Define "RPG"

[King Crispy]

I raise this thread in the name of nostalgia and I give it NEW LIFE

 

[Lhynn]

/thread

 

[theSavant]

I raise this thread in the name of nostalgia and I give it NEW LIFE

 

[Delterius]

Such a simple answer for anyone who's been around for a bit.

Such simpler times.

 

[Chester Copperpot]

Is it just me or is Rosh wrong in the argument here? I am tempted to debate a ghost from the past, if only for my own time wasting.

 

[Chris Koźmik]

"A game where you kill monsters for gold and experience" You might argue all you want but this description is surprisingly accurate from developer's point of view.

Optionally you could add "and sly dragons and rescue princesses while doing petty errands to various NPCs in order to get more gold and experience so you can buy better equipment so you can slay monsters that were too strong previously". Again, purely from developer's point of view, as a player I'm not sure I would agree with myself

 

[ghostdog]

 

[Metro]

An RPG is a game where you play a...

Thus, the only true RPG: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327890/

 

[belowmecoldhands]

I have played a lot of games, many of them RPG's, but I really don't know how to tell the difference between an RPG and, oh say, an action or something. Is there a dead give away, or what?

Gr8 question. I was just reading about this the other day. I made a thread about it too.

I think it boils down to the depth in the world and its characters and its interactivity. Principaly, RPGs try to define it all and allow you to interact with it. They don't leave things to the imagination except the things which they don't assign a number to.

Character development in RPGs is so noticeable because players experience it as changing stats/levels. In adventure gaming, character development is implied via story and/or events and/or additonal actions being available.

RPGs are more interactive, I think. They tend to allow you to change more things about the plot and/or yourself. This ties somewhat into character development. Interactivity isn't limited to RPGs, though.

A big part of it's whether actions are restricted by stats (or levels) tied to your character-role. For example, if you play a beginner detective solving a crime and you interview a witness, an RPG will limit your ability to successfully gain information according to your stats/levels. An adventure game, by contrast, will base your ability to succeed on natural skills (or traits) you have, like raw reflexes or reading comprehension or general ability to absorb information given to you. In an adventure game, jumping is not tied to a character skill or level. It MIGHT be tied to an item you find, but generally it's just an action which happens when you press a key, with varying amounts of dynamics (ever try strafe jumping in Quake 2 or doing multiple jumps on walls in platformers?). In RPGs, jumping might be tied to a skill and/or stat. And skils in RPGs tend o be tied to a class.

RPGs tend to have multiple roles you can play. So you can play a strongman or a clever thief or a sly detective or a charismatic diplomat or righteous lawman or whatever. RPGs are made to be replayed. Their depth assists the multiple roles. Adventure games might allow this too, so it's not something which can be used alone to define an RPG.

I often think many adventure games share a lot in common with RPGs. I think the main reason adventure games of these sorts are not percieved to be RPGs are because their worlds tend to be shallower and characters tend not to have actions tied to stats/skills. Adventure games are more about the story and the actions--ADVENTURE says it all. RPGs are much too focused on stats/levels and world/charcter depth to be as lightweight and adventuresome as their distant cousin the adventure game.

You can play a role in an adventure game. If the game casts you as a government agent then you'll typically by using guns and gadgets and smart talk to uncover vast conspiracies and generally defeat communism or dictatoral goons. While these games might not limit your actions to a skill or stat, what they allow you to do will usually be tied to your role. As stated, you'll have lots of guns and gadgets to do your spying or sabotaging or whatever. Everything from what you wear to the people you meet and the situations you find yourself in will reinforce you're a agent on a dangerous mission. That's your role.

LA Noire is a good example. You play a detective. You don't play a warrior. You don't play a priest. You don't play a governent agent. You don't play batman or superman. The setting is 1940's Los Angeles. The primary character is Officer Cole Phelps:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.A._Noire

Note it says in the Genre(s) field Action-adventure, not Role-playing. But dammit, I feel in my bones and in my mind this IS role-playing. You're playing a fricken detective who was a US Marine. I don't give a damn about teh details. F*** them. I'm cast as Officer Cole Phelps. When I play this game, that's what/who I am. I'l try my best to play thatrole.

I think that for the sake of being able to classify games to genres it's necessary to do this. I don't like it, but lines have to be drawn so players know what they're buying. Just have to keep in mind all games can have features from other genres. There's a lot of blurriness. RPGs can have FPS or strategy or sim gameplay. Some games are so blurry it's hard to classify them. Personaly, I prefer those kinds of games. I think when a game restricts too much it's more stale. Yet sometimes a game can be too blurry, why not? Omikron: The Nomad, an old game, was criticized for being too blurry (and generally low quality game).

EDIT: So I'd say RPGs have these features which need to come together:
1) Can play multiple roles
2) High amount of interactivity (aka influence) in character development and everything in general
3) Depth in world/characters
4) Actions tied to stats/skills

 

[Servo]

An RPG is a "game" wherein you play the "role" or a "character" in some capacity.

So when I dress up in a maid outfit and "buttfuck" my "buddies" it's an RPG.

 

[belowmecoldhands]

I'd say it requires meaningful interaction with the game-world and characters in it, and decisions and actions have consequences.

These days, however, its mostly just a marketing label. Though almost everything is tagged as a hybrid something/something/something these days, so there isn't a lot of meaning there.

That's a big part of it, I think. Adventure games are more like movies than RPGs.

In a adventure game, you're typically James Bond and ONLY James Bond. There's just one role usually with a premade name and gendr. And the plot, while it might be branching, gives you little room to insert yourself into it. YOu play James Bond more than you play a super agent working for the US government. In an RPG, by contrast, you might play a super agent, but you have to name yourself and select gender and what happens is more a product of your choices than anything els. The focus is on YOU. What're you going to do? In an adventure game, it's more about "Ok what am I going to make James Bond do next?" His story is already created, even if it's a branching plot. Everything is premade. In RPGs, by comparison, it's YOUR story.

But this is not tosay you aren't playing the role of James Bond in an adventure game. It's just that less of yourself is being inserted into the plot and/or character development. It's more someone else's story than your own.

 

[belowmecoldhands]

Such a simple answer for anyone who's been around for a bit.

Let's look at the history of "role-playing game", in a computer context, shall we?

Back in the origins of commercial computer gaming, there really wasn't a "role-playing" genre. "Adventure" had a good number of flavors, ranging from "action-adventure" (based upon the movie genre of the same), "text adventure" (from where everything CRPG started, really, as the interactions are what separates them from action-adventure moreso than text), "dungeon crawler" (which went along the construction styles of text adventure games, but the graphical change was mostly cosmetic when comparing the game structure as a whole), and "traditional adventure" (featuring games like Leisure Suit Larry, King's Quest, etc.), traditional being a bit misleading as it was one of the latest incarnations of the adventure genre but is the one most think of when speaking of adventure games. Only a few at that time, trailing a little from D&D, used "role-playing" in any context; most were sold by merit of adventure capability.

Take the text-based speech interface (but with pre-made responses), add in the point and click roam with world interaction, add in adversaries to be defeated through a stat system while exploring, add in a larger back story (than other genres) and character depth commonly found in many adventure games...whoa! Looks like what we think of a CRPG, isn't it? Hence coined such when it resembled all the combined aspects of tabletop role-playing, and not for the munchkin definition either. It's also interesting to mention that while a CRPG can be a dungeon crawler, a dungeon crawler isn't necessarily a CRPG. Figure out that one.

There you have the literal definition of the CRPG genre and how it came about. So do not mock those old LucasArts and others' adventure games, in whatever form; they gave us what is the RPG today, along with the thousands of text-adventure game authors.

Please do ignore the uneducated kiddies when they tout out the "anything you play a ROLE in is a ROLE-playing game" and back it up with quite indefinite examples such as Diablo. Diablo, quite technically, is "action-adventure", mixed a bit with "dungeon crawler". Of course, to their kind of "logic", Super Mario Brothers is also a CRPG.

This. I agree with. Although pen&paper rpgs existed long before crpgs. So which came first, extra developed adventure games which evolved to become CRPGs, or stat-heavy pen&paper rpgs with large back stories and character depth which became CRPGs? Couldn't it be both? They met, converged, and shazam the CRPG is born?

Or maybe they just independenlty share things in common, but remain distinctive.

 

[Telengard]

Time to get serious and quote the professionals.

Role Playing
Written by: Alex Caroline Robboy, CAS, MSW, LCSW

Role Playing: Gateway To Your Sexual Fantasies Role playing is a fun way to spice up your sex life. For many people, role playing is a gateway to experience new things in the bedroom because you feel like you are doing those things “as someone else.” When you are role playing you get to take on the personality of someone else and while in that persona, you can rely on your own techniques or explore some moves that you normally wouldn’t be so quick to try. For example a normally shy and unassertive woman acting as a dominatrix may be more likely to tell her partner when and where she wants to be touched. Role playing is a way to allow each partner to live out his or her secret sexual fantasies.

It is not necessary to use props and costumes when role playing; however, it can enhance the experience. You can choose to use props and costumes to get into character more fully, such as dressing up like a cheerleader or football player if that is your role. The key to role play is to pick a scenario that entices you both. Start by discussing your fantasies. Make a list of your top five, such as “to sleep with a cop” or “to do it on a desert island.” Once you have each made your top five lists, compare notes and decide together which scenarios you feel comfortable with and which ones you would like to put on hold. Be completely honest with your partner. If you do not feel comfortable with anything involved in a particular scenario, make it known from the get to. Compromise the scenes that push the limits too far.

In the beginning it is recommended to pick scenarios that are familiar and uncomplicated. If you’re not feeling the idea of pretending to be someone else, start by switching up the things you already do. This will create a new role for the evening. If you usually start in missionary and end with her on top, or if he is dominant and she is submissive, try switching it up. Little changes in the routine will help ease the nervous tension of taking on a whole new character. Keeping in mind that the scenario is the central piece to a successful role play, it is necessary to set the mood. If your fantasy for the night is to pretend you are two strangers on a desert island you can set the mood by playing a CD of ocean sounds and lighting a “sea breeze” scented candle. As you get more comfortable with the idea of role playing, try mixing it up even more by adding some extra props and costumes or by building upon a previous role play and thus stretching out the scenario. If you started out pretending to be a cop, take it a step farther and handcuff your partner for the next scene or pretend you made it all the way to the courthouse and act as the defendant and the judge. You will start to think of yourselves as actors and actresses in a play with your bed as the stage.

Role play is at its core a fun way to explore yourself and your partner sexually but it can also be used to build trust in your relationship and expand some boundaries. Learning what each other fantasizes about and then providing a means to achieve those fantasies will deepen the bond between the two of you. Below are some ideas for role playing, just use your imagination and the possibilities are endless!

Cheerleader and Football Star In high school, the head cheerleader and football captain ruled the school. They did it because they had a quick confidence that couldn’t be busted. They also eluded an air of playful sexiness that many of us are still trying to achieve. Take on this personality and rule the bed tonight. For her: bust out some pom-poms and pair them with a super-high pony tail and some bright blue eye shadow. Cheer your man on by telling him what feels good and where you want to be touched. For him: grab an old jersey and those tight pants. Make some rough and tumble grunts while laying on smooth moves in the sack. Start the evening off by watching a teenage romance movie and eating popcorn. Then take a trip down memory lane and flip through your old photo albums and yearbooks. To kick it up a notch, do it in the back seat “so you don’t get caught” or take a drive out to “make out point.” Remember the key to this scenario is youthfulness and fun.

Teacher and Student This role play brings new meaning to the words sexual education. You can play-out this scenario in a few ways, depending on how you envision it. The first scenario is for more of a male driven fantasy where the female in the relationship plays the teacher. Many men will fantasize about “getting caught” thinking about their teachers from elementary and highs school in a sexual way. To play this scene out have her dress as a sexy teacher wearing a cardigan half unbuttoned with nothing under it, a tight pencil skirt, heels and glasses. All he has to do it sit back and act naughty, then get “punished” by his teacher.

The other way to play this scene is to have one person “play” the inexperienced member of the couple. This role can be taken on by either partner, gender doesn’t matter as much. The other person will be in an instructor role, teaching everything from foreplay through intercourse. If you are in the instructor mode remember to explain in detail what you want your partner to do including, where and when you want to be touched, how much pressure and speed to use, when to switch from digital to oral stimulation, when to begin intercourse, control the “inexperienced” person’s thrusting during intercourse, or teach them a new position. As the instructor remember to give specific details rather than generic blunt statements. Use positive reinforcement i.e. “yes I like that” when your partner does what you told them to do. Take this opportunity to share your desires with your partner and to teach him or her some techniques that will make your overall sexual experience better. Then switch roles and allow your partner to teach you a thing or two.

Play Chef As kids we were all told not to play with our food, however, during sex, playing with food can be quite stimulating. This scenario allows you to combine two sensual experiences into one: good food and good sex. After a nice romantic dinner (preferably homemade since we’re talking about “plying chef” here) have your partner go into the bedroom and get comfortable. Tell them that you will be there in a minute with desert in bed (a sexy play on breakfast in bed). As the chef, you will get to pick the ingredients for your dessert. Some suggestions to try include, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, honey and fresh fruit like strawberries blueberries or something else you can eat in one bite. Other ideas that can be fun are chocolate truffles, pudding (used as body paint) and ice cream, but talk to your partner about this one first because it’s cold and melts easily. If you can get a hold of a chef’s hat, wear one while carrying the ingredients in on a tray (as if you are serving it to your partner). Once your partner is naked in bed, be the chef and whip up dessert. You can do this by “plating” your dish right on their body. For example, cover her breasts with the whipped cream and chocolate then dip the strawberries in it. As mentioned before, you can use the pudding, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and homey as body paint by making a map of you and your partner’s “pleasure zones.” And after you have dessert, always remember to lick your plate clean!

Reenact your first night together This scenario is good for a couple that is trying to rekindle the romance in their relationship. By acting out our first night together, you will be emotionally and physically reminded of what made you fall for each other in the first place. Start at the very beginning with where and how you met. For instance if he picked you up while studying in the library, go there and ask her out again. If she did the dialing, do it that way. Then re-enact the first date, go to the very same restaurant or rent the same movie you went to see. (Note if your first date was a double or group date, start with your first solo date together.) For guys, be the complete gentleman like when you were trying to “win her over.” Bring flowers to her house (or go outside and knock on the door if you’re living together). For the ladies, get all dolled up and make him wait awkwardly in the living room just like you did for your first date. If you took things slow that first time, take them slow tonight and emphasize the foreplay. If you rushed right in because you couldn’t even make it through dinner, bring back that excitement and get right between the sheets.

Another way to do this role play is to pretend you’re both singles and “pick each other up” at a bar. The fun to this role play is in going out separately, maybe flirting with someone else for part for the night, then going home together. In order to make this work you have to think and act like you’re single. This includes sending out the vibes that you are on the prowl looking to go home with someone. To start, make an event out of it. Go shopping for new clothes, just like when you were single. Take your time primping (i.e. shaving for guys and extra makeup and doing your hair for the gals), dress to impress, and remember if you got it flaunt it. Plan to arrive separately. When you spot your mate across the room at the bar, restaurant, or club be coy with them. Remember you are pretending you don’t know them. Use an alias. Flirt a little or a lot depending on your style. Maybe send them over a drink. If they come over to chat with you pull out all the moves you used when you were single like making eye contact and then holding it a little longer than usual, batting your eyelashes, tilt your head and body towards theirs to show interest, and if you feel like it, throw out a cheesy pick up line to keep things fun. When you’re ready to leave, you can go home together or “swap numbers,” go your separate ways, and call later on for a late-night rendezvous. This scenario is all about awakening your partner to what they saw in you that caught their eye.

Afterwards, take time to communicate what you remember, like best, and miss about your early days together. Use this “role play” to bring the romance back, to open the lines of communication about what you want and need in your relationship, and to help you remember why you love each other so much.

http://www.sextherapyinphiladelphia.com/role-playing/

 

[Chester Copperpot]

For all the people who say that character creation is one the bigger aspects of an RPG, can I ask you a question? Dark Heart of Uukrul is considered a classic, but I mean character creation? You have 4 characters with predetermined classes by necessity. I mean, can you choose to use your stats a bit differently? Sure, but there's more or less obvious things to emphasize and not emphasize, and it's good enough most the time. I'm not maxing out the Piety of my Warrior or anything. It doesn't even have a skill tree or anything, it's just following the predetermined path, grant it a fantastic one. So, is Uukrul an adventure game that RPG fans like, or is the whole "creating your character" definition of rpgs a bit off perhaps?