Question:
Do you believe a 2D RPG for the PC would do well in the shareware market with nice graphics if the gameplay is top notch.
Answer:
Absolutely. If you find the right market, have top notch game play I see no reason why it couldn’t do well. If you have the patience and skill to make it sell, I’m sure it will.
But more important question is – do you believe it could sell?
I started coding games when I was a small kid with access to Commodore 64.
hermitC: "I’m happy that old gameplay styles prove their worth in modern times. With Grimrock Almost Human brought an awesome game to the market. Nevertheless..." 26 days 7 hours ago. 
Ashiq: "Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I thought games like this went down since the early or mid 1990s." 26 days 10 hours ago. 
josh: "My favorite code advice is “if you need something >3 times, make it a function/object. Otherwise, re-code it inline.” Without this rule, I 1)..." 33 days 14 hours ago. 
Matt: "Hi Thomas, Nice points. I especially love the image of an army of Tamagotchi. I mean, running the supply chain for an army is really no different to Diner Dash..." 42 days 13 hours ago. 
Thomas Morgner: "The good part about games is, that they have a rather simple world. Drinks, for example, can all basically be the same thing. Add slight variations..." 43 days 3 hours ago. Matt: "Nice conversation :) about stuff I love talking about! Programming the base needs for every creation that has motivations is a lengthy task. Unless you provide..." 43 days 19 hours ago. 
Juuso: "Excellent points, that’s exactly how it needs to go. You can apply the same stuff to very many things, and there can be consequences too. Let’s say..." 43 days 19 hours ago. Thomas Morgner: "I don’t believe that you have to create a full scale AI to make a believable world. Its more about covering the basics, and working with the..." 46 days 11 hours ago. 
Is the game producer the one who came up with the idea of the game?
I don’t know what was the situation in this specific case. It might have been… or might have not.