I'd even say the genre never died, just became a little more niche. I think the ARPG kind of dominated there for a bit, but CRPGs still existed. The time between Baldur's Gate 2 and Dragon Age: Origins was only 9 years. There were several games between those games that I quite enjoyed (Arcanum, Fallout Tactics, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, and more). I realize that wasn't your argument at all, just wanted to add a little more weight to what you were getting across