What does RPG mean to you 2
 

I thought that you people might want to continue your discussion on what RPG means to you, so here you go.
(I really don't expect to get many replies, my other thread had 67 posts and everyone's probably said what they've wanted to).

An RPG, in my book, is something where the characters develop abilities that they can't use all the time, some big bad evil is about to be reincarnated, and a story with a sub-plot is present.

Oh, and humor. You can't have a good RPG without humor.

Humor, and a lecherous old man. You can't have a good RPG without a lecherous old man.

What an Rpg is to me:

Staying up late, really really late, staring at a computer screen or tv with a coke, vanilla or otherwise, in one hand and a controller or keyboard in the other, lamenting the fact that my girlfriend isn't a roleplayer and all the hot roleplaying chicks are either dead or fictional, and lamenting further the fact that the acne on my back is getting worse because I haven't bathed in two weeks and all I eat is junk food and burgers adding further to the mounds of cellulite dragging off my lovehandles and thighs, while completely enrapt in a story of lies, deceit, betrayl, where the sarcastic, loner, asshole somehow snags the hot chick while nuturing the hope that I, being a sarcastic, loner, asshole will oneday be able to trade up my girlfriend for the hot chick with zero personality.

And run on sentences. I love run on sentences.

As for Pen and Paper Roleplaying, I haven't had friends for so long I've forgotten what it's like to have a conversation with someone where my answers aren't part of a dialogue tree, and they actually have interesting quests for me to partake that don't consist of me wandering off to find an item, fighting a monster to get the item, bringing the item back and then getting experience and gold and prestige for my troubles.

And run on sentences ...

CRPGs to me are essentially exercises in running through the game ASAP to give myself an excuse to use all those cheats that give me the rare items I was once denied.

RPGs of course have one time only things in them that makes you want to restart the game when your an hour from the end because you missed it, and have about 100 things to do just before the last boss, all of those things are the good things in the game.

I've noticed that some rpgs have characters that you can either kill or just not get at all, like Mog (FFVI), Magus (Chrono Trigger), and mostly everyone in KOTOR.

I hate that. I don't like not being able to get a character. But is the BEST part, is when you get to make your own character. You get a whole bunch of options, and you make your character different from any other character people make!

Fallout was great for that. One of the best Character development systems ever!

And Phantasy Star Online did a good job with that, too.