Re: Definition of RPG (was: What was the first RPG?)

[djohnson@tartarus.ucsd.edu (Darin Johnson)]

rtramp@netcom.com (Roger Tramp) writes:
> I guess I am saying that when I hear the term RPG, I think
> of games like AD&D.

I'm glad you said "like" AD&D.  There's still debate about whether
AD&D itself is RPG :-) :-)

> So what are are some minimum requirements for a game to be considered
> an RPG?

Computer game, or pen-and-paper RPG?

For the latter, there are real newsgroups to ask about what they are.
There are exceptions, but I would place into this group anything that
can be played with no equipment other than pen and paper (even those
are optional), and which involves having the players act out roles of
different persona for their own enjoyment (ie, performing in front of
an audience doesn't really count).  Further, such acting is
improvisational, not scripted, and the players must respond in
character to various situations.  And the primary purpose is for
entertainment (thus ruling out role playing in group therapy
sessions).

For a computer game, I would say anything derived primarily by
from non-computer RPG's, or influenced by such, and retaining
many aspects of such games (not just set in an RPG world).

This is always going to be a vague definition.  Because notice
that most won't consider Doom to be a CRPG.  But what if you had
Doom where you could vary your players stats and assign a name?
(ie, just like many CRPG's where you assign a name then *never*
see it mentioned again except when you look at your stats)
What about Hexen?  You can choose between three stereotypes (bad
RPG in the real world, but typical for CRPG's)

The most you can really say is if a game has RPG elements or not.
Thus, Doom has some RPG elements, Hexen has more, Ultima games vary
from few to many RPG elements.  Wizardy had very few elements, but
felt a lot like the early primitive RPG's.  I suspect that in the
software industry, the definition of RPG is anything that resembles
AD&D :-(
-- 
Darin Johnson
djohnson@ucsd.edu
    "Are you a doctor?"   "No, but I watched."