i know, it can be used on anything, maybe life itself is an rpg.
I'd argue that most people don't have enough control over their "real" lives for it to warrant being an RPG. But I think there is a lot more choice online. I choose avatars, screen names, and where I choose to make myself known. But then saying that, we all play a role IRL - whether it's that of a friend, brother, sister, son, daughter, mother, father, husband, wife, boss, employee, patient etc. That's not to say any of those roles are lies, just that we do act out a different part of our personalities depending on the context (is that Goffman?).
Maybe it's just that when participating online, we get to choose the context.