Skyrim is not an RPG

[krazykidd]

Yeah, and President Obama isn't black.

Skyrim is more of an RPG than most RPGs. The protagonist is custom made and the direction of the game is the player's choice. There is limitation of the choices, but less than in most games.

Isn't obama half white? Why would he be more black than white, if you look at his "core elements" and not just the skin color ( the surface).

ANYWAYS, i'm biased because i still consider jrpgs to be rpgs .

 

[el_negro]

Every game since D&D has a little of RPG in it, even the new FIFA has a "skill tree". I really like that true "pure" RPG are mixing up with other genre games; it's making RPG'S (MMO also) more playable for wider audience. Ten years ago I'd never pick up Fallout 1...

 

[josemlopes]

The term RPG as it is now is meaningless because it is so vague that it covers almost every type of game imaginable.

Fallout 1
Baldur's Gate
Skyrim
Mass effect

Are all RPGs and none of them are any less of a "true" RPG then any other.

Beyond that one could easily make the case that many FPS are RPGs also.

The terms we use to define games, such as RPG, FPS, etc. etc. have become so blended due to hybridization that using them nowadays is kinda pointless.

Fallout 1 and Baldurs Gate are true RPGs because they don't rely on the players twitch skills/reactions. They're all about the characters skills. While Skyrim and ME are really action games with rpg elements.

No, the other guy is right, labeling something now as an RPG is kind of useless. It is an incredebly vague definition, you see RPG's as being games that dont rely directly with the player skills, I see it diferently, for me is a game that lets me assume a role of my desire and have a noticeble evolution of my character throughout the game.

I am not saying that your definition is wrong, I am just saying that it isnt the only one that is right. I guess when anyone is making an RPG now they should clarify what type of game they are exactly doing. Years ago it wasnt possible to make games with the player interaction of Skyrim so most RPG's were heavily based on the character stats, that is why the "true" RPG is seen that way, nothing wrong with that.

 

[lRookiel]

Oh.. This topic again.

*Giggles* I know right...

And I quote from the all knowing Wikipedia :3

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action role-playing open world video game

I see RPG in there, I rest my case. :3

 

[Ickabod]

R = Role, yes I am playing a role in the world of Skyrim.
P = Playing, yep I'm playing it.
G = Game, yep it's a game

Hence it's an RPG

 

[MarsProbe]

Oh, I just noticed the person that's parading around here with their narrow viewpoint of what the feel can be acceptably classed as an RPG isn't the OP. Way to go, guy! This must really bother you that much.

Personally, I really like the bit where everyone decided that Skyrim was an RPG. Probably my favourite scene in the whole game, actually.

 

[Hyper-space]

Oh boy, a thread about RPGS! I hope to god this doesn't end up as a e-peen contest over what constitutes a "true" RPG!

...Oh

Man, if only genres could have sub-sections for different types of games instead slapping one overly-generalizing label on a game that might share certain elements with other games of its genre but differ in terms of design and experience. If only.

 

[Imbechile]

And I quote from the all knowing Wikipedia

In wikipedi Skyrim is labeled like this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_role-playing_game
But why are you exactly quoting from wikipedia since everything is written by other people, who can be wrong.

OT: I'll just copy-paste my old argument:
To me RPG's are where your character skills, and not yours, determine the outcome(Fallout 1, Baldur's gate, Arcanum)
When there is a mix between your and your character's skills those are action-RPG hybrids(Deus ex, System shock 2)
When your skills govern the success then that's an action game with RPG elements(Deus ex Human revolution, Mass Effect)

With that in mind Skyrim is an action game first and foremost, with some RPG elements.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

The idea that a role playing game can't have action elements and has to be 100% based on stats is something that somehow became ingrained into everyone's heads awhile ago and I don't know why they won't shake the idea.
A game doesn't have to be a battle of spreadsheets to be an RPG.

 

[Kahunaburger]

The idea that a role playing game can't have action elements and has to be 100% based on stats is something that somehow became ingrained into everyone's heads awhile ago and I don't know why they won't shake the idea.
A game doesn't have to be a battle of spreadsheets to be an RPG.

I think we can all agree, however, that (since RPG elements are elements initially derived from P&P RPGs) action elements to a game are not RPG elements. There's a continuum between RPGs, ARPGs, and action games with RPG elements. (Of course, reasonable people can and do disagree on where particular games fall in that continuum.)

 

[SajuukKhar]

The term RPG encompasses many sub-groups such as

ARPGs
JRPGs
LaRPs
MMORPGs
P&P RPGs

All of which are equally "true" RPGs as the others.

 

[DoPo]

The idea that a role playing game can't have action elements and has to be 100% based on stats is something that somehow became ingrained into everyone's heads awhile ago and I don't know why they won't shake the idea.
A game doesn't have to be a battle of spreadsheets to be an RPG.

The term RPG encompasses many sub-groups such as

ARPGs
JRPGs
LaRPs
MMORPGs
P&P RPGs

All of which are equally "true" RPGs as the others.

Well that is true. There were other comments above that are correct but I found those two sum it up nicely.

And of course (again) - you're playing a role. In a game. Sort of like what you'd have in a play or a movie. Hence it's a role playing game.

 

[ResonanceGames]

People can never have too many semantics debates. And that is ALL this argument is.

Skyrim shares a common lineage with Ultima Underworld (TES started life as a UU clone) which was the first real attempt to remove the abstractness of previous roleplaying games and instead attempt to place the player into a simulated world. Does that mean Ultima Underworld was not an RPG? It was a debate at that time because the UU games weren't turn-based. Hell, it was probably a debate with Dungeon Master, Rogue, and every other game that has ever shirked the original RPG conventions.

I definitely wouldn't consider Bioware-stlye games any more similar to the games that pioneered the genre (Ultima and Wizardry) than Skyrim is, so I'm not sure why they would be the only ones who get to fly that flag.

The real problem here isn't people who call Skyrim an RPG, it's people who try to use a genre name that was invented before video gaming even existed to pigeonhole a modern media product. It isn't that hard to describe these games, so why try to find one single word with which to do so?

'RPG' is a throwaway term that just loosely defines things that aren't shooters or strategy games. That's all.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Again with this 'your playing a role, so it's an rpg' shit. You playing a role as Kratos in GoW, playing a role as a solder in COD, are these RPGs too ?

And how is an action rpg as 'true' as a crpg when it combines elements from action games ?

That's like saying that mulatto is a pure black person, or pure Caucasian. No, they're half black and half white.

Using that logic Crpgs are not "true" RPGs either because they are different then the ORIGINAL form of roleplaying, which is LaRPing.

 

[Flac00]

Its a genre, genres are general (as their name suggests). RPG's come in many forms, doesn't matter in what way. This game is an RPG just the same as all the other RPG's are. Their isn't some major requirements for it, simply its an RPG because it defines itself as that.