My top favorite games with adventure elements;

1) Dungeonsiege 2

2) Lionheart legacy of the crusader

3) Neverwinter knights 2 is also very good, but that game is overly complicated. I recommend googling character builds, if you follow a build, then the game is simple to play.

I'd say Baldur's Gate 2. Might be a bit overwhelming at first though, because it does take some effort to understand combat and the spell system, even though it's not super-complicated.

If you want a "point and click" style RPG, I would recommend the original Fallout. It's a wonderful game, really encapsulates the genre in a lot of ways, and will run on any PC at this point. It's turn-based, which might be better for an adventure gamer, and has a great story with lots of cool dialogs.

If you want something 3D and more of an action combat style, I'd suggest Elder Scrolls Oblivion if your PC can run it. It was basically made as a first RPG for Xbox gamers at the time, and is easy to learn and play. The story and dialog isn't the greatest but it's okay. It still looks pretty good today too. Fable is another "first RPG game" kind of 3D action RPG, as well.

These people suggesting Balder's Gate, they confuse me. How about some Avernum for ya?

It depends on what you like. If you like hack and slash style ARPGs then maybe Diablo 1 or 2 might be up your alley. If you like simplistic "top down" style RPGs with some story the Avernum series and other Spiderweb Software games that post 5 mentions might be your speed.

There are also the fallout classic games which post 4 mentions which are very good once you take the time to get into them.

Also welcome to the forums. I am new as well but I "lurked" a bit by reading the site a bit before joining, but it seems a nice place to be.

I did not like Baldurs Gate.... i found the view perspective very restricted compared to other similar games.

That's a matter of taste, I liked the fixed perspective. I recently tried playing one of your recommended games Neverwinter Nights 2 and found the camera very confusing...I will try to get into it when I have more time, but felt like one had to constantly fiddle around with different camera modes.
Baldur's Gate 2 has other issues, e.g. its quest design could be better. But as an epic rpg for beginners it's pretty good imo.

I always think Driftmoon is a good starters RPG.

Can't go better than Betrayal at Krondor. Enjoy a great game and story.

Knights of the Old Republic. As far as RPGs go, it doesn't have as many difficult options/configurations that some rpgs go into depth with, it has a world that you're probably already somewhat familiar with, and some of your choices affect things you can do later in the game.

Hmmm.... I'd be more partial for the Sega Gensis Shadowrun game. Inventory, enough complexity, interesting missions, uses the P&P game mechanics. I once played it and took a full week to beat, so it's not too difficult, although there's plenty there to keep you occupied if you just keep doing side missions and get your Karma (xp points) up. (I'd ignore the SNES version, completely different game, inferior in my opinion)

Phantasy Star 4 on genesis is what got me into RPG games. Strong direction of where you should go but at the same time open for you to dinker around a bit if you want. Plus graphic cutscenes unlike what Final Fantasy had.

NeverWinter Nights is okay, playing solo you will do a lot of Alpha Striking early on and getting annoyed at the difficulty curve. I think i beat the core game in like 2 months before getting to the expansion, and... utterly losing interest with how they handled epic levels.

WindForge Mix Terraria with RPG and you get Windforge. Craft your own ships and weapons, but also go on fetch quests... Only fetch quests... Mmmm... Just mind where you're jumping, you may be falling a long time. Grappling hook is your friend.

Final Fantasy. 6, 7, 12, 13-2 are my suggested ones to try, if you're going to. Most of the others i couldn't get into or the like.

Torchlight II is a fun hack and slash.

You also can get Witcher for free here as a gateway to GOG main franchise (the combat kinda sucks though).

I would say Lionheart is more similar to Balders gate than Neverwinter nights.... if you want to see how a non suckful camera view looks.

I should say, when i first started playing Balders Gate, i was getting into it quite nicely..... all i wanted to do was zoom out a little bit more, and went on the internet looking for how do do it. That search ended in disappointment, me sighing , "that's just stupid" And then uninstalling the game.

I concur with Sachys, Driftmoon is a good entry level RPG. The RPG part is very simple and not overwhelming as other RPGs can be, but the game is story-oriented and you get a feeling for what you can expect from RPGs in this regard. (Be aware that it has some religious/spiritual undertones based on Christianity, which some players find off-putting, but personally I didn't mind, and I'm not really religious either.)

Unavowed and Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption (or the old Quest for Glory series) might be of interest to you, too, as an avid adventure gamer, unless you know them already. They're adventure games but with some RPG elements.

If you don't mind real-time action, Nox and Dex might be good for beginner's as well, or if you prefer turn-based games, I think neither the Shadowrun games nor the games from Spiderweb Software (Avadon, Avernum, Geneforge) are overly complicated and should be accessible even if you haven't played many RPGs before.