The Public Misconception of What a RPG Is

A roleplaying game is a game in which the player determines the outcome of the game within the confines of its world and purpose soley by his own actions.

How bout any video game where you play as a character who is given some sort of identity? Because you take the Role of something. And you Play. A Game.

No. I don't catch your drift.

Who cares?

Our definition of RPGs is just a POPULAR MISCONCEPTION. Most RPG games have little to nothing in common with ACTING. It's all about FOLLOWING.

You might be correct sir, but I think I have a counter example you may find quite intriguing.
 
***************************************WARNING, THE FOLLOWING IS WRITTEN BY A MAN WHO HAS NEVER PLAYED A JRPG*************************************************
I started up Final Fantasy # and this woman approached me and was like oh hey! *BLANK*, so I typed in my name, it was SEXY. The woman told me to go get a thing but I just knew, I knew that if I went and got that thing, the entire town would be burnt to the ground and raped and pillaged. So instead, I stayed there. I stayed there and went through the same dialogue options over and over. Old man Olderson told me, every day, that he blah blah youth and sinus pains. Bitch woman was all like what are you doing? And sagely town person was like you have a great future ahead of you.
I spent days running in circles, in my mind, I was slowly going insane. The same dialogue options, the same experiences. Every tedious gold piece had been found, no door was unopened. SEXY slowly became crazier and crazier. The dialogue slowly began to lose its meaning, it had become so familiar. The townspeople were no longer speaking anything comprehensible at all, it was all gibberish. It was INSANITY.
 
They all had to die.
 
The next day I left the town to do the fetch quest and came back to see it in flames, women and children dead, evil dudes everywhere. I laughed... oh how I laughed. I pressed forward and then back, then side to side, making SEXY do a little dance on top of the ashes of the fallen town. As the pushover skeleton minions approached me for what no doubt would have been my combat tutorial, I flung myself into their arms as they slowly cannibalized my corpse and tore me to shreds. In SEXY's final moments, on his face was a smile... a delicious smile. He was free.

" Our definition of RPGs is just a POPULAR MISCONCEPTION. Most RPG games have little to nothing in common with ACTING. It's all about FOLLOWING. "

fallout 3 is a hella RPG 
that's why i love it.

Whatever.  The Mass Effect series is the greatest line of RPGs ever created.
 
Catch my bait?

The millennium didn't actually change in the year 2000. It ACTUALLY changed in the year 2001! WHY DONT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THIS?!?!?!?!
 
Social perception of a term or an idea can shift what that term or idea means. RPGs, much like the concept of the millennium are a prime example of this. "RPG" is a blanket term for a game that follows certain conventions -- stats, leveling up, combat, a story involving some nefarious villain, etc. One of those requirements is no longer the player determining the outcome of the game solely by their own actions. In fact, the only RPGs that really applies to are tabletop RPGs, and even then the DM is ultimately in control of what happens, and may have designed a predetermined ending for their campaign.
 
While your definition isn't wrong, per se, it's as Toxin066 says -- such logic could apply to any game where you take the role of a character. But if we're to talk about the RPG genre, it is as I said -- based on conventions that set the game apart from other genres. Nitpick all you want, but know that your laments are falling on deaf ears, and rightfully so. As technically correct as saying 2001 is the start of the new millennium might be, commonsense tells us that 2000 makes more sense as it's a whole new thousand's digit and the fact the Gregorian calendar has no "Year 0" is really irrelevant in today's world.

"

A roleplaying game is a game in which the player determines the outcome of the game within the confines of its world and purpose soley by his own actions.

 This statement isn't true for most games considered RPGs. Other genres, which are not considered to be RPGs at all, do meet this qualifier a lot better.   Any competitive online multiplayer game, such as Modern Warfare 2, would be more of a RPG than games being considered RPGs, like Final Fantasy XIII.  Simulations like a flight sim, racing car game or military simulation would be the height of the RPG genre - since alone the player's quality of roleplaying determines the outcome of any game - be it as pilot, race car driver or soldier.  Most games considered RPGs are nothing more than glorified eBooks measured by this standard. The less realtime gameplay there is to be found in a game, the less actual roleplaying is happening. It's all about the dice rolls and following down the path the storytellers have set up for you. At the very most, classic RPGs are more of a 'character builder' than an stage to perfom actions on, according to the role you're playing. We don't play big theater! We merely watch it happen passively. In most games considered RPGs, we are the audience, not the actors. Catch my drift? "

In Tetris you play the role of several blocks. Most addictive RPG I've ever played. 
 
The term "role-playing game" is sort of an antiquated term in the ways you mentioned, but that's what we categorize them and I doubt the term will change in the future.

" How bout any video game where you play as a character who is given some sort of identity? Because you take the Role of something. And you Play. A Game. "

" You might be correct sir, but I think I have a counter example you may find quite intriguing.  ***************************************WARNING, THE FOLLOWING IS WRITTEN BY A MAN WHO HAS NEVER PLAYED A JRPG************************************************* I started up Final Fantasy # and this woman approached me and was like oh hey! *BLANK*, so I typed in my name, it was SEXY. The woman told me to go get a thing but I just knew, I knew that if I went and got that thing, the entire town would be burnt to the ground and raped and pillaged. So instead, I stayed there. I stayed there and went through the same dialogue options over and over. Old man Olderson told me, every day, that he blah blah youth and sinus pains. Bitch woman was all like what are you doing? And sagely town person was like you have a great future ahead of you. I spent days running in circles, in my mind, I was slowly going insane. The same dialogue options, the same experiences. Every tedious gold piece had been found, no door was unopened. SEXY slowly became crazier and crazier. The dialogue slowly began to lose its meaning, it had become so familiar. The townspeople were no longer speaking anything comprehensible at all, it was all gibberish. It was INSANITY.  They all had to die.  The next day I left the town to do the fetch quest and came back to see it in flames, women and children dead, evil dudes everywhere. I laughed... oh how I laughed. I pressed forward and then back, then side to side, making SEXY do a little dance on top of the ashes of the fallen town. As the pushover skeleton minions approached me for what no doubt would have been my combat tutorial, I flung myself into their arms as they slowly cannibalized my corpse and tore me to shreds. In SEXY's final moments, on his face was a smile... a delicious smile. He was free. "

" Our definition of RPGs is just a POPULAR MISCONCEPTION. Most RPG games have little to nothing in common with ACTING. It's all about FOLLOWING. "

A roleplaying game is a game in which the player determines the outcome of the game within the confines of its world and purpose soley by his own actions.  
 
Any competitive online multiplayer game, such as Modern Warfare 2, would be more of a RPG than games being considered RPGs, like Final Fantasy XIII.

Again, I would like to draw everyone's attention to this recent article by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. Coincidence? I think not!

" @Seppli said:

" Our definition of RPGs is just a POPULAR MISCONCEPTION. Most RPG games have little to nothing in common with ACTING. It's all about FOLLOWING. "

Popular misconceptions tend to define terminology. While the current term "RPG" is for most games in the genre a misnomer, most people also know what to expect when you label a game an RPG. That is to say, the current definition is a game that uses numerical stats, dice rolls, and a character advancement based at least roughly on the concept of levels.  In other words, semantics. "

" Again, I would like to draw everyone's attention to this recent article by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. Coincidence? I think not! "

" But since there can be truth in words, it's quite disheartening to find mostly misconceptions read into them. How carelessly words and the ideas and ideals they carry get bastardized into something completely different and mostly unrelated. A fact, which quite often drives me up the walls.  Ever read the constitution of your country and crosschecked it with your reality? Or did the same with any religious scripture and their popular interpretation and traditional practice? It's scary and makes me lose all hope in humanity as a whole. It makes me feel like crusades and inquisition. "

" Again, I would like to draw everyone's attention to this recent article by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. Coincidence? I think not! "

" @Term said:

" @Seppli said:

" Our definition of RPGs is just a POPULAR MISCONCEPTION. Most RPG games have little to nothing in common with ACTING. It's all about FOLLOWING. "

Popular misconceptions tend to define terminology. While the current term "RPG" is for most games in the genre a misnomer, most people also know what to expect when you label a game an RPG. That is to say, the current definition is a game that uses numerical stats, dice rolls, and a character advancement based at least roughly on the concept of levels.  In other words, semantics. "

 But since there can be truth in words, it's quite disheartening to find mostly misconceptions read into them. How carelessly words and the ideas and ideals they carry get bastardized into something completely different and mostly unrelated. A fact, which quite often drives me up the walls.  Ever read the constitution of your country and crosschecked it with your reality? Or did the same with any religious scripture and the popular interpretation? It's scary and makes me lose all hope in humanity as a whole. It makes me feel like crusades and inquisition. "

" @Seppli said:

" But since there can be truth in words, it's quite disheartening to find mostly misconceptions read into them. How carelessly words and the ideas and ideals they carry get bastardized into something completely different and mostly unrelated. A fact, which quite often drives me up the walls.  Ever read the constitution of your country and crosschecked it with your reality? Or did the same with any religious scripture and their popular interpretation and traditional practice? It's scary and makes me lose all hope in humanity as a whole. It makes me feel like crusades and inquisition. "

ROFL... dude, what?  Hobbyists have internet debates over a term that is exclusively used in their own vernacular, and you respond like that?  I'm horrible at interpreting sarcasm through written text though... so inform me if I have misread. "

Your definition, where does that come from? It doesn´t sound any more correct than "Roleplaying Game: A game in which you choose a role or persona and play, having assumed said role or persona". If Im a healer in wow, then I have a role. I´m not saying my statement is correct, but I put it to you that my definition of roleplaying game is just as valid as yours.

People decide the meaning of words and since nearly every gamer instantly knows what type of game you mean when you say RPG it is a perfect word for that type of game! Every single word in every single language has been shaped by time and even though you're not in a closet full of water when you walk to the bathroom at a restaurant (Hell! you don't even bathe in there) everyone knows what it means when you see "WC" on a door, and as such the word works.  
 
Jeez semantic discussions are tiring! 

how about whoopie fucking do  

Wouldn't you rather have them (gamers) call JRPGs more precisely and correctly - 'barely interactive storydriven character statics builder with predetermined personality developement from Japan' - in short BISCSBwPPDfJP?
 
I mean seriously. Speaking of being true to the word or keeping word! Probably a euphemism then. Interactive Japanese Fantastical Visual/Aural eBook. For example.

"

Your definition, where does that come from? It doesn´t sound any more correct than "Roleplaying Game: A game in which you choose a role or persona and play, having assumed said role or persona". If Im a healer in wow, then I have a role. I´m not saying my statement is correct, but I put it to you that my definition of roleplaying game is just as valid as yours.

"

This thread seems like nothing more than a reason for you to bash JRPGs...

I've always understood it like this, you take on a role and live through the life of another character on a predetermined path. The definition that the player actively contributes to the story through their own free will is kind of a bad definition, since that applies to basically every game. 

This is the stupidest thread ever. RPG within itself means absolutely nothing. An RPG is whatever type of game the industry says it is and its as simple as that. RPG simply stands for Role Playing Game and if you want to try to analyze it, almost every game made today could or should be put into that category because almost always @Toxin066 said:  you take the Role of something. And you Play. A Game. "
 
Trying to say there is a public misconception of something that is simply defined by perception is extremely stupid.

I propose renaming the genre purely by game mechanics. We have First Person Shooters, which is a subgenre of Shooters, along with side scrollers and third person. How about calling them Level-ups. 
 
Story driven level ups
Open world level ups
first person level ups
Japanese level ups
Western level ups
 
Since leveling up is the primary game mechanic, whereas as the phrase role playing game is basically what people are referring to. Haven't really fleshed out the idea, but I would welcome anyone to help me out on expanding the renaming of this horrible misnomer.

Sure?

" @Seppli: By that logic Too Human would be a BISCSBwPPDfNA. The random sub genres would never end, it's what is wrong with the system as a whole. "

Come  on, this isn't that complicated!  Some of you get it, but then everybody else just ignores the quality posts! 
  
The term "RPG" means something different in the context of video games than it does everywhere else.  Video game RPGs started as a means to recreate the sorts of experiences you get from the pen and paper variety, but due to technology limitations and the amount of time it would take to write millions of possible endings, your quest usually didn't deviate too much from the predetermined ending. 
 
Of course, things have changed, and now we have different expectations.  Video game RPGs might be a whole lot closer to a classic pen and paper one, or they might be something very different.  We have the Rogue-likes, story-driven games filled with dialogue like Dragon Age, and we even have ones with an action bent like Demon's Souls. 
 
However, the defining characteristic of the video game RPG is that the combat has a heavy focus on statistics with player skill often taking a backseat.  Combat was the only thing the original video game RPGs could replicate, and that continues to be the test of wether or not a game is an RPG.  Even in the more action-based ones like Demon's Souls, if you go into a fight with the wrong gear or stats, the level can become almost impossible. 
 
And about MW2 being an RPG- the base of the game is a shooter, but it TOTALLY HAS RPG STUFF BUILT ON TOP OF THE SHOOTING!  THAT IS THE POINT!  That being said, Oblivion didn't become an FPS once I took a bow out...

" This thread seems like nothing more than a reason for you to bash JRPGs... "

" 

And about MW2 being an RPG- the base of the game is a shooter, but it TOTALLY HAS RPG STUFF BUILT ON TOP OF THE SHOOTING!  THAT IS THE POINT!  That being said, Oblivion didn't become an FPS once I took a bow out...

"

" @Zenaxzd said:

" @Seppli: By that logic Too Human would be a BISCSBwPPDfNA. The random sub genres would never end, it's what is wrong with the system as a whole. "

 The wrongness goes much deeper than that. There always is a pure and uncorruptable idea to be found in any word. Yet do we not learn to see them for what they are and use the true idea in a word for communication. We learn to use words merely by their common reference - which most often is misconception or misrepresentation of said idea living in the word.  Especially words of great goodness, as found in religious scripture, carry unlimited potential for wrongness in them - because the great ideas they store will be corrupted by reference applied by readers. Which is why I rather discuss this subject matter on this videogame forum.  The world of videogames is of small importance to the necessities of life. As such I permit myself to speak openly over any matter in reference to videogames. "

" @Br3adfan said:

" This thread seems like nothing more than a reason for you to bash JRPGs... "

 Only if describing JRPGs tellingly lessens their personal appeal and doing so is considered 'bashing'. "

The term 'RPG' traces back to the advent of pen & paper systems like Dungeons & Dragons.  Those type of games are still enjoyed today of course... 
 
The application of 'RPG' to the video & computer gaming is done more for the sake of marketing than anything else.  To me, 'RPG' is no more descriptive or misleading than any other genre label like 'Action' or 'Fighting' or 'First-Person Shooter'. 
 
Let's not worry so much about advancing the taxonomy of games & let's concern ourselves with advancing the games themselves.

 The history of a round of competitive online multiplayer gaming is 100% playerdriven - within the confies and the purpose of the game. So it's the players actions, which have the biggest impact on story. The player is an actor in an interactive event not predetermined by the creators of the game, but by the players' actions.

" @Seppli said:

" @Zenaxzd said:

" @Seppli: By that logic Too Human would be a BISCSBwPPDfNA. The random sub genres would never end, it's what is wrong with the system as a whole. "

 The wrongness goes much deeper than that. There always is a pure and uncorruptable idea to be found in any word. Yet do we not learn to see them for what they are and use the true idea in a word for communication. We learn to use words merely by their common reference - which most often is misconception or misrepresentation of said idea living in the word.  Especially words of great goodness, as found in religious scripture, carry unlimited potential for wrongness in them - because the great ideas they store will be corrupted by reference applied by readers. Which is why I rather discuss this subject matter on this videogame forum.  The world of videogames is of small importance to the necessities of life. As such I permit myself to speak openly over any matter in reference to videogames. "

 
1. What is this nonsense, now? All language is dynamic, an evolution of what has come before. Even your beloved "uncorruptable" ideas are simply evolutions of older ideas. Your definition is wrong because language is defined by the consensus. Defined thus, an RPG is a type of video game with a leveling system and (sometimes) an emphasis on story elements. 
 

@Seppli

said:

" @Br3adfan said:

" This thread seems like nothing more than a reason for you to bash JRPGs... "

 Only if describing JRPGs tellingly lessens their personal appeal and doing so is considered 'bashing'. "

 2. Your attacks are also nonsense. Apparently literature is cheap because it does not contain an interactive element. "

" @Seppli: Bro... You get that your new definition of an RPG means that every competitive game is an RPG?  Using your logic, we might as well stop calling anything an RPG cause almost everything EVER, including things like basketball and baking a cake, falls into your definition. "

Nobody was ever born anything. We only act as what we believe we are - unless we do act consciously, which makes us actors and all our actions theater.

" @Bellum said:

" @Seppli said:

" @Zenaxzd said:

" @Seppli: By that logic Too Human would be a BISCSBwPPDfNA. The random sub genres would never end, it's what is wrong with the system as a whole. "

 The wrongness goes much deeper than that. There always is a pure and uncorruptable idea to be found in any word. Yet do we not learn to see them for what they are and use the true idea in a word for communication. We learn to use words merely by their common reference - which most often is misconception or misrepresentation of said idea living in the word.  Especially words of great goodness, as found in religious scripture, carry unlimited potential for wrongness in them - because the great ideas they store will be corrupted by reference applied by readers. Which is why I rather discuss this subject matter on this videogame forum.  The world of videogames is of small importance to the necessities of life. As such I permit myself to speak openly over any matter in reference to videogames. "

 
1. What is this nonsense, now? All language is dynamic, an evolution of what has come before. Even your beloved "uncorruptable" ideas are simply evolutions of older ideas. Your definition is wrong because language is defined by the consensus. Defined thus, an RPG is a type of video game with a leveling system and (sometimes) an emphasis on story elements. 
 
@Seppli said:

" @Br3adfan said:

" This thread seems like nothing more than a reason for you to bash JRPGs... "

 Only if describing JRPGs tellingly lessens their personal appeal and doing so is considered 'bashing'. "

 2. Your attacks are also nonsense. Apparently literature is cheap because it does not contain an interactive element. "

 1. Either your words are wrong and the message is right. Or your message is wrong but the words are right. Which it is you will only know, if you don't use words by common reference, but by the factual idea living in them. Yes - ideas are living beings just as we are. They grow older and change their meaning - some even die out. That doesn't change the fact that there is an idea living in every word, which can be seen by any minds eye, no matter what time it is.  2. I do attack the popular misconception of the word 'Roleplaying'. I don't see how I attack anything more than that. And I pity the fool, who believes books are non-interactive. "

It seems like the OP is grasping at straws.
 
Languages evolve and change over time. What you want is a static, dry language. People like you are why we can't have nice things. As I've studied how creating a language works, it means I understand how natural languages are born, grow, and evolve. Languages that don't evolve to better fit with society become stagnant, and are eventually dropped, be it for a completely different language or by forcing the language to change.
 
That's why there's the dictionary and context. This is why one term can mean many things, within different contexts. RPG, or Role-Playing Game, doesn't have to stand for one thing, and one thing only; languages are flexible like that. Even then, that definition you used in the OP is antiquated, even within the realm of Pen-and-Paper RPGs. What that definition defines is basically what children do when they play in the yard and pretend to be something they aren't, within an imaginary world that they meld around their own fantasy.
 
Any kind of actual game usually has a DM, or a person who has things predetermined. Sure, those games can have a wide range of endings, but players are still pushed down a path that the DM decides. Not too dissimilar to what are labeled RPGs as a genre in video games.

 @Seppli: I think the main point you're missing is that words have no meaning other than what is assigned to them by common use. This is why the same word can have multiple meanings, and why you don't immediately know the exact meaning of a word the first time you hear it unless it's being actively demonstrated to you. Though you can speculate from context, you can very easily guess wrong.
 
It's also why you have no idea what people speaking foreign languages are saying.