For all the arguments with the shared narrative crowd on this site and other sites, I feel there is a larger issue which has been mostly overlooked in these discussions.

Simply put, the name of the hobby has been completely co-opted already. Try searching for roleplaying games on Google and you get the usual VCR manual wikipedia page, then result after result of computer roleplaying games. This isn't even something that can be argued about, 99% of the time when someone is talking about roleplaying games these days, they're referring to WoW or something similar.

There's no easy discovery point for people unless they've heard of the hobby beforehand. As regards marketing the hobby, forget about it. It's not possible to step out of the shadow of the CRPG industry while keeping a similar name, it is simply too massive. Actual RPGs are effectively locked out of huge markets purely due to brand confusion. A rose may be a rose but good luck finding it in a field of tomatoes. Its no wonder there is a wide perception that the hobby is in decline, its an uphill struggle to get the word out with this kind of eclipsing signal to noise ratio.

And yet it is a very different experience to simming with shared narrative games or computer games. It is in fact a unique experience, I don't think there's a single other pastime which can provide the same or even similar.

So what I'm talking about is adopting a new name for the hobby, something to differentiate it from co-opted versions. Same contents, different tin.

The marketing departments of all interested companies could then beat the hell out of their drums proclaiming this "new" experience, really brand it in a way that differentiates it from computer games, board games like monopoly, or any other sort of game. Because it is very different.

The shared narrative crowd have already cottoned on to this issue, by adopting the name 'storygames'. Its a great name, random Joe Websurfer comes across it and thinks, "hey I like stories, and I like games, let's check this out". And when you search on Google for storygames, guess who comes up first? There's almost no competition for the term. One of the highest results on the search is a praiseful blog entry complete with a sunny quote from Vince "throatfuck the cabinboy" Baker, underlining the depth of PR covering the nastiness beneath.

So, what do people think. Does this make sense, and if so what name would best suit the magical, visceral experience that RPGs create?

I think it is a good idea, sadly.
Sadly in the definition of the semi-childish "but we were here first!" sort of way.

Anyway, what to suggest as replacment name?
In general terms, it is already referred to as "Tabletop - rpg": TTRpg ....

It may work, if we're just ready to bit the bullet and embrace the "backwater-place", as if we came from the (c)rpgs, and not the other way around.
Or perhaps Table-rpg. Trpg

But, if you want a fairly new name ...

RoleGame?
Playable Role Game (PRG, this might confuse several ... )
Social Action Game
Interactive Action Game.
Role Action Game.
.....
or Table Action RolePlay (TARP)

When I'm trying to describe RPGs to a newbie, I call them Tabletop Roleplaying games.
Most non-roleplayers see RPGs as CRPGs

I wish you good luck with your initiative, but I don't consider it realistic.

Good luck on getting any agreement there. Three roleplaying gamers, four opinions...

-clash

"Science fiction is [or means] what we point to when we say it."
Damon Knight (1952)

"Science fiction is anything published as science fiction."
Norman Spinrad (1974)

(That would also be a fitting reply to our Storygame/OSR thread.)

I think it is a bit late to change the name of the hobby. It is frustrating that anytime you google for rpg material most of what you get is video games, and there was even a recent op ed piece in a newspaper where a musinderstanding between our rpgs and rpg video games led to a call to prohibit an rpg convention from a city. If we did want to change the name, the only other term that might have some meaning to people is D&D since it is somewhat synonymous with role playing for a lot of people (unfortunately it is a brand name so using it has all kinds of issues). Usually I just say tabletop rpgs to avoid confusion (or pen and paper rpgs).

i refer to them as "pen & paper rpgs" too.  any quizzical responses at that are cleared up with, "like d&d/dungeons & dragons."  the ol' dinosaur still has plenty of name-clout with the rest of the public, IME.

In Japan, our particular brand of RPGs are indeed called Tabletop RPGs (TRPGs), to differentiate them from CRPGs.  It's not too different from the original industry term, makes a nice acronym, and is easy to remember.  Also, Storygame is the brand term for Storygame RPGS, and should be pleasing to those who wish to differentiate them from traditional RPGs that they have their own stand out term.

Okay, rather than delving into the practicalities of getting the idea out there at this point, the thread is mostly checking whether or not people see a need for such a change as I described above.

Overall, the response seems to be positive, I would say!

The issue that the there are many more types of roleplaying games. It no longer  sufficient term to denote games like Dungeons & Dragons. Tabletop roleplaying is probably the most accurate term in use to describe games like Dungeons & Dragons.

If I had to some up with an alternative I would put Campaign somewhere in it.  Because while tabletop RPGs can be used for one-shots the heart of the tabletop experience is in the campaign, aside from the social aspect. A series of interrelated sessions usually involving the same set of characters.

To reflect the social aspect tabletop should be worked in there.

Perhaps Tabletop Campaign Games

Interestingly when I type this in Tabletop Roleplaying Game is at the top of the Google search result.

Tabletop, TRPGs/TTRPGs, and occasionally even TG (traditional games) are in currency.

Besides the search engine thing, though, I find comparisons to certain videogames and non-RPG tabletop games useful in recruiting gamers unfamiliar with the genre (at least in or around my age group).

Use the name the hobby had before it was renamed "roleplaying games": Adventure Games.

Quote from: estar;616683The issue that the there are many more types of roleplaying games. It no longer  sufficient term to denote games like Dungeons & Dragons. Tabletop roleplaying is probably the most accurate term in use to describe games like Dungeons & Dragons.

I agree with this, referring to RPGs as D&D will get the job done but its not really helping the hobby as a whole. Plus D&D has its own set of baggage too.

Something short, snappy and sexy, like a female Chinese bodyguard with a hangover, is what's needed here, with just a pinch of sass. Storygames is probably the first name I would have picked to be honest.

I like Adventure Games, or Adventure Roleplaying Games. That suits.

-clash