| Akvod said: I think this is all semantics guys (I mentioned this before, and I think everyone except one ignored it). Liberal doesn't literally mean liberal. Conservative doesn't literally mean conservative. I don't think Role Playing Game has to literally be a game where you get to play a role. In fact, if we take the definition of that literally, then every game is a RPG (you take the role of somebody in every game). Is character customization (physical attributes) necessary for a WRPG? No. Most early WRPG's only had a few premade choices, and the really old WRPGs (before I was alive) probably didn't even give you a choice to physically design your character. Player choice is everywhere now. Splintercell: Double Agent had player choice. You controlled the outcome of the game. Most games have cop out "Press A or B" choices. InFamous had player choice, is that a RPG? I think people haven't created a technical term and set of criteria for RPG and just link together similar games as they see fit under the names JRPG, WRPG, RPG, etc. We can debate about it, but it's all personal opinion. There's no objective criteria and fact, and meaning to the word RPG, it's all an issue of semantics and personal opinion, there's no right here. |
Of course there is a criteria for an RPG. People have just gotten so used to calling JRPG's, RPG's that they never sat down and thought about it hard enough.
WRPG and JPG round table discussion on the major differences between the two at RPGfan.com:
"Western RPGs came about based on the pen & paper games that arose in the '70s and '80s, and therefore focused on letting the player create the story by his/her actions, at least as much as was possible with the technology of the time. Japanese RPGs have been around since I started playing RPGs. I entered via the console forum, which basically meant Japanese-made games. There were exceptions–such as Ultima, that made it onto the NES–but by in large the majority were from Japan."- RPGfan.com
"Mark nailed it right on the head. The divide between the two boils down to that point: freedom vs. linearity. Japanese RPGs are all about telling you the story, and that's probably why they shouldn't be called Role Playing Games in the traditional sense. After all, the term came from America to refer to games such as Dungeons & Dragons, in which each of the players chose a role and along with the Game Master created the story. Japanese RPGs rarely let you affect the outcome of the story, and even when they do, it's usually not to a great degree."-RPGfan.com
http://www.rpgfan.com/features/roundtable2007/index1.html
