Glop_dweller
Prophet
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2007
- Messages
- 1,186
Then you are —okay— with a self admittedly flawed definition; one that excludes some go-to examples of great RPGs.If i were to alter the definition to allow for pre-determined personalities, then that would result in oxymoron - that is games that are clearly not RPGs would end up being labeled as such. But it never happens with the current definition that i have. Sure, it will exclude games like the witcher and planescape torment, but i'm okay with that.
Your criterion is that you get to pick the role—and so that excludes the games where they have meticulously crafted a role to play; and doubtless they've tailored the campaign to suit the [known quantity] character. This is bullocks to me, not your preference for custom characters, but the idea that a game offering an exceptionally detailed (and reactive) role to play, is somehow not a role playing game. There are many, many reasons not to be considered an RPG—but offering a role seems ridiculous to be considered among them.
And this matters why? They can all tell you the Sun is a star—but it's not if they can't explain it?The other problem is that people tell you that Planescape, Withcer, and Gothic are all RPGs. However they are not able to tell you WHY they think that. What makes either of those games RPGs? Most people have vague idea of what an RPG is in their heads, or they are simply echoing what other people say.
Witcher is a roleplaying game because it sets an interactive stage with an interesting protagonist in an interesting situation; one where their unique insights, abilities, attitude—and shortcomings will change the course of events for themselves and for others, through conversation and choice of actions.
Planescape is a roleplaying game because it sets an interactive stage with an interesting protagonist in an interesting situation; one where their unique insights, abilities, attitude will—and shortcomings change the course of events for themselves and for others, through their conversation and choice of actions.
—And the same could sardonically be said of Super Mario Bros. However, the measure is in the detail, depth, and extent of the opportunities for this that are presented. Mario & Luigi can be said to have changed the course of events for all of the monsters they killed, and by freeing the princess... but that's about it, and it wouldn't qualify as a cRPG even in the '80s. All of those actions are unavoidable; side effects of playing the game to complete its simplistic goal, and they rely upon player reflex—when Mario fails, it's not his fault.
To make Super Mario Bros. into an RPG, it would need to differentiate the brothers (give clues to their deeper personalities). It would need to allow for them to fail at tasks for no fault of the player, and to have [plenty of] choices that would allow them to grow (or wither) as individuals. Basically it's what they did with the cartoon. If they made the cartoon into a game, it could be made as an RPG.