RPGs are ... Role Playing Games

jeff37923 · May 05, 2010, 03:59:08 PM

Quote from: Tommy Brownell;378776Actually...one of the athletic commissioners here in Oklahoma who covers most of our shows is a Jazz musician on the side and a huge fan of wrestling. I believe he just might.

Well, shut my mouth then!

Tommy Brownell · May 05, 2010, 04:07:30 PM

Quote from: jeff37923;378777Well, shut my mouth then!

Contrary to popular stereotypes, you can dig out an amazing cross-section of people among wrestlers and wrestling fans, even in little podunk towns in Oklahoma...=)

Just among the wrestlers we have whiny emo kids, loan officers, school coaches, die hard comic geeks, right wing wackos, left wing loons, video store managers, comic book writers, guys with too much money and a little too much time, devoted family men, homosexuals, lecherous "lady's men", gold diggers and more...and the only things we've ever kicked out are thieves and child molesters.

Anyway, I'll back off of this thread derailment...sorry guys...=)

The Butcher · May 05, 2010, 04:18:27 PM

Benoist posted the same thing over at tBP. Hilarity ensued.

Quote from: Darren MacLennan
Quote from: Benoist Poire;12116571YOU DOING IT WRONG
No, I'm not.

Admit it, man. You did for the lulz.

What are you, the last ballsy Frenchman?

One Horse Town · May 05, 2010, 04:26:22 PM

Weak, weak sauce.

The Butcher · May 05, 2010, 04:52:10 PM

RPGs are not altogether crows, nor moles, nor buzzards, nor ants, nor decomposed human beings, nor something I cannot and must not rec--

JESUS CHRIST IT'S A BYAKHEE GET IN THE CAR

Sigmund · May 05, 2010, 05:39:05 PM

Quote from: two_fishes;378752It's well and good to define from the center, but it's at the edges that you nail down precisely what makes RPGs and what makes them not. I don't think improv theatre is a roleplaying game, but I do think murder mystery dinner games are. Sussing out the reasons why I think so, and making a definition that excludes the one and includes the other helps me understand what is the essential activity of a role-playing game.

I agree. I would also call a murder mystery dinner game a RPG.

Benoist · May 05, 2010, 05:40:07 PM

Quote from: The Butcher;378780Admit it, man. You did for the lulz.

What are you, the last ballsy Frenchman?

Nope.

Sigmund · May 05, 2010, 05:42:43 PM

Quote from: Peregrin;378763IMO, any game in which you play a role, regardless of any meta constructs or agendas in place.

I prefer using the term in a broad, inclusive manner.

If that's how you define "a broad, inclusive manner", then I completely agree with you. A RPG is any game in which you play a role. That's exactly what I've been saying.

Benoist · May 05, 2010, 05:45:10 PM

BTW, posted it on ENWorld, and the Haven too.

Joethelawyer · May 05, 2010, 06:30:21 PM

For me its easier than most of you. I play DnD. That's it. I don't play other rpg's, nor am I interested in any. I never have played any other one, other than a few sessions of the lord of the rings one in the 80's (MERPS). I don't play card games, whether poker or MtG type. I don't play board games. I'm not a gamer. I'm not a rpg'er. I'm just a guy who plays DnD, preferably older versions or a newer version hacked down to run like an older version. If you play waht I call a RPG or a toilet seat, it doesn't matter. I just play DnD regardless of how its categorized.

Cranewings · May 05, 2010, 06:58:33 PM

Quote from: Sigmund;378717If the dice didn't matter, was there some other type of randomizer or method of task resolution? If so, how was it still D&D? I'd still call it an RPG, but not D&D, which uses dice for mechanics. If no dice or randomizer was used, then no, it's not an RPG, because the G is missing. If it's just a session that happened to not have contained anything that required engaging of the mechanics then bringing it up isn't even relevant.

If a game is about "story" rather than "immersion", where is the roleplaying? Does each player assume the role of one or more characters, and through those characters interact with a setting of some sort through game mechanics? If so, then I'd call it a RPG, although I'd also argue that some level of "immersion" is taking place (it's a spectrum, not a duality). If not, I wouldn't. I would say that, personal tastes aside, any game that has a player assuming the role of one or more characters and using game mechanics to interact with some sort of setting is a RPG, no matter what the stated goals of the game are. The vast majority of us game to be entertained, not for the goal of creating some sort of "story", but these ends don't define the thing IMO, it's the method that's used to achieve these goals that define the thing. Hell, it's right in the name... Role Playing Game.

I think that is the same kind of logic that leads Baptists to say other denominations aren't really Christian.

You can roll dice and have it not matter. If you go left or right at the fork, you still meet the same NPC. If the NPC needs a power or magic item, he pulls it out of his ass. If your plan works, something unexpected foils it or changes it. If you die in combat, somehow you still live and win.

You still roll dice, but story always prevails over dice because no one can see behind the screen. I think it is still dungeons and dragons.

One Horse Town · May 05, 2010, 07:03:25 PM

I never would have guessed, Joe.

Joethelawyer · May 05, 2010, 07:07:38 PM

Quote from: One Horse Town;378808I never would have guessed, Joe.

What can I say, I'm a one trick pony, one horse town.

Simlasa · May 05, 2010, 07:24:23 PM

Quote from: Sigmund;378797A RPG is any game in which you play a role.

I'd go along with that too... it's nice and simple.

Sigmund · May 05, 2010, 07:38:33 PM

Quote from: Cranewings;378807I think that is the same kind of logic that leads Baptists to say other denominations aren't really Christian.

You thinking it doesn't make it true.

QuoteYou can roll dice and have it not matter. If you go left or right at the fork, you still meet the same NPC. If the NPC needs a power or magic item, he pulls it out of his ass. If your plan works, something unexpected foils it or changes it. If you die in combat, somehow you still live and win.

You still roll dice, but story always prevails over dice because no one can see behind the screen. I think it is still dungeons and dragons.

If you sit the D&D book in front of you, and talk about D&D characters, but never open the books, or roll any dice, you're not playing D&D, you're talking about it. D&D is a game that has rules that make use of occasional random outcomes. As long as you're engaging with some or all of the rules of the D&D game, then sure... you're playing D&D. If you're just sitting around a table making up stories using fluff from D&D books you're not playing D&D, because you're not using any of the game's rules.