Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="TwinBahamut" data-source="post: 3673139" data-attributes="member: 32536">This whole thread is arguing a moot point. Regardless of whether or not some people think computer or video games are "really RPGs", the term is incredibly pervasive among computer and video game players. One simply can not have a discussion of videogame genres without the term coming up. Even various sub-genres, such as MMORPG or tactical RPG (also called strategy RPG or simulation RPG), have widely used and quite specific names. People use these terms in discussions, they use them in marketing, they are used by videogame news websites and magazines... I mean, 15 years ago, when I was in elementary school, I only knew the term RPG referred to videogames, and didn't know that tabletop RPGs even existed.The only anyone would even bother trying to make the distinction at this point is if they wanted to position tabletop RPGs as superior to computer RPGs, in some elitist gesture. Trying to undermine an established and well-understood use of the term is inherently going to rub fans of videogames the wrong way.Regardless, here are some good reasons why videogame RPGs share the term "RPG" with pen and paper games:1) Historical similarityEarly RPGs were attempting to emulate the genre that D&D fills. Stories of adventure in fantastic lands, with a group of adventurers scouring dungeons and slaying dragons. I don't think it is a coincidence that the main foes of the first Dragon Quest were dragons, or that the "default" party of the first Final Fantasy was a fighter, thief, healer, and wizard, who go on to fight evil elemental monsters and mind-flayers.  Many early computer RPGs were even set in the Forgotten Realms.Computer RPGs have evolved in many distinct ways unique to the medium since those times, but the roots of the genre are undoubtably found in pen and parer RPGs.2)Mechanical similarityBecause of the genre emulation I mentioned above, it lead to many mechanical similarities. Just like D&D, computer RPGs have multiple characters with varying stats and party roles. Combat is resolved through comparisons between character and enemy stats, based on tactical choices made by the player. Like different tabletop RPGs, progression is either formless (Romancing Saga or HERO Champions) or built on classes and levels (Final Fantasy 3-6 or D&D). Many videogame RPGs use the ideas of grid movement and ordering actions absed on "initiative" stats, just like D&D.These mechanical similarities make computer RPGs far more similar to tabletop RPGs than to any other form of game, electronic or otherwise. It is the fact that they resemble D&D that is used to differentiate them from other videogame genres, like first person shooters or racing games.Simply put, someone who has played many computer RPGs would probably think that D&D is not a very different game, when it comes to gameplay mechanics. I certainly thought it was similar.Also, when countering this argument, I ask that people keep in mind that gameplay mechanics are the one thing seperating "role-playing games" from being "improvisational acting".3)Story similaritiesFinally, the last main reason is that videogame RPGs tell a story. Especially a decade or so ago (before Metal Gear Solid, at least), RPGs were the only type of videogame where story, character, and character development mattered at all. Many games put story ahead of gameplay, and having an RPG without a developed story was unthinkable. This is probably the most distinct similarity to D&D, which is distinctly built upon telling a story. Even though the methods of telling a story are very different between electronic games and living DMs, the interest in having a story is the same, and for many years was one of the most visible points of similarity between the two.Overall, I think there are more similarities than differences between videogame RPGs and pen and paper RPGs, at least when compared to any other form of entertainment. I suppose some may argue that it is the "most important thing" that is different (at which point I suppose you will just ignore me), but you can't argue that the name was given to videogame RPGs for arbitrary and senseless reasons.</blockquote>

Verification