Fair enough, don’t choose a spell caster. And almost all quests are optional

It would seem some people like everything to be handed to them on a silvur platter these days.

I remember hiking 20 miles through burning lava..both ways..to fight game bosses in nothing but cloth armor. And I liked it that way.

No, I can't see the choice of weapon being something related to "role playing". Remember that CRPGs aren't about role playing; they're about the particular way challenges are handled compared to other genres.

Also, having one option clearly worst than the others, and not having that option marked, is the sort of mean game design that I would expect in troll games. Actually, it's worse; in a good troll game, making the wrong choice will lead to you being punished rather quickly (ideally in a humorous manner), while in this case the punishment is delayed until it's too late to go back before that decision was made without losing too much progress.

I don't see the "silver platter" argument having anything to do with why the BG weapon proficiency system is bad.

Also, remember that we are looking for recommendations for a beginner, somewone who is likely unfamiliar with RPG mechanics and who is likely looking for something easy, not a veteran who needs a good challenge to keep things interesting.

If one uses some common sense in Baldur's Gate 2, that's unlikely to happen...there are good weapons for almost every weapon type that would typically be used by a fighter...short swords, long swords, two-handed swords, spears, halberds, hammers, maces, flails, quarter staves...they're all good options.
Unless you're picking something unusual like club or ninja-to (and why would one do that on a first playthrough?), it's almost impossible to ever run into a problem.

What if I am unfamiliar with RPG conventions and don't see clubs as an unusual weapon type?

Edit: Yet again, why the low rating?

Then you need to put some effort into getting familiar with rpg conventions.
This handholding where the most stupid potential player is supposed to be the standard is the reason why games have become dumbed down and boring.

That would require actually playing some RPGs, which is something that a beginner hasn't yet done.

(Also, remember that some RPGs break convention.)

Also, I think the game would actually be more interesting if you could easily use any weapon usable by your class without penaty; this would give you a more varied selection of weapons throughout the game, rather than sticking with the same weapon for a long time because the other interesting looking weapons that you've found aren't of the type you chose at the start.

Edit: Yet again, why the low rating? (Please stop downrating my posts, or at least explain why my post is hurting your forum experience!)

It's also called challenging gameplay for games designed to be challenging, like with older point and clicks. I mean the ones that don't use moon logic.

I made a misspelling. My mistake and sorry for that.

But even with that in mind, one would assume the initial poster to not be a mere child or with less cognitive function. As such, they should be able to learn some mechanics for the more easier games. And others posted easier games as well and not just more complex ones.

*waves a flag* Um, 'scuse me, but are you trying to make this confusing for the OP? A topic asking for beginner RPG recommendations seems to have devolved into arguments about definitions, systems, complexities of games...

Good points. At least the initial poster seems to have gotten many good and somewhat good recommends from many users here before that.

I would myself like to throw in a recommend for the Spiderweb Games. Specifically Avadon and Avernum, which are somewhat easier than stuff like Geneforge.

Actually, it seems to have evolved into a discussion where some people are trying to say that games shouldn't be "dumbed down", and it really feels like this topic is the wrong place for this sort of discussion.

If you are going to justify why a game makes a good recommendation, explain why the game is accessible to a beginner; don't try to argue that the game not being "dumbed down" is a positive in this topic.

Edit: Again, why the low rating?

Agree with this, and Driftmoon in particular has some light RPG elements while really being story-driven as Leroux noted.

I agree with dtgreene that some simpler jrpgs could also work, or jrpg-likes, like Reverse Crawl, that have some RPG elements, but the mechanics are fairly streamlined.

If they are into CRPGs then also Titan Quest might be up their alley. It is very easy, sans the skill trees, to play.

I find the Shadowrun series to be pretty forgiving for a beginner. At least the first one.

Fallout: New Vegas and Borderlands 2 are also easy on a beginner.

As for Divinity: Original Sin, I played it with a friend who had never played an RPG, and the way he played that great game was an absolute mess, so, I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner.