I think I have finally, finally figured out what "RPG" means to the game industry. It is a synonym for "fantasy".

Substitute "fantasy" for "RPG" and all the "action-RPG" games, with their one-step quests, customizable stats and thousands of magic items, actually make sense. The one thing every action-RPG game released since… ever- has in common is that they're all fantasy, and none of them involve role-playing.

Thank you, FantasyWatch!