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<blockquote data-quote="mythusmage" data-source="post: 1569128" data-attributes="member: 571">Did you spot the unspoken assumptions in those definitions? That games are competitive activities. RPGs don't need to be competitive. Nor does one have to adhere to rules, as rules. In the case of an RPG the rules need not be seen as ordering play, but as describing the world and the characters who adventure in it. Among other things, see my post <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1569113&amp;postcount=111" target="_blank">above</a> for the particulars.Now, does it have to be the players against the DM? What about the players' characters in competition with the DM's characters? Still two parties trying to beat each other, but it's no longer player vs. player.I submit, good sir, that while RPGs are a formalized activity, they are not formalized in the same manner games are. And all games, no matter of what kind, have a formal structure. Some may be casual in a sense, but even those have a formality you won't find in any other activity. RPGs are also a formal activity. But it is a formality different from that of games, as well as from other types of recreation.What do you do in an RPG?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mythusmage, post: 1569128, member: 571"] Did you spot the unspoken assumptions in those definitions? That games are [i]competitive[/i] activities. RPGs don't need to be competitive. Nor does one have to adhere to rules, as rules. In the case of an RPG the rules need not be seen as ordering play, but as describing the world and the characters who adventure in it. Among other things, see my post [url=http://www.enworld.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1569113&postcount=111]above[/url] for the particulars. Now, does it have to be the players against the DM? What about the players' characters in competition with the DM's characters? Still two parties trying to beat each other, but it's no longer player vs. player. I submit, good sir, that while RPGs are a formalized activity, they are not formalized in the same manner games are. And all games, no matter of what kind, have a formal structure. Some may be casual in a sense, but even those have a formality you won't find in any other activity. RPGs are also a formal activity. But it is a formality different from that of games, as well as from other types of recreation. What do you do in an RPG? [/QUOTE]

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