RPGs: The State of Play

[Gregoshi]

...I'm just going to be in the corner eating a bowl of Grumpy Old Man Flakes.

Don't forget to add the spoiled milk.

[drone]

Oh, I've heard this argument before, and it still feels like a cop-out. It tells me that the game mechanics are incapable of representing the skill and endurance of the hero, and instead offer an arbitrary number to stand in for all of that interesting stuff.

Sounds to me like you are looking for a system like the old Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. One of the attributes was Wounds, similar to hit points, but you never got many of them and large beasts could be appropriately represented. The determination of a successful hit depended on the weapon skill of the attacker and defender, with hit location included (based on the reversal of the 2 dice from the attack d100 roll). Armor mitigated damage. This being Warhammer, death and maiming were common. The GM's favorite words, "Don't get too attached to your character."

[Azathoth]

*Although according to this definition, just about every game I've ever played is an RPG

Quote:
Originally Posted by Azathoth
Well, you are playing the role of the hero.

Look, we've already had this discussion. There are characteristics that make RPG a separate genre.

[Beskar]

Obviously in a FPS, the FPS aspect of the game is stronger than that of the story or the role of your character. RPG typically is more focused on the story aspect, even if it comes at a cost to the action. In an FPS, you simply point and click and there is no RPG aspect to it.

Only area where FPS and RPG has merged, is Mass Effect and its kin.