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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 3675697" data-attributes="member: 2067">This definition seems horribly cyclical to me. &quot;Only the human interaction of a living judge qualifies a game for true RPG status because in order to play a role in a true RPG you need to be able to make any decisions you believe the role would make.&quot;So...in your mind, an RPG is only a true RPG if it has some sort of DM-ish figure because...otherwise you're not able to make all the descisions you believe the role would make? And you don't see that as a rather pointlessly limiting definition of a &quot;true&quot; RPG?No where else in existence, is that considered &quot;playing a role.&quot; Whenever actors are playing a role, it's constrained by the script, the direction, the budget, etc. Whenever kids are playing a role, it's constrained by the environment, the other kids, the props at hand, etc. Even when people are playing societal roles, these are constrained by society and their abilities. And people's videogame roles are constrained by focusing the points at which they can make descisions. Why do RPG's, to be true RPG's in your mind, need to have some sort of adjudicator to be truly &quot;playing a role&quot;? Why can't they really have any number or combination of possible constraints, like every other incidence of &quot;playing a role&quot;? Why this specific, narrow, inflexible position on &quot;true&quot; RPG's?Heck, I'd say a show like Who's Line Is It Anyway? qualifies as an RPG. The players have roles, they are given these roles (and the limitations) by essentially random chance, and they have to play within these roles as securely as possible. They get scored for it (admittedly, arbitrary scoring, but it certainly wouldn't have to be), and a winner emerges.Roles are played in a game. Role Playing Game. RPG. Unless Clive Anderson/Drew Carrey qualify as DM's in this scenario, it's an RPG without a DM. And if they *do* qualify as DM's, then the definition of RPG includes every play ever performed, as well, since they're little more than writers, directors, and hosts.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 3675697, member: 2067"] This definition seems horribly cyclical to me. "Only the human interaction of a living judge qualifies a game for true RPG status because in order to play a role in a true RPG you need to be able to make any decisions you believe the role would make." So...in your mind, an RPG is only a true RPG if it has some sort of DM-ish figure because...otherwise you're not able to make all the descisions you believe the role would make? And you don't see that as a rather pointlessly limiting definition of a "true" RPG? No where else in existence, is that considered "playing a role." Whenever actors are playing a role, it's constrained by the script, the direction, the budget, etc. Whenever kids are playing a role, it's constrained by the environment, the other kids, the props at hand, etc. Even when people are playing societal roles, these are constrained by society and their abilities. And people's videogame roles are constrained by focusing the points at which they can make descisions. Why do RPG's, to be true RPG's in your mind, need to have some sort of adjudicator to be truly "playing a role"? Why can't they really have any number or combination of possible constraints, like every other incidence of "playing a role"? Why this specific, narrow, inflexible position on "true" RPG's? Heck, I'd say a show like [I]Who's Line Is It Anyway?[/I] qualifies as an RPG. The players have roles, they are given these roles (and the limitations) by essentially random chance, and they have to play within these roles as securely as possible. They get scored for it (admittedly, arbitrary scoring, but it certainly wouldn't have to be), and a winner emerges. Roles are played in a game. Role Playing Game. RPG. Unless Clive Anderson/Drew Carrey qualify as DM's in this scenario, it's an RPG without a DM. And if they *do* qualify as DM's, then the definition of RPG includes every play ever performed, as well, since they're little more than writers, directors, and hosts. [/QUOTE]

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