CO"RPG"...

Its a wonder why most games say RPG in it, but hardly anyone ever actually "play" a roleplaying game in MMORPG or CORPGs. In GuildWars there's hardly enough encouragment to Role play to really consider it a role playing game. Don't all of you think so? I mean even though there is a lore surrounding the world, but don't other genres? Wouldn't it be fitting to call Guildwars something else, or rather yet redefine this genres name.

Most RPG's are assumed to be games that are based on Health points and a numbered system of equations to calculate damage etc... But that isn't what an RPG is about. It is to Roleplay your character in an environment of sorts. Shouldn't we call such a gameplay entirely something else. Like MMONG "Massive Multiplayer Online Numeric Game" (just for an example.) What do you all think.

I mean not to offend anyone, but thats how I feel about the norm of the name RPG. Most of us are playing it for the competition, leveling, items, and quests (rarely) and even more rare is to actually Roleplay. For those that do wish to roleplay are a bit turned off walking into town whilst no one is roleplaying. So they feel a tad weird to roleplay because they have a feeling of being the only one.

Does anyone understand what I'm talking about in this post. If not please don't flame even though you have a right to

its no more RPGish than say if you're playing Neverwinter Nights online. Some choose to take it to as much of an extreme as they can, others merely play the game cause its fun.

I do disagree however, and believe it is an RPG, since there is a plot, you do play a role in it. Its not as structured as other RPG's but I enjoy the freeform of it and the fact you can play it with other people online. thats something several RPG's lack.

But wouldn't other genres be RPGs just because you're in a plot assuming a role? I'm not trying to degrade GuildWars or anything for that matter if thats how you see my post. I'm merely stating I feel as though there should be a new way to call this genre vs the genre of actually role playing. Kinda get what I mean?

I mean we can call counter-strike a FPSOnlineRPG because we assume the role of either a terrorist or counter terrorist, but none of us are there to roleplay. Err well most of us aren't there to roleplay that is. That comparison can be with how modern day OnlineRpgs are.

lol... does it really matter that much? i wouldnt care if it was called "card game" or "strategy" ~ hey it requires quite a bit of strategy so it couldve been called strategy game aswell..

Hey lllCo2lll,

I agree with you on the fact that nobody roleplays in GW. However I believe that the reason people don't roleplay is the chat. In games like Morrowind/Baldur's Gate/Quest for Glory/Gothic and other single-player RPGs, you don't have the chat system. In GW, you may see a character who slays a monster saying "OmG i PwN u!!!1". Roleplaying online is not easy. It requires some knowledge and quick-thinking. What would you say if you suddenly have to pick up the phone? Or if you have to go to eat?
I am very interested in created a Roleplaying Guild, however I believe not many people are interested.

I've not seen anything that actively discourages roleplaying, except, as Death at the Door says, the chat system. It's hard when you've got a bunch of people who want to roleplay and a bunch of people who don't, the larger group tends to drive out the smaller, though there's some advantage to the non-roleplayers since ennui is easier to infect other people with.

Online Roleplaying is hard for me. I'm too removed from the situation, if I'm going to do that I'd rather it be in person... otherwise I'm basically writing fan fiction on the fly and one needs a very details knowledge of the stories, the world and the characters in question to do that. I'm not always fast enough, especially with my poor typing skills. ^_^

Dave III

I love pen and paper RPG games such as dungeons and dragons. I have always had a problem with calling most online games rpg's. Final Fantasy has never been an RPG any more than Super Mario could be called an rpg. You're not really taking over the role of that person as you truly don't get to make any major decisions other than stats, etc...

Unfortunately, in the video game world, the only thing that requires the rpg tag is to have statistics. Stats are part of rpgs, but they are not what makes them rpg's imo. NWN was the closest I have found and that's only because you have the option to have a DM create a module and control everything. I played in a few hosted modules that were as much fun as my Pen and Paper games due to that control.

So, compared to almost all other "RPG" games, guild wars is as rp'ish as they are. However, I don't believe anything will ever reach the pinnacle of roleplaying that DnD does, at least not for a long time.

There isn't a lot of roleplaying in GW at the moment but, contrary to what a lot of people seem to think, I think this game has more RP potential than other online games, not less. The instancing, ever-changing world and plot-driven storyline already provide an excellent backdrop. With a few modifications to the chat system (a classic "say" type chat with limited range being the biggest one), I think GW's RP community could really flourish. And there is an RP community here, make no mistake. A lot of people are interested in doing it.

Difficult.

First, let me give you a nice definition:
A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game where players assume the roles of fictional characters via role-playing.

I agree with NWN being close to the original D&D, the MUDs and all the other "true" RPG's. IMHO GW isn't a classical RPG like some of us know them. On the other hand, the BBS/TelNet-RPG's are mostly gone and what is left are some strategical/statistical FPS/TPS topped with some fantasy-sauce. Just like Pinnacle said, GW is just as RP'ish as FF. Today the definition of RPG seems to be: if you can dress up like an Elf, then it's a RPG.

If we look at the definition from Wikipedia.org - and I agree with that part - a RPG has two elements: the first is that the players are making a story and the second is there can't be really a winner/loser.
1. Story making
In GW we have pre-fab stories and we can join in parts of them. We can't rewrite them or make the outcome another one. Of course we can skip them or let poor Prince Rurik get killed by Charr, but it's not possible to let him make up with King Allthatbeard (mission in Rin if I remember correctly). The players are bound and cannot make their own stories as they would please.
2. All Win
Espcially the GvG / PvP-element tells us that GW is not a real or regular RPG. Simple RPG-setting: Good guy fights bad guy over a piece of land. Good guy wins. In GW (the PvP-part) there are no Good/Bad ppl: it's full of normal players that all would like to win. Arena even gave us a ladder/ranking list to promote the competitive element in this game. The traditional RPG's are the opposite of that, they are cooperative.

I'm sure that some of my fellow-RPG-players of old think that GW can have a large RP-part. I hope they will tell me how they think to accomplish this.

(btw, sorry bout the crappy english, but too tired to look for a dictionary)

I know what you're saying, but don't be too narrow with your definition of RPG. The way some people define the term, D&D in its original form wouldn't count as a role-playing game. (Remember when the Dungeon Master's Guide included rules for solo play?)

You have a character. That character is not you. That character has attributes, abilities, and almost certainly an appearance that doesn't even closely resemble you. You take this character and run around the world doing things as this person, even if it's just running into the Arena and beating on people while calling them "n00b". This may not be the high-minded art of storytelling that has become the hallmark of mature role-playing games these days, but it's still role-playing no matter how you slice it.

Not all role-playing games are the same kind of experience. Personally, my favorite RPG was the Amber Diceless RPG -- I would sometimes humorously refer to any game in which dice were involved as a "roll-playing game". Events should be decided by what makes sense and produces the best story, not by any random factor. But, come on, it's a bit snobbish to then turn up your nose at other games and say, "they're not true RPGs at all". Actually, they defined the genre.

GW isn't an RPG in the Amber DRPG or even the WoD Storyteller tradition. But it's quite squarely in the realm of the original D&D tradition (before it started drifting away from it's wargaming roots towards a more plot/story driven format). You couldn't exclude it from the RPG genre without also excluding the very games that defined the genre to begin with...

Actually I'd love to see some more RP on Guildwars....and I don't think tradeskills and all this useless WoW-Stuff isn't needed for some good RP'ing...I played NwN alot in the past and I think NwN got less options for RPing than GW does but we still had lots fun with RP...

I agree with all of you about the issue. However as it stands now it is definitely difficult to RP freely since everyone is playing in the same server. World of Warcraft had a unique feature where they seperated their servers into PvP, normal, and RolePlaying.

I don't see how GuildWars can make such a thing possible as it is now. Since it isn't monthly fee they couldn't possibly afford to spend money for GM's. I roleplayed a lot as a Troll, creating the background story for my character surrounding the lore about trolls.

Too bad they can't designate a certain district as RolePlaying, but that still would have random people popping into a RolePlaying district that won't roleplay.

So I have no idea how they could necessarily introduce a way to encourage roleplaying now and/or later expansions.

I want to make a Poor Knights of Christ and Temple of Salamon (Knights Templar) roleplaying guild. I wonder how many people would be actually interested...

I'd like to see role playing districts. Maybe we'll get it if we make enough noise, but with the instancing you can get as close to it as possible by making role playing guilds.

My only problem with this is that I'd like to be in an RP guild and a non-rp guild as sometimes I'm just not in a mood to rp and I just want to kill stuff. In the current GW setting I'd either have to buy another copy of the game or choose one or the other, unless of course you had a guild who was only casual roleplaying, but then that kind of defeats the purpose.

@ Dreamsmith :
Oh, but do not think of me as a puritan that will run around GW district throwing dices at everyone while shouting that it isn't their turn to move I just wanted to present some definition of a RPG, so we all know what we talk about. It was only mentioned to make the miscommunication less. I don't think less of games, just because they don't fit the somewhat tight def. of RPG. In fact, some of my favorites are just FPS with a fantasy theme (Legends of Aranna, D2).

@ lllCo2lll :
Making up an entire background, including family history, lore etc. is one of my favorite parts of the RPG-game.

@ Taranis :
Can you tell me why you think that NWN has less RP in the game then GW?

Counter-Strike can be considered an RPG. If you play it thinking you really are a terrorist or Counter Terrorist and tie yourself to that character, that is really all it takes. Guild wars and instanced games have a better chance of attracting RP players than just about any other Online game, cause they can actually avoid people who are not RP at all. People try to strictly define everything. If someone calls Guild Wars an RPG, let them, or any game for that matter.
Tetris? RPG
Be the Block!

I still think the best way to facilitate RP would simply be to have an RP flag you can turn on, and a type of chat in towns (and maybe guild halls) with limited range that's toggled off by default. Those who want to RP can turn off the "All" chat, turn on their RP flags, and talk in the limited range chat with other roleplayers. Perhaps having the RP flag on could automatically filter out messages (in the limited range chat) from people who don't also have theirs on. Maybe it could even cause the game to automatically deposit you in the district that contains the most roleplayers when you enter a public area.

Something like this would,

1- Give roleplayers an easy way to recognize each other in public areas.

2 - Make it easy to roleplay without disturbing other players.

3 - Decrease overall spam by getting a number of players out of the main chat.

Sure, you'd get some people who wouldn't roleplay, but if this stuff isn't toggled on by default, I doubt anyone but the occasional bored griefer (easily ignorable) would even have the desire to mess with it.

Oh my... that is a seriously great idea. To be able to flag RP or just simply be in an RP chat mode instead of the main. Like a trade chat mode. That is such a great idea and yet it shouldn't cost too much of the developers that much of a hassle to add in a quick chat feature like that.

-edit-
I really hope a developer or someone who can relay the message to the developers about the above posters idea.