Aren't almost ALL games RPGs?

[ENERTRON]

i didn't know who else in the world to ask, so I bring my question here...

Why are only certain quest-based games called RPGs? Aren't you role playing in almost every game ever made? About the only exclusion would be puzzle games, which some might call an oxymoron. I think puzzles are work... but I digress.

In Mario, you play the role of Mario, and you're on a quest to save some ho. In Star Fox, you play the role of a crazy astronaut or something. In GTA you play Bellic. In Forza you name yourself and role play as a race car driver.

In all these games you gain new abilities and you even level up in Forza.

Yet none of these are considered RPGs?

That's like saying only Chevy Malibus can be classified as "cars" and all other motor vehicles are to be classified as "automobiles"

Any insight on this?

 

[Disaster Button]

This is similar to the whole "Aren't all Movies/Games/Books taking place in Alternate Universe?" question.

The Answer? Kinda. There are a few exceptions, for both questions (yours and mine =D)

 

[Death916]

So for RTS games are you roleplaying god?

normally you play as a certain commander in an rts. such as a war chief or general

 

[LongAndShort]

So for RTS games are you roleplaying god?

I always thought you were more role-playing some commander or general.

 

[Pacman_69_42]

what your saying is true but the classification of games into roleplaying etc is important so if you wish consider most games rpg's but good luck finding different games by type ...

 

[ENERTRON]

according to wikipedia the term was coined for games like Dungeons & Dragons, etc, where you actually ARE role playing - that is to say, YOU are the character (as opposed to you controlling a character with a controller). non-electronic RPGs stressed social interaction. then along came video games and they borrowed the term for games like Dragon Warrior, etc simply because the locations (realms, dungeons, etc) were similar to those of the original table-top, pen & paper true role playing games.

at least that's what I gather...

so either all video games are role playing games or none are? (again, excluding puzzle games)

 

[LordGarbageMan]

I guess all games have rpg elements in them. Well, at least most games.

 

[Lucky Grim]

I don't know. In the case of Mario, it doesn't seem like you do too much as the character. When you first start the story, you're given a basic plotline about how you need to save the Princess from Bowser, but then you just trudge from one area to the next taking out any goombas that might happen to be in your way. You never really go any deeper into his motivations than the opening, and even when you finally encounter Bowser at most the overweight lizard will just monologue for a few seconds and then go right into the battle.

For games starring characters with stronger motivations and personalities that are slowly made more clear (GTA IV) I think it becomes a little fuzzy whether or not it has RPG elements.

 

[YuheJi]

RPG is a genre. Wouldn't a good number of games be considered "life simulations", as in most games, you are simulating something that's alive? These terms are just used to classify our games. RPG specifically tends to relate to the old DnD role playing, with emphasis on story, and the actions of your character.

 

[ScruffyTheJanitor]

How exactly is it possible to not be in a different role in a game. You aren't being yourself in a game, your being the commander of the bricks in tetris or the space marine #23412 fighting aliens with no dress sense. Can your really imagine playing a game to "escape" from reality.... where your role-playing yourself.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Depending on how you feel or how the wind is blowing you can say that either all games or no games at all have "roleplaying." It's a good job then that the term role-playing game describes a game with character classes and stats and not whether dramatic or psychological methodology can be used when playing the game.

 

[NBSRDan]

There are many non-RPG games that involve role-playing just as there are many shooter games that never shoot the player.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Only if you take the term literally.

When video games evolved out of the Dungeons & Dragons mold, they naturally couldn't simulate the ultimate force behind a pen and paper game, the GM, but they adopted many of the other systems and conceits into PC and Console format (the two groups which became very different in format). Thus, video game RPGs came to be properly defined as those that possessed the systems that came before, typically involving character statistics, random battle elements, turn-based combat, and quest-based storytelling.

Really, since pen and paper gaming had its roots in wargaming, one could argue that video game RPGs haven't really changed too much from the original.

 

[Emeli]

Yeah pretty much every game with a main character is a role playing game, the genre is most liberally defined as when you can attribute to the character your own choice of characteristics. So in fact only when you're playing as you are you role playing which is a little ironic if you think about it.

If you're playing as Nico, then you're not really role playing, as your role is in no way pivotal to the story, Nico is making his own decisions without your input, your job is just to make them happen.

Whereas something like Baldur's Gate, the role you choose to play alters the entire game.

 

[Jandau]

i didn't know who else in the world to ask, so I bring my question here...

Why are only certain quest-based games called RPGs? Aren't you role playing in almost every game ever made? About the only exclusion would be puzzle games, which some might call an oxymoron. I think puzzles are work... but I digress.

In Mario, you play the role of Mario, and you're on a quest to save some ho. In Star Fox, you play the role of a crazy astronaut or something. In GTA you play Bellic. In Forza you name yourself and role play as a race car driver.

In all these games you gain new abilities and you even level up in Forza.

Yet none of these are considered RPGs?

That's like saying only Chevy Malibus can be classified as "cars" and all other motor vehicles are to be classified as "automobiles"

Any insight on this?

Speaking semantically and out of context, yes, all games can be considered "roleplaying" since you're playing a role.

However, when taken into context with the history of the phrase "Roleplaying Game" which evolved outside computer gaming, only a certain number of games falls into the category and forms the RPG genre.

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.

So, in the end, the answer to your question is NO, unless you disregard a whole bunch of information.

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

 

[More Fun To Compute]

So, in the end, the answer to your question is NO, unless you disregard a whole bunch of information.

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

Any intelligent person can spot the bullshit in most of the commonly accepted definitions of what an RPG is. They then logically jump to this answer as they don't have all the information.

 

[Jaqen Hghar]

I'll echo what others have said.
If you have full controll over how strong, smart, agile etc your character is, then you are really playing the role. Thus it is a RPG. If you just controll your character through a set script, you are not really roleplaying. Roleplaying means you call all the shots, you are the character. Within reason of course. The day we see true A.I. we can maybe see true RPG's, where you can literally do whatever and say whatever.

 

[Jandau]

So, in the end, the answer to your question is NO, unless you disregard a whole bunch of information.

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

Any intelligent person can spot the bullshit in most of the commonly accepted definitions of what an RPG is. They then logically jump to this answer as they don't have all the information.

Well then, it's up to us as the Internet to set them straight