How many of us can be bothered with the endgame crafting

[Roth_Trailfinder]

Nah man, RPG has nothing to do with customization. You can customize your favorite teams in any sports game, that does not make them RPG's. I can create custom characters in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games, but that does not make those games RPG's either.

You can create your party in The Bard's Tale trilogy, the Gold Box series, you can create your character in The Elder Scrolls (depending on the game, you can only customize to a point) but that customization is not what makes those games RPG's. You do not customize your party in FF4, are you saying that's not a RPG? Shining in the Darkness, Phantasy Star, are you saying those are not RPG's because your party is set for you, and you have little to no choice in your party makeup, little to no choice in their skills, and only a very linear gear upgrade path?

To use another example, two of my favorite games of all : Lunar, and Lunar 2. There is no customization in those games - Hiro is always going to be a melee character, Nash is never going to be your party's tank, yet those two are most definitely RPG's. The lack of customization says nothing to or against them being RPG's.

Customization is in many games. Its presence or lack thereof does not affect the genre a game is in. I stand by my statement : RPG != Customization.