Poll: Why do RPGs absolutelly need character creators?

[Chicago Ted]

Few don't, most do. If you can create your character and pick certain qualities about him/her when you create him/her, then you can play the role of your character much better.

 

[Axolotl]

I would argue that a certain degree of character customisation is required for an RPG.

 

[hazabaza1]

No, but people just prefer having one.

 

[Dexiro]

There are loads of features that can classify a game as an rpg, but designing a character isn't one of them.

It's usually character building that makes something an rpg.

 

[CallmeMerry]

As mentioned many times before, character creators are nice to play with and usually help the game in one aspect or another, but it's not the defining feature of RPG's. When I think of RPG's, there are two main blends for me. Either I make a character that I control and get to develop, or I control a premade character and act as they would act. The benefits of the character creator allow players to develop a character from the ground up, but when it comes to the plot, it has to be a lot more generic to accommodate all the different players there could be. With premade characters, the plot can be a lot more specific because no matter your play style, everyone plays the same character(s). A lot of those tend to blend into multiple genres, kinda like Fable being previously mentioned.

As far as Borderlands is concerned, I consider it a shooter with RPG elements, and Fallout 3 as an RPG with shooter elements. It's a simple turn of phrase, but the games are radically different.

 

[The Warden]

No it isn't, but as everyone already said, it helps.

 

[MasterMongoose0]

I'd rather be Link or captain Generic Pants anyday.

I like making my character when there's multiplayer involved, mainly.