A bit tired of people knocking videogames...

[FireLance]

Are you suggesting that video games are inherently gamist as opposed to simulationist? You can certainly find video games that are far more simulationist than it is possible to be in a tabletop game. There's nothing inherently gamist about how video games play, or simulationist in tabletop games.

Good point.

Ha! My own prejudices are showing!

 

[ExploderWizard]

Some people appear to be under the impression that a human DM is inherently better at providing this illusion than a video game is.

Some are under such an impression.

Some of us actually are, no contest.

 

[Mark CMG]

The fighter is unlikely to get into a metaphysical argument with a group of wizards over the nature of a particular spell.

That's not a rules restriction. And it sounds like some fun RPing.

The wizard is unlikely to train peasantry how to defend themselves against the coming hoard through the use of martial weapons.

Nor that. And while not ideal, it might be the best chance to help the peasants win.

Part of party dynamics is what role a character plays not only outside of combat, but inside of combat.

The use of the hedge "Part of" changes the discussion we have verged off toward but what I describe above has increasingly become a matter of how the D&D rules are written, whereas combat has become increasingly central to the game and RPGing outside of combat has become decreasingly a focus of the books as written.

As I understand it, this has been that way since RPGs were invented.

I would disagree but let's set this aside and stick with D&D since the Eighties since your premise is tied to videogames.

 

[baradtgnome]

On the contrary, I'd just pull off my shoelaces and show the dungeon master how it's rigged, and we'd be across the bog before you could say Len Lakofka.

Even better, the character takes off their shoe laces and uses them in game to as an attempt to solve the problem. A DM in any edition should be able to use the rules in any edition to handle this. Or just invoke Rule 0 and give them a fair shot at it. This is where video games don't excel, and table top RPGs should.

If a table top RPG, or a DM, can't deal with things outside what are explicitly identified by the rules... are they too video gamey? Perhaps that is this generations comparison. What did we call it back in the day before video games ruled the earth? Some called it anal, but that is just not very nice.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I enjoy both.

However, there are some weaknesses that a video game has. Such as you're usually playing alone.

If you're playing alone, then chances are you're doing it because you want to. Multi player games are becoming if not already are the norm.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

There have been a lot of assumptions made within the past 5 pages of this thread that don't fit with my observations or experiences (they may fit with others, but they're pretty foreign to me).

I LOVE videogames. I have not one, but TWO world of warcraft accounts that I play several hours per day. I was an avid videogamer in college.


But, here's the important part: I play rpgs because there are elements that I enjoy that are not present in videogames.


I'm not going to share what those elements are, in part because I may not be able to name them all, but moreso because whatever I list, someone will be able to provide (somewhat of) a counterexample. Yes, SOME videogame somewhere might just capture some of the elements that I like in rpgs. ANOTHER might capture a different element. Video games can do a number of things very well...better than TT-RPGs in a lot of cases. However, there are elements that face to face, real person, imagination, storytelling, and character immersion TT-RPGS provide that are superior to videogames.


In the end, TT-RPGs are low tech, require math, can be hard to schedule, sometimes require knowledge of dozens or hundreds of rules, may have slooooowww combats, may have long periods when it's "not your turn", etc.

So why play em over videogames? Everyone here plays them. Why?


Because the experience of a TT-RPG is different from a videogame.


(Note, I want to point out I'm not setting up a false dichotomy here of "you can only enjoy one or the other"...I'm stating that you (like me) can enjoy both, but they are not the same...and the fact that you choose to spend your time playing TT-RPGs when you could be playing video games shows that it has something different to offer.)


EDIT: Forgot to answer the OP (doh!). When I say an RPG is "videogamey", what I'm usually referring to is that it has more of a focus than I would like on elements that model things I enjoy in videogames and less of a focus than I would like on the elements that I enjoy in my TT-RPGs. I also like boardgames. If I found an rpg that was too similar to the experience of "battleship" or "risk" (and not similar to the other rpgs I enjoy) then I might refer to it as too "boardgamey."

 

[wedgeski]

I'm also an avid video-gamer as well as a tabletop RPG'er. I love both hobbies with a passion.

WoW and its peers has taught me huge amounts about encounter design, character balance, player synnergy, world-building, narrative, pacing, and many other things too numerous to mention.

There are *spectacularly* talented people at work in all corners of the gamer industry, learning from each-other, building on each-other's work, crafting a modern and changing notion of interactive games and what they mean. This is something, I hope, that will never change, because to suggest that D&D can't learn anything from WoW or any number of other video games is ridiculous.

 

[Oryan77]

When my players are calling me a newb, bragging about how their PC is beast, naming their PCs things like Sir Mario, and drawing anime pictures of their characters holding oversized weapons, then obviously the game is videogamey.

Besides, I'm tired of hearing people get butthurt over the term videogamey. What about people like me, who get butthurt when people call my video games "RPGs"? We're not roleplaying, we're not using pens & paper, we're not referencing stats in books, and we don't have a gamemaster. So stop calling my video games RPGs!

 

[ProfessorCirno]

...and drawing anime pictures of their characters holding oversized weapons, then obviously the game is videogamey.

...So, when your players draw pictures stylized after a type of animation, then the game is videogamey.

...What.

 

[Leatherhead]

What about people like me, who get butthurt when people call my video games "RPGs"? We're not roleplaying, we're not using pens & paper, we're not referencing stats in books, and we don't have a gamemaster. So stop calling my video games RPGs!

I have found that the term "video game RPG" is a meaningless buzzword that marketing attaches to some games in hopes that it will make the game more attractive to certain demographics, and leaves off of others for the same reason.