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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 4899776" data-attributes="member: 2067">Let's introduce some new terms to hopefully keep things clear, then.Let's call games where the players have a large amount of control over the non-PC aspects of the game Shared Worlds.Shared worlds are not incompatible with storytelling, nor do they really require it. Second Life is a shared world that has no inherent story. Players can make their avatar, but can also construct buildings and make items and code their own terrain and all sorts of things. Shared worlds are also not incompatible with roleplaying, nor do they require it. Again, a good example is Second Life: some people create avatars that are themselves (at least to a certain degree), others create avatars that are particular characters.Hooray, confusion drastically reduced!Just because a player defines things outside of their character does not mean that they are not also playing their character.If I make up my character's family, and use that as a reason for going on adventures, I'm still playing the role of my character, I've just now engaged in building a shared world as well.Most RPGs that use the concept of a shared world remain RPG's, because the players still play a role in the game. Not everything with a shared world is also an RPG. Not every RPG lacks elements of a shared world.Most games of D&D are not greatly shared world games, but the DM can certainly add shared world elements to both reduce their load, to give players a bigger investment into the game, or just to see what comes up. This can be as mild as "give me a family member" or as significant as "You tell me about all of the Eladrin in the world!" Weirdly enough, the stuff in the DMGII that has preivewed has very little to do with a "shared world" and is more about pacing, framing, presenting, and other narrative elements. It's not about what players control, it's about treating the players as an audience distinct from their characters.This certainly doesn't make the game "not an RPG," however.</blockquote>

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