what defines an RPG?

The Bollox

and the first person to say "duh, a rocket propelled grenade" will get one fired up where the sun don't shine!

now, back to the topic: I used to call games like Zelda and Ninja Gaiden RPG's but I have been told, by a friend, that they fall into the category of Third Person games, but I thought the idea of an RPG was that you played the role of a character, and as you progressed, you upgrade him/her/it whether it be with weapons, armour, or abilities, and that is exactly what you do in Zelda and Ninja Gaiden, so what do YOU define as RPG? (I warned ya!)

Da Bounca

They are RPGs to a point.
They just dont have the same depth and character development that hardcore role playing games need.
Great games all the same though.

Raphael

I would define an RPG game as being one with:

An engaging, well written storyline
A developed character OR a blank slate which you create upon yourself
And, most importantly, some system of leveling

One good way to tell if a game is an RPG with a decent levelling system is to start again when your either half or all the way through. If there is a noticeable difference (Try it with NWN) the levels are very important. If its not a huge difference (Ninja Gaiden IMO) then the levels are merely tacked in

Zillah

Oh God D20 has melted your brains! A method of levelling is the most important? Bah!

Role playing games, in the most traditional and accurate sense are games where you take the role of a character, a character that has a personality, a history, motives, hopes and goals.

I speak not of computer games alone, table top RPGs are, in my mind, far more authentic when compared to computer imitations that ultimately pale before them.

A method of increasing your characters skill/power etc is usually preferred, but by no means essential. "Leveling" is a word that comes from D20 that refers to a static (BAD) method of allowing for character development. God I hope you used the word out of habit, rather than thinking that leveling is the only and/or best method...shudder.

MarVeL

Hmm. By that definition would doom not qualify as an rpg? You play a character (albeit one dimensional) and he definitely has motives, hopes and goals (not to die, to save the station and to kill all the bad guys).

Raphael

Welll I'd be inclined to lump in the skill based system in Deus Ex, or the way that you gain better ships or weapons in Freelancer as similar, so no, I wasn't specifically referring to the DnD system.

I would nonetheless believe that a system for self-improvement is a large part of a computer RPG. My experience of Tabletop is limited, but from the OP's references to Ninja Gaiden, I can only assume he meant computer based RPG's

Zillah

MarVeL wrote:

Hmm. By that definition would doom not qualify as an rpg? You play a character (albeit one dimensional) and he definitely has motives, hopes and goals (not to die, to save the station and to kill all the bad guys).

By the technical wording, I suppose yes, but not the spirit of what I was saying and I suspect you understand that. Don't argue semantics.