"the outcome of a character's actions" - how those actions come to be isn't part of the definition. The player gives the orders, of course.
It's a distinction that is very hard to make.
No it is not, it just looks like you willingly do not understand what many here are talking about.
Most challenges in RPGs are synergies of character skill and player skill - they wouldn't be challenges otherwise.
That is just absurd.
There are challenges for the player - such as playing through the game, winning a battle, etc.. And challenges for the character, which is every single action it does, from swinging a sword to anything else.
The challenges for the player in most parts consist of a series of challenges for the character in which the player determines the exact action taken - but the player's skill does NOT influence the outcome of these actions further than by having created a good character and determining stuff like positions.
Even if we separate combat into more granular actions, the outcome of a particular attack (in a most primitive sense - it's to-hit chance) is just as dependent on character skills as it is on your planning - whether you thought to pre-buff the char, or flank the enemy, or manipulate the battlefield in some way.
Again, character building/advancement is its own point of the definition already covering that part.
Flanking and positioning is in the player's hands, sure, but the outcome of each single action is still dependant on the character's stats, not in how well or fast the player clicks.
In the situation that the character is in at that moment, only its stats count, not the player. That the player had an influence in putting the character into that situation is a given - and not relevant for the definition.
Or think, for example, of trap disarming minigame in later Wizardries - here the character skills only frame the process without directly affecting it. Does this make Wiz6 is hybrid? I seriously doubt so.
These mini-games indeed are not pure RPG, they can be seen as puzzle or action sequences depending on the exact implementation.
Which is one of the reasons many people do not like mini-games in RPGs. It is absurd that suddenly player skill is important when character skill should be.
However, their share of the game time is so minimal - and they are still heavily influenced by character stats - that I would say it doesn't matter.
But yes, if you'd go for full precision, you could say something like 99%pure RPG 1%puzzle. I wouldn't mind. In fact, I'd like it if games were described like that. Would give a more precise picture of what to expect than justt saying "Puzzle RPG" or "Action RPG".
