Yes it's an RPG and it's a pretty damn good one too.

Its a pretty on the rails action adventure game.

Skyrim is hardly the epitome of RPG. When I think of an RPG, I think of Bauldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Morrowind. That's just my opinion, obviously, but the definiton of RPG seems to have morphed into something totally different from what it originally meant.

Lol skyrim "on rails", thats funny becuase of how much of a blatant lie it is.



RPG never meant one thing

No, no, full open-world RPGs are very common. Just think of.... umm.... well.... Oblivion....

Skyrim is just as open world as Oblivion.

Really? Because I thought role-playing GAMES, by their very nature, were derived from table-top D&D. Skyrim isn't.

Yeah, I was kind of trying to be sarcastic, it's a bad habit.

I can create my own character, and customize and develop that character in any way I see fit. That character grows within the world in any way I see fit. I make choices for my character, and I create the path for my character in any way I see fit.

Essentially, I am playing the role of my character.

Sounds like a "role playing" game to me.

And no - -any- game cannot be an "RPG" by that definition. In CoD, you might be in the "role" of a soldier, but there is no choice, nor development in how your character grows within the world. Thus, not an RPG.

Skyrim is full world, in the sense your allowed to explore you to your hearts content. However, this is due to the bland world your in, with horrible quests and horrible story, but all the duengons are slightly diffrent and its pretty.

A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.


that is the definition of a RPG and Skyrim is that.

Structured-decision making? Where in Skyrim do you have in any significant choice in your decision making other than 'yes' or 'no'?

"Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines."

Oh, you mean like dice-rolls? Last time I checked, in Skyrim, hits with swords and the like always suceeded. And don't get on me about the 'it's not about dice rolls' argument, because that's not the point. In real life, would you expect to pick up a sword for the first time and suddenly be a master at using it?

there are multitudes of various ways to complete quests, the level of impact they have is irrelevent.


As for sword hitting, the system of rules is made so that if you swing while looking at something it will hit and if your not looking at it you wont hit. Its a diffrent set of rules from dice-rolls but it isnt any less of a rpg.

Also we have to factor in damage fro mthe sword minus enemy armor rating minus if they were blocking or not and other factions, same with spells and resistances.

The reason why you would hit someone and it woulden't do anything in Morrowind, is because they either didn't put in a dodge mechanic for weren't able to put it in.

Is Skyrim a RPG? Of course it is. However the term is very broad and while I love the game to death I'm not sure your son would like Skyrim. The latest game I could recommend is The Witcher 1/2 but as mentioned before it;s a very mature game with violance, racism/specism and nudity. Another good pick would be Morrowind, it's older then Skyrim but it's focus is more strongly on things your son seems to enjoy. You might also want to look at Risen, again a game with quite some action but it's more a RPG then Skyrim is if you judge RPGs like your son favors them.

Everybody has their own take on what is or isn't RPG. Most people are only vaguely able to define what an RPG is for themselves and some people actually believe that an RPG is any game where you play a role!

For me I feel the primary criteria are:
1. Character skill >> Player Skill with a ruleset that supports this.
2. Character progression based on the criteria defined by the rules and mechanics of the game.
3. A set of rules and mechanics that govern both the Player Character and the Non Player Characters controlled by the Game Master (in this case and for all computer games the Game Master is the software program that runs the game). Preferably this set of rules is highly documented and explained/provided for the player to read. PC's and NPC's are governed by the same rules at all times.

For myself that is basically it. The game can have tons of loot, or no loot. It can be fantasy, or western, or western fantasy vampire six industry genre. The game can have tons of exploring or be set inside a single restaraunt. It can be story focussed or action focussed. It can be completely devoid of action and combat or almost entirely made up of action and combat. It can have many conversations or no conversations. It can have puzzles or no puzzles.

It has to have a ruleset that is equally applied to the PC and NPC's and mechanics that define the gameplay and set it apart from other games, and feature character progression governed by clearly defined rules that support Character Skill over Player Skill.

Which they can have AI dodging mechanics now, thus dice rolls are no longer needed.

However, just because you pick up a sword doesn't mean you're a master at it. You will still be nowhere near as good starting out as someone who is level 100 and fully perked out and specialized in their choice of weaponry.

Combat can still fail - I.E. your character can still lose combat and -die-.

This seems to fit Skyrim to me.

Thats why, I think your skill with a weapon, should affect your accurcy.

Simply allowing you to choose your role and specialisation does not make a game a good rpg... hell, you can choose your role in many FPS, and even games like League of Legends have skill trees...

How good a game is as an RPG (not as a sandbox, as an adventure, or anything else, but an RPG) is simply measured by how deep the stat/skill customisation is. And Skyrim is very light on that aspect. You just have a handful of armors and stats that are rough and unbalanced. There is no real customisation, unless you pick some bizarre skill combination it's the same as having a number of set classes, as every sword and board character will inevitably end up the same as all other sword and board characters, same for all 2-h, archers etc. It's still better than the atrocity of FF XII which had no classes with the truest meaning of the phrase (but more than made up with it's combat system and multitude of skills) but the average Korean/Chinese MMORPG is 10x better in the RPG aspects.

Skyrim is an amazing adventure/exploration/sandbox game, but in the RPG department it falls quite short... Tbh, it's barely any deeper in the RPG department than the classic Pokemon games...

Ok, let's clarify this once and for all.

http://skyrim.rpgitalia.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-20110415033042643.jpg is Skyrim.
http://www.thespecialistsltd.com/files/RPG7-%28replica%29_0.jpg is an RPG.

ahem carry on..

That really doesnt make sence for any weapon but a Bow in which case I agree.

If I have a sword it doesnt matter how much training I have had with it if I swing it at something and it comes in contact with them its gonna do some damage, now the AMOUNT of damage wwould be dependant on how good I am with the sword which is how skyrim works.

The character skill comes not from being able to hit but how much damage you do with the hit.

When I say complexity, I'm talking about Classes, Birthsigns and Attributes. All things removed from Skyrim. I'm talking about a journal that actually tells you what you need to do and why instead of a pointer and a note in the journal that says "Go Here". I'm talking about the races not having the same health, magica and stamina so that picking a race is pretty much pointless since there are no differences.

Those are just some of the things in Oblivion that are not in Skyrim. Morrowind and Daggerfall are even more complex than that.

When I say that "NO, Skyrim is not an RPG" it's not false it's my opinion and one that I stand by.

@Nell2Thalzzay:

Skyrim feels hybridized to me (and this sin't a bad thing) because of two points. 1. Player skill is really strong influence in success of various actions in the game (save for things like Persuade which is pure character skill). 2. The NPC's (namely enemies) seem to be governed by modified/different ruleset at times.

I still love Skyrim and for the record I have been playing RPG's sicne before they were on computers and a couple of my favorites are Plaescape and BG1, 2. While I miss a lot of things about older games I still enjoy the new style even if the new style does feel simpler with less emphasis on stats and rules etc. I really enjoy stats and rules, and multiple page character sheets, and text dialogue. I also really enjoy exploring Skyrim and dragon shouting draugr into walls.

Skyrim has the most amazing world design that is worth the admission price alone.

Not necessairly. If and if being a huge word, they brought back atributes, Strength would determine damage. Training with a sword, is for getting more used to the weapon, hence you would be more acruate with it.