What Is Role-Playing Game (RPG)?

So you're looking to get into the world of RPGs. But where do you start? You could buy yourself a sword, but that's expensive and dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. (Seriously, I've seen people who bought blades without knowing how to use them go down hard. ) A role-playing game, or RPG for short, is a video game genre where players assume the roles of characters in an imaginary world and take control of them to progress through the game's storyline. The player controls their character's actions and choices, affecting their interactions with other characters and their environment. RPGs have been around since the early 1970s, but in the late 80s, they became popular among Western audiences. Early games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were incredibly successful as they offered players a new way to interact with games; they made it possible for players to create their own stories rather than follow along with a pre-written narrative. If you're an RPG fan, there are many different kinds. The kind you're most likely to see in the wild is "modern," but it's not the only type out there. For example, there's also something called a "hybrid" RPG—one that combines elements from other genres with elements of traditional RPGs. You might think it would be the same as an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) because they both have multiplayer features and involve character progression through gameplay. But in fact, an MMORPG has more in common with MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) than it does with modern or hybrid RPGs. MMOs and MMORPGs feature large numbers of players interacting within a single virtual world. While MMOs are designed primarily as multiplayer games with little emphasis on story or character development, MMORPGs allow players to interact in small groups (as well as solo) while progressing through a narrative-driven storyline that takes place within a larger shared world.