nemesis <nam### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Pretty much all videogames are about "role playing" in a broad sense.
> Few however live up to the original Dungeons & Dragons turn-based combat
> + stats and leveling up.

"live up to the original..."?

The irony about this all is that what most computer players consider
"role-playing elements" was actually adapted by D&D from the older "fantasy
wargames" genre to combine with *actual* role-playing - of which the majority
of computer games have virtually *nothing*.

So a more fitting term for this trait in computer games would be "fantasy
wargames elements".

I'd say role-playing in computer games starts where you are free to address
quests by significantly different means (e.g. stealth vs. brute force vs.
wits), *and* this subsequently affects other characters' behavior towards you.

A good start in this respect, IMO, are games like "The Guild", in which you can
make friends and enemies among the AI characters, may get charged for crimes,
and stuff like that...

*That* is what I'd consider "role-playing" in computer games - not exact
simulation of the D&D combat & skills system.

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