play out' the role of your character and have control over decisions made by those characters that affect their growth. Basic RPG is character growth in power - levelling or skill advancement. More advanced RPGs have character growth also in story - your decisions affect how the story plays out and your character's position in the story. These types of RPGs focus on the story and they usually end up with a good one, but the quality of the story itself is not in the definition of RPG, only that your character 'grows' into the story, affecting how it plays out.
I love RPGs. My favorite genre. However, I'm increasingly of the opinion that RPGs, at least by my understanding of their definition, no longer warrant their own distinct standalone genre. All RPG games can be classified with RPG as a sub genre. Take The Witcher for example - a wonderful game. It's more Adventure/RPG than RPG. Diablo 2? Action/RPG. DuesEx? FPS/RPG. Warlords Battlecry? RTS/RPG. Planescape Torment? Adventure/RPG.
I can't think of a single game that can be classified as only RPG. Most of my favorite games have (in my opinion) RPG as a sub genre. RPGs are great because they immediately attach you to the main character(s) in the game. I cared so much for my soldiers in X-COM that I would sometimes (well, many times) load a saved game when one of the veteran soldiers died. I didn't do that for the poor greenhorns (who always got stuck with scout duty anyway). That's the value of RPG in games. What you (we) are missing are not 'real' RPG games, we are missing really good Adventure/RPG games.
The blood level in my caffeine stream is shooting up. Gotta fix that...

To me roleplaying is how many different characters you can be (thief, warrior,mage, etc). or alternatively how much you can change a single character. On top of that, it's how your character (and NPC's with you/NPC's you control) can change the world and interact in the world.
This mans to me that Planescape and Baldur's Gate are RPG's, but Jade Empire and Mass Effect are not (not enough difference between character choices and roleplaying through only weapons and armour/fighting style, predominantly).
I have Planescape Torment, and what a fantastic game it is. It is not an adventure, it is truly an RPG. After all, you get stats for a mage, thief and warrior all in the main character! :)

3 different classes with the choice to mix any two of them together and add any other separate ability doesn't mix it up enough for you? maybe the ability to choose which two (out of 6) allies to take with you and the choice of whether you're going to be good or evil in any given situation?
I love Mass Effect. While your role as commander shepherd might not be quite as open as your character in baldur's gate or oblivion, you do get immersed as shepherd. that, and a robust leveling system make an rpg for me, but i'm probably not as stingy as some of the old-schoolers, since i started (and still primarily game) on consoles.