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sc94597 on 12 October 2009
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selnor said:
sc94597 said:
selnor said:
Khuutra said:
Torillian said:
I've never gotten the whole "WRPG's are exactly like D&D while JRPGS are nothing like it".

If your DM decides to make your character for you and then give you a more linear storyline that you can make choices within, that would be a JRPG.

Making a character and choosing whether or not to kill every person you come across isn't really what defines table top RPG's to me.

I would take that DM out behind the shed and beat the stupid out of him, for the record. Not that it's a bad experience, but if I wanted that I'd play EarthBound or Final Fantasy instead of letting some Cheetoh-smelling nerd dictate a story and my actions to me.

It's this that people aren't understanding. I was an avid D&D player in my younger teens. I have never really considered JRPG's RPG's at all. I alos cannot see why people think Dragon Quest is like an RPG either? I have only played 7 though. But I'm sure it works similar to the others.

And can you please note the similarities with Oblivion and Mass Effect then? My original post wasn't arguing for Jrpgs being RPGs. Actually I said they weren't. I also said WRPGs weren't either. This is all especially considering that both Jrpgs and Wrpgs rooted from the same games.


Character creation ( full creation options. )

Background character history.

Player input influentual. ( people, quests, choice of specialties etc. )

Battle choices. ( example : 3 elfs come from the left what are you going to do? Something a DM may say. )

A main story but no forceful linear path.

Influence on multiple story arcs throughout the games. In ME's case in double figures according to ME2 and the choices made in ME1.

Fable 2 is also in this list.

Everything I don't argue with I agree on.

Character creation ( full creation options. )

You do not get full character customibility. If I wanted my character to have 5 heads, I cannot do that unless I'm making the game. Like always there are presets. Also Character Creation has very little to do with Role Playing games unless you are playing the Role of a god. Normal Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, etc don't create themselves. Remember let's try to be as realistic as possible. That is pretty much what "role playing" is.

A main story but no forceful linear path.

Not necessarily true. In order for a story to be non-linear you need to take it in any direction you want. The difference between that and a WRPGs story is that the WRPG still has presets for you. You can NOT do anything you want with it. So instead of having 1 linear path in a Jrpg, you have multiple in a WRPG. If you want to do any quest, you have a story. I don't care if it is as simple as kill 5 dogs, that is still a story. Also like I said, gameplay is the most defining factor of a "video game" genre. You can have linear stories in sandbox games, and nonlinear stories in linear games.

Battle choices. ( example : 3 elfs come from the left what are you going to do? Something a DM may say. )

I don't get this. You either run or you attack using what ever way you want. How is this specific to RPGs? I hope the game gives you choices. Otherwise it isn't much of a game is it?

Influence on multiple story arcs throughout the games. In ME's case in double figures according to ME2 and the choices made in ME1.

 What is influenced? The choices you make? I can tell you many Jrpgs where a choice you make affects the story. Neither games have the level of detail a "real" role playing game would give you.

How about I ask you this? Is The Legend of Zelda an RPG? It has pretty much everything that you listed.  To be honest, the only way I see a real RPG is if you take out the story and allow players to develop any content they want for the game. Then you could pretty much do anything that you can do in the Real or Fantasy world, and that is when it is qualified as an RPG. As of yet, there isn't a game that does either.