I'm hoping for a Sticky. Terminology  and definitions is a tough cookie these days on the Forums. I posit a place where we post defintions of some of the terms used here. So newbies and oldies alike have some common ground in understanding each other.

I'll start:

Traditional RPG: A RPG with a GM, Players, and Dice Mechanics. Play and mechanics similar or comparable to D&D, the first RPG.


Examples of Traditional RPGs : D&D, Vampire, Exalted, RoleMaster, Harn, TOON etc. The majority of Tabletop RPG's are traditional RPG's.


 Video Game RPG: A Computer or Console RPG. Maybe posit extra definitions for Western, Eastern and MMO style Video Game RPG's.


Examples of Video Game RPG's: Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, World of Warcraft.


Non-Traditional RPG's: Games that do not fall under the Traditional RPG definition. Games that have either added to, taken away, or are otherwise too far removed from D&D thematically to be considered traditional. Live Action Role Playing, Card Based, Diceless and GMless all fall under the nontraditional RPGs.

Examples of Non Traditional RPGs: Amber, My Life With Master, Castle Falkenstein, Mind's Eye Theatre.




Add your own, try to make them concise. Edit whenever possible. Debate akward definitions and correct them.

Roleplaying Game
A type of game in which the participants assume the roles of characters.

Tabletop RPG
...around a table.

Pen-and-paper RPG
...using pens and paper.

Traditional RPG
...following the model of early pre-computer RPGs. (eg. Dungeons & Dragons, a Tabletop / Pen-and-paper RPG)

Live Action RPG (more commonly LARP)
...through physically acting out the characters actions.

Computer RPG
...on the computer.

Massively multiplayer online RPG
...on the computer, online with (a massive number of) multiple players.

BLT RPG
...with bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

* * *

Unless you're using these words in a particular context, like an article on RPG theory where you want to give a more specific meaning to the words you're using and the type of RPG you mean, then there's little reason to attach greater meaning to these terms than the majority of english speaking people perceive.

It's been said before (Settembrini?) that trying to define RPG to include or exclude particular games is more about personal preference than anything else.  Pundit thinks an RPG needs a GM.  Gary Gygax thinks an RPG needs dice.  Someone else might think an RPG needs to be about "adventures".

I´m against "Traditional" as a denominator. It´s fighting words.

Either you follow my intellectual excellence (and Dragon Magazine, Dave Weseley etc. :haw:) and call it Adventure Games.

Or you deny the RPG-ness to New Style derived games, as Pundit is postulating.

I'm opposed to definitions, I support using plain English.  If someone doesn't understand what we mean by a term, they should ask.  If people keep asking what we mean by a term, we should learn to better express our ideas.

All I have ever seen definitions do in an rpg theory context is derail otherwise promising threads with arguments over semantics.  They add nothing and create an entry barrier for new entrants to the hobby.

English is a powerful and flexible language, I suggest we use that.

My reasning for this is exemplefied by Sett's post,

For example, in his what he considers "Adventure Gaming", you don't have to actually adventure.