Dennis Scimeca of GameKudos opens the RAG report of RPG origins. He believes many gamers are unaware of the genre's roots, and this first part of his report, he begins with the classic evolution of the tabletop role-playing game.

Shortly after Mass Effect 2 was released, a sizeable number of players complained about the paired-down inventory and power systems versus the more complicated mechanics in the first game. Many people pointed at this change and claimed Mass Effect 2 was therefore not an RPG, but an action-adventure game. Not only do I disagree with this sentiment wholeheartedly, but I would argue that Mass Effect 2 is precisely what a video game RPG was always meant to be - and the only reason why some gamers are not recognizing it as such is because the definition of a video game RPG has been defined by inadequacies of technology.

It's worth reflecting on the meaning of this acronym: "Role Playing Game." It was coined to describe pencil-and-paper tabletop games whose collective grandfather is Dungeons and Dragons. Video gaming has worked its way out of the geek closet enough for many video gamers to never have laid eyes upon a tabletop RPG rulebook.

PangTong_Blademaster via gamekudos.vervedigital.com »