this

lol

That's not my definition, nor that of the designers of Fallout, Planescape, Arcanum, Temple of Elemental Evil.... most PnP RPGs...)

Oblivion would [technically] qualify as an RPG even if the jail cell never opened at the start of the game, albeit that would make it a poor one. RPG has too many definitions, and worse... its fractured into grades of good average and poor, whose elements don't rank in the same order between the various RPG fans. One fan's fun is another's hell.

I didn't say I didn't like Skyrim. But all Skyrim has is races and perks. If they removed the racial bonuses, basically there would be no reason for races at all, perhaps except for visual variety-- since there are no real consequences for your choices, race included. And if GTA had perks, it would qualifty as an RPG, according to your requirements.

I also like how you raise skills by using them. It's something that has been around for over 20 years, and the first RPG I can remember that did it was 1990's Wasteland, the grandfather of Fallout.

An MMO is rather like Skyrim, inasmuch as there is a story and there really aren't any consequences: you have a task and you do it or you don't do it.

There's no real consequences to your actions in Skyrim, and no real number-crunching, just perk-pumping. Either one of these-- or both-- make Skyrim an adventure game, and not an RPG.

No it isn't an RPG. I mean it doesn't have stats, creatures leveling, skills, perks, best weapon, best armor, armor rating, weapon ratings, character customization, different race stats, dungeons, etc. Nah no way... Oh wait a minute!

Call of Duty and many other non-RPGs have most of what you just listed...

And other RPGs do too.

I don't think you understood my point...

Then come up with a distinct quality.

Attributes.

I like how 7 pages or so in, the only argument the "it's not an RPG" people have come up with is to say "well I guess COD is an RPG then", or to list their own objective standards as the definition of RPG.

no Skyrim is not an RPG, that is why it did not blow up when I dropped it

I was thinking this too. >_<

Story and quest-wise it's lighter than its predecessors. However it is still an RPG. Big open world, lots of choices about where to go and who to help and how to conduct yourself.

Why is the Witcher not an RPG? (IMO it's one of the best RPGs I've seen this decade (and in the previous); please explain your opinion about it).

**edit: I agree with set18's post (below). I've played several good Japanese RPGs.

What? Why not? You've just taken an entire, well-established sub-genre of RPGs that have been around for ~25 years and classified every last one as not being an RPG?

All of this back and forth is pointless. Just look at the general gaming sites for your answer.
I see a trend here.

Just labeling it does not make it so... the game has to be designed from the gound up as an RPG, (preferably by folks with previous experience at it); or it likely won't behave like one. I've seen too many arade games and strategy games that are called RPGs ~some merely because they have wizards in them.

I did not agree with that either but whatever.

And just saying it is not an RPG does not make it not.
Most people label it as an RPG, only people who wear pencil protectors take offence.

its probably not the best set up for roleplaying (some races make it harder than others) but if you come into it with the right mindset you can roleplay quite well in my opinion

True; until/unless the game is examined and found lacking.

A good example of this is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBzOjZSGfLs#t=00m45s

As it turns out, that's the rule (sort of).

If the letter is pronounced, than the same rules for using A or An apply to it just as if it were a word. I think the fancy term is aspirated for the "breathed" sounds like ESS or OH or ARR, unlike the other ones TEE, DoubleYou, etc. If you pronounce the letters and they have that soft sound (NSA, NDA, RPG, etc), you use an. If the letters are used in an abbreviation that does NOT have that soft sound, than you just use the article A.

That's why we have an NSA investigation, but a NASA report.

Health Stamina Magicka

Half-Life has health and stamina. If it did have spells, they could have add magicka too. Instead, they have guns and ammo. Not a distinct quality.

Post limit.