Well, as the OP of the original forked thread, let me explain what I meant by it.
I could be glib and say I meant whatever the detractors think is anime/video-game about 4e is. This thread is full of more than enough examples of that. However, there is something more, something beyond Goldern Wyverns and at will magic...
My first thought was summed up eloquently here:
Kamikaze Midget said:
It seems to me that when people note videogame influence, they're usually noting "speed of play at the cost of verisimilitude."
In these discussions, "Anime" tends to be mean = "Non-traditional Western-based Arch-typical Fantasy Tropes." This is the Arthurian knights, the Merlineque wizard, the noble savage, the evil enchantress, the beautiful princess, the spooky woods, and the fearsome dragon. (If you want to see EVERY fantasy trope of the last 50 years on display like a catalog, go read/watch Eragon. I can think of none better at displaying them all simultaneously like that does.) However, things like anthropomorphic races, wizards capable of casual, continuous use of power, spectacular combat abilities that border on or defy physics, and humongous set-piece battles against nigh-impossible foes get labeled "anime" because they are more common in Asian-created fantasy than in its western cousin.
"Video game" then goes onto mean "Game mechanics that simulate game-play, not reality". This is where KM and I agree. Respawn mechanics are terrible for creating a real-life world view of life-and-death, but they make playing the game a lot more fun. Its kinda the same argument that I see made about D&D's oldest game mechanic, hit points (soooo video-gamey
). For as long as the game has been out, HP has been chastised for not being "realistic" and often replaced with intricate hit/damage/body wound systems. However, HP remains because its quick, easy, and fun. However, it drives some people who want realistic combat with broken bones, crushed skulls, and real sacrifice nuts to know that the 200 hp fighter really DOESN'T have anything to fear from 20 goblins. And so it goes.
So both terms end up becoming jargon for "things I don't want in D&D." Anime becomes badwrongfluff, and Video game badwrongcrunch. It becomes almost a straw man to "find the anime/video game" material since a.) both are so massive that there is no single trope that applies to all of it and b.) everyone's threshold for what they consider badwrongfun is different, so what I might not look at as an "video-game inspired element" (quest cards) might, in fact to you, look like WoW incarnate forcing itself upon your game.
And just for the Record: my favorite Anime is
Perfect Blue and my all-time favorite video-game is
Tetris and D&D has saw fit to borrow nothing from either of them.