I found one flaw right here: "Since there is no such thing as an RPG that isn't also an adventure, or strategy, or action game, RPG becomes a sub-genre instead of a main one."
There are certainly RPGs that aren't adventure (or other genre) games. Two off the top of my head are Telengard and Rogue -- two of my favorites. There is no story to speak of in these type of games...there may be a story hinted in the manual or maybe in the conclusion (some games are open ended and have no conclusion). Even if there is the slightest hint of a story, you said that .0001% (paraphrasing) content doesn't make it switch genre. These games are hack and slash games whose goal is to make your characters as powerful as possible and find lots of treasure. No serious action, strategy or adventure. I can dig up several more of these games. Generally you'll find them to be older games since story became more common as the industry grew. However, you could argue that a game like Diablo is still a hack-n-slash RPG. They throw in some randomized plot elements (quests), but it is quite secondary to the fun of the game. Again, if Half Life isn't an adventure I would say Diablo isn't, but it is definitely an RPG. Mobygames says it is action. I'd say that's debatable since the definition requires the "main focus" to be action. But Telengard and Rogue are definitely not action games. Hugh -------Original Message------- From: Jim Leonard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: 01/22/03 12:35 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] King's Quest 1 > > Edward Franks wrote: > > The problem is that you can easily swap in role-playing games as a > basic building block in place of Adventure. The same justifications > work for either. The two are so close together (more than any of the > other categories) that it is hard sometimes to see the unique > differences. I completely disagree. All RPGs are adventures, but not all adventures are RPGs; because of this, RPG is a subgenre in our system. Before you debate further, here is our definition of Adventure (a main genre) and RPG (a subgenre). Please read them over before responding. Adventure: "Denotes any game where the emphasis is based on experiencing a story through the manipulation of one or more user-controlled characters and the environment they exist in. Gameplay mechanics emphasize decision over action. Role-playing games (RPGs) are a common sub-genre of all adventure games, as are the classic Sierra "Quest" series of games. Text adventures (Interactive Fiction) are also, by definition, adventure games." Role-Playing: "Denotes games where the creation and advancement of character statistics is a major element of gameplay mechanics. Inspired by traditional role-playing games, such as Dungeons and Dragons. Players have specific attributes, "hit points", etc. and a large part of gameplay involves improving your character(s) through experience. Examples: Bard's Tale, Wizardry, Might and Magic, Lands of Lore, Wasteland, Fallout, etc. (Does not have to be based in fantasy settings, but most are.)" ------- For extra credit, the MobyGames FAQ "Why is your "main" category list so sparse? Where's RPG? Where's puzzle games?" is answered like this: Our "main" list of genres -- also referred to as main categories -- are the most basic building blocks of game taxonomy. Meaning, they are intentionally basic and encompassing, such that any game in the world can fit into at least one of the main categories. A lot of people have asked us why some genres, specifically RPG, are not included in this list. That is because, for a game category to be included in the main list, it must stand by itself. Since there is no such thing as an RPG that isn't also an adventure, or strategy, or action game, RPG becomes a sub-genre instead of a main one. Here's an example clarifying how important the main categories are: Think about the materials we see around us. What's the common classification expression -- Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral, right? That's a pretty good example: I am animal, the taco I just ate was vegetable, and the toilet I will no doubt be visiting shortly is mineral. Asking for the RPG genre to join the main list is like asking for "rocks" to join the Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral list when it's clearly already a mineral. It doesn't matter if the rock is in the shape of, say, an animal; that doesn't change the fact that it is a rock. Hopefully by now you can see the importance we place on our main categories for the purposes of proper game classification. They may not match your specific definition of a game type, but that is sort-of the point. In order to properly classify games such as a scientist would classify a new element, we have to "break the mold" and classify them how they are supposed to be classified, not how they already have been for years. ------- Now, if you see any problems in that logic, please let me know. -- http://www.MobyGames.com/ The world's most comprehensive gaming database project. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/swcollect@oldskool.org/ > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. 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