![unepic-pc-role-playing-game-1[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6RH12xK.jpg "unepic-pc-role-playing-game-1[1].jpg")
I've been thinking about it, and I don't really think that RPG is a proper moniker for games where there is adventuring and stat-building, but no real decision-making or role-playing on the part of the player. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just hard for me to call that an RPG when there's not much RP. I mean yeah, you can say that you "play a role" as is the popular wise-ass answer, but that applies to almost any game.
Personally, I think a better term for these kinds of games would be Narrative-Driven Games, since most of them seem to put great purpose into progressing a set storyline in which the game's characters participate. This is opposed to a role-playing game, which to me is defined by having an active role in shaping your character, both how they act and what they do, and making it your own story. The only problem with calling something a Narrative-Driven Game is that it would be too loose of a definition. Plenty of games across different genres are driven by their story. Thus, I would think that it needs to be refined before it is truly useful to us. That's why I would add the phrase "Character-Building" to the title. It properly expresses how the game will focus on telling a story, but will also involve building characters as part of the gameplay. Of course there will be different levels of character-building to each game, as the interpretation of how much or how little freedom a player should have is ultimately dependent on the designer. Nevertheless, I think that this would accurately define a sizeable subset of games which are popularly referred to as RPGs, but which lack the trappings of a traditional role-playing experience (despite the presence of character building). I feel that Narrative-Driven Character-Building Game is a much more accurate genre title to describe these kinds of games. What say you, /vr/?
Well, this is pretty simple for me:
1) "Role-playing game" denotes a particular kind of pen & paper game, not any kind of game where you act out a role
2) a reasonably accurate-ish video game adaptation of 1) is also a role-playing game
Now there are some people who will tell you that old Gygax dungeon crawling modules aren't *akshual* role-playing, which just makes me want to track down and kill people from the internet.
Addendum: who cares anyway, lol nerdz
>>3285114
>Now there are some people who will tell you that old Gygax dungeon crawling modules aren't *akshual* role-playing
They're not.
A proper role-playing game is a game where you're made to feel like you ARE your character, and encouraged to act as your character would in the settings in which she finds herself.
If all you do is mechanically walk around killing things, you're not playing an RPG. You're playing Monopoly with swords.
>>3286432
Not OP but "Role playing game" and "RPG Elements" have never been fully accurate.
If you say "I'm playing an RPG", well technically every game is an RPG because you're role playing as the protaganist.
I don't know what you'd call it though as an alternative. Western RPG and JRPG are 2 pretty distinct genres at this point, to the point where the RPG acronym is basically worthless as a descriptor.
>>3286438
The term RPG is only used for a specific pen & paper game. Battleship is not an RPG, tic tac toe is not an RPG, fantasy football is not an RPG, bingo is not an RPG, sudoku is not an RPG, but D&D is an RPG, and so does many games that takes cue from D&D.
Saying that a video game is an RPG should actually be a misnomer, since it confuses between the original term. Unfortunately the term stuck because those video games has the same basic mechanics as D&D, namely stats/skills and experience level ups.
sup /tg/
yeah, after playing a round of a tabletop game with a dungeonmaster I can see what you mean.
>>3286490
This is pedantic but essentially correct.
Even the D&D video game RPGs aren't really RPGs when you contrast them to actual D&D.
I don't know why my comment was deleted but as a 20+ year Dungeon Master I can assure you that all that "role playing" you do when sitting at the gaming table should never ever impact the mechanics of the game and should only serve as comic relief and a means of choosing which hook you take and which "dungeon" you enter. If your DM is allowing RP to influence mechanics even if it's just awarding RPXP you've got a flawed game just asking to be exploited by unscrupulous players.
RPGs as a genre are defined by XP awards and differentiated leveling mechanics. That's it. Yes it can be a lot of fun to sit around with your friends and improvise a developing story around various dungeon fragments. It can be emotionally effective for a well paced JRPG to tell a story that lays bare some element of the human condition but neither of these are required for a game to be an RPG. All that's required is some kind of randomized statistical system of risk/reward and a challenge ramp. Your enjoyment of it hinges on your imagination - or it should, anyway.
Rogue is an RPG
An Evening At The Improv is not an RPG
Dungeons & Dragons is an RPG
PUA is not an RPG
Final Fantasy 12 is an RPG
ARGs are (generally) not RPGs
