hotrodx on 21 October 2008
It's control versus story.
It's designer versus writer.
Anyway...
When I played Valkyrie Profile 2 I never did think I was playing the role of Silmeria. I just played it. I mean, I'm a guy.
So the "Role Playing" of most RPGs (JRPGs in particular) is really a misnomer. But the name sticks mainly because of the historical evolution of RPGs in Japan. A term changes its meaning over time (like the word "normal" from "norma" which originally meant beautiful).
We could really argue that there's no "Role Playing" in "Role Playing Games", but that will go against normal usage. It's not really a question of whether or not it is the *right* term, but rather whether it is the accepted term.
A very good point of the J man. Very entertaining as always.
