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Old 09-18-2009, 09:45 AM   #5
prof1515
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Re: RPI, RPE, and Roleplay

That is probably the root source of the abuse of the term though I try to avoid saying it since there's always the possibility of innocent mistakes by games that just didn't know the origins of the term.

Exactly the reason coming up with yet another name for RPIs isn't worth the effort. First of all, those who have been playing RPIs for a decade or longer already use the term to identify the types of games they're looking for. Secondly, if a new term is created for what constitutes RPIs and non-RPIs decide they like that term, what's to stop them using it too just so they can capitalize on its usei and/or perceived reputation? All that does is continue to confuse the community with a repeating cycle of new acronyms for game types which already have definable terms.

Over at the . Admittedly RPO is rather vague. One game may have features A and B while another may have A and C while yet another has B and C. Short of dozens of terms applying to single games, we just use RPO as a catch-all for any game that isn't RPI but doesn't just feature a role-play enforced policy alone.

These terms are not any measure of quality, just categories for identifying shared features. One can go through and probably divide these categories into multiple sub-categories. RPIs could probably be sub-categorized as Armageddon-type, Harshlands/SoI-type and Southlands-type after the three modified code lineages they represent. I imagine RPEs could probably be divided much the same based on the stock MUD designations from which they are created. However, in the case of RPOs it'll probably result in dozens of sub-categories consisting of one, maybe two at best, games each. That's the reason for the catch-all term RPO.

Take care,

Jason
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