Dhruin
SasqWatch
Keiron Gillen has penned an editorial at RPS titled Just Die: Against "Real" Role-playing Games. In short, Keiron argues that arguments about the validity of the term "RPG" for computer/video games are a waste of time and Pen'n'Paper terms of reference are irrelevant and invalid. Here's the intro:
More information.Point: If only computer RPGs could match up to Pen and Papers RPGs. You know – real RPGs.
Counterpoint: Piss-right off.
You still hear this attitude a lot. Hell, back in the day, I suspect I expressed it a bit. But I was 13 years old, and an idiot. That it’s persisting over two decades is getting increasingly embarrassing. The implicit elitism and defensiveness does a lot to explain why Pen & Paper (P&P) still gets eye-raises even in otherwise all-accepting geeky circles. Nothing makes someone more willing to dismiss your opinion than you sneering at something they love.
If you ignore anything else I say in this column, here’s one reason to stop using the phrase: That it’s self defeating conservative ghettoism. You either see that as a problem or you are the problem.