Quote Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev View Post
Just to play devil's advocate though, I'd also point out that FFXIV can barely be called an RPG (most FF games are what I'd term 'adventure games' rather than 'role-playing games'). There's no meaningful dialogue options; no meaningful character growth choice; no skill trees or specialties.

That's not to say that the games aren't fun - they are - but it's a far cry from the role-playing options available in true RPGs like Divinity, Deus Ex, or going back further, titles like Baldur's Gate.
I deffo get that completely and to be honest yes I do kinda put adventure games and RPG games for the most part in the same boat and the line between the two gets further blurred each new generation of games. A lot of it I think since you brought up Baldur's Gate has a lot to do with just how drastic the difference between consoles and PC's were at the time. Due to that difference in hardware and tech PC's often wre the source of what I would consider an RPG in terms of character growth, dialogue options and everything in between. The most important part being the ability to make your own story as you saw fit. Granted yes the games had their own story going on, but the freedom on how you tackled it was what made them shine. Want to play nice with the people at an inn? Okay. Want to rob them blind? Okay. Want to get drunk and decide to set off a fireball on the inn keep? Okay, and so on. I do consider games like Baulder's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Icewind Dale and more modern games like The Elder Scrolls series to be where RPG's are at. I could even say Grand Theft Auto is RPG like, just because the freedom of choice on how you take on situations is there. In MMO terms I'd say the closest ones to an RPG that I've played would be SWTOR and GW2 since there was a degree of choices in story situations.

Enter consoles which I feel created a not necessarily right or wrong view of RPG's, just a different one. Since most (at least of those I knew) had a console over a PC just because they were cheaper, more easily available and easy to maintain and quite fun. However due to hardware limitations no way they could cram a world full of infinite choices a player could come up with on a single 8 bit or 16 bit cartridge. They had to make drastic changes to get an RPG game to fit. This is where I agree that most RPG's are adventure games, or more or less the Adventure RPG genre. Games that do have an RPG element in terms of leveling up, getting new abilities and new equipment, interaction with NPC's, and some hidden paths to find. However they're very linear and most of the time spent is just going from point A to point B with no real way to break free and have the story change based on things you do and your choices on interacting with people.

Granted some modern games have gotten better with this and allowing more choices in customizing a games story, but well past experiences and thoughts are hard to change as people get older and are set in their ways.