Re: What was the first RPG?

[harold.h@genie.com (Harold Hislop)]

In response to my having said:
 
>>The earliest RPG that I can recall was "Adventure" (also known as
>>Colossal Cave) written by.... uhm... the names fade into antiquity :/
(article <4b5ivr$2f6@rock101.genie.net>)
 
fletcher@u.washington.edu (Brent Michael Krupp) replied:
 
>> Adventure was the first text adventure, and thus the first "adventure"
>> game, but it was in no way whatsoever an RPG. You had no character to
>> speak of, no choices about your abilities, etc., etc. Not an RPG at all.
 
If Adventure is looked at =in it's original temporal context= one can
not claim that it was anything other than an RPG. Infact in it's day
it was the only contender.
 
It involved a considerable amount of strategy, battles with "denizens",
treasures, multiple weapons, majik (Plugh, Y2, XYZZY, etc) plus many
other features that set the stage for later RPGs. To top this off it
was based on / surounded by a well thought out and described
enviroment (both above and below ground)
 
Games such as Adventure laid the very foundation for what evolved into
what we today refer to as "Role Playing Games".
 
Of course if you want something a little later in time there's always
"Sorceror of Siva" (published by Epix) This had a crude graphical
interface, as well as a limited text based one (text was on Hires) This
too contains many of the key elements of RPGs, so many of them that if
it is considered in the frame of time that it was published in it too
must be looked at as an RPG.
 

--
-Harold Hislop
Hardware Coordinator,
Apple II RoundTable, GEnie
14Mhz/32k TWGS, 1Mb Rev-C RamFast, Prototype ROM_03 in tower
(Heritage Mac hardware also spoken (great IIgs peripheral ;))