Aren't almost ALL games RPGs?

[ENERTRON]

The term originally reffered to tabletop roleplaying (which evolved from tabletop wargames) in which each player would take on the role of a single character and play it out (hence the use of the term roleplay) as opposed to enitre armies (which was the focus of tabletop wargaming). Eventually, the genre made its appearance in computer gaming and the "Roleplaying" term stuck to help identify it.

Also, has anyone noticed how we get this exact thread once every few weeks?

oook i get what you guys are saying. fallout 3 is considered a RPG... but is far cry 2 (or the new wolfenstein)? it has all the open-endedness and even has upgradable weapons. you can do side quests and everything. only difference is you don't level up. if your answer is no then does that mean leveling up is a critical characteristic?


Jandau there are 50,000 threads on this site - I searched for strings like "all games called RPGs" and found nothing
Yet you somehow didn't notice that I posted all the exact same information as you... 9 posts ahead of you. So you expect me to sort through 50,000 threads when you missed a post half a page up?

 

[ThePizzaGuy556]

What makes a RPG is not the leveling factor, not open ended gameplay, or upgradeable equipment...what makes an RPG is a story that can be interacted with and major choice. When you play an RPG you role play as a character and (sometimes) shape them in ways you couldnt (guns dont change characters so upgradeable guns dont make RPGS) Also just because you can walk to tons of places and do side quests does not mean the game is an RPG. An RPG at its bare basics is like an interactive story that you'd have to play many times to see everything you missed due to choices. Thats a real RPG

 

[ENERTRON]

i think that's the most thorough answer i've heard

What makes a RPG is not the leveling factor, not open ended gameplay, or upgradeable equipment...what makes an RPG is a story that can be interacted with and major choice. When you play an RPG you role play as a character and (sometimes) shape them in ways you couldnt (guns dont change characters so upgradeable guns dont make RPGS) Also just because you can walk to tons of places and do side quests does not mean the game is an RPG. An RPG at its bare basics is like an interactive story that you'd have to play many times to see everything you missed due to choices. Thats a real RPG

 

[ThePizzaGuy556]

i think that's the most thorough answer i've heard

Why thank you!

 

[Jandau]

The term originally reffered to tabletop roleplaying (which evolved from tabletop wargames) in which each player would take on the role of a single character and play it out (hence the use of the term roleplay) as opposed to enitre armies (which was the focus of tabletop wargaming). Eventually, the genre made its appearance in computer gaming and the "Roleplaying" term stuck to help identify it.

Also, has anyone noticed how we get this exact thread once every few weeks?

oook i get what you guys are saying. fallout 3 is considered a RPG... but is far cry 2 (or the new wolfenstein)? it has all the open-endedness and even has upgradable weapons. you can do side quests and everything. only difference is you don't level up. if your answer is no then does that mean leveling up is a critical characteristic?


Jandau there are 50,000 threads on this site - I searched for strings like "all games called RPGs" and found nothing
Yet you somehow didn't notice that I posted all the exact same information as you... 9 posts ahead of you. So you expect me to sort through 50,000 threads when you missed a post half a page up?

Far Cry 2 might be considered as having certain RPG elements, but isn't an RPG as such. It's an FPS with upgradeable weapons. If you wish, you could compare to Mass Effect which is an RPG with 3rd person shooter combat. Also, while we can argue back and forth over what falls into a gray area. I'd say that it takes a certain number of RPG-type characteristics for a game to be pushed into the RPG genre.

Your second paragraph is needlessly hostile so I'll just ignore it.

 

[Godhead]

Depends on the game itself a good bit of them are to me hybrids of multiple types of gaming genres but there are a few purebred. Like, actually they are all hybrids. JESUS CHRIST WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!! I'M SORRY I ATE THE DISHWASHER SOAP MAMA, I THOUGHT IT WAS MCDONALDS ICE CREAM POWDER.

 

[TheBarefootBandit]

Hmmm interesting thought... That's all I got.