I'm afraid you're wrong. The historical origin of the term refers to the small group of games (Armageddon, Harshlands and then Forever's End) which shared, despite the first two having separate code development and origins, numerous similiarities which at the time were not present in any other MUDs.
The group that attempted to "seize" the term RPI was not a group by any definable measure since they're wide-ranging games: some role-play enforced, some not; some hybrid H&S, some strict role-play only; some MUSH; some are even pure PK MUDs! The term simply was abused by games which either did not understand what the term meant or chose to ignore that in order to capitalize on the association.
That was not the conclusion to the discussion. The fact is that ANY term, including the term "MUD" is inaccurate in some regard or another. The term RPI was invented by and for a small group of that shared 19 characteristics. While these characteristics were never clearly defined (the people who created the term applied them to games that were similar; simply playing these games revealed the similarities), the meaning was clear. It was only later that I and some others attempted to define clearly what these characteristics were by examining the games to which the term originally applied and discerning those shared characteristics that those first three games possessed which were not common as a whole to any other games. Hence the list of 19 characterstics, some code and some policy.
Why? There's no reason. The term Role-Play Intensive or RPI was coined by these games to apply to their games because their games were role-play intensive. Other games which never met the characterisitcs of the RPI MUDs may have begun using the term but they're in error, not those which meet the original specifications.
Armageddon-type RPI and Harshlands-type RPI are two acceptable sub-categories of Role-Play Intensive (RPI) MUDs since both have independently-derived code yet conform to the same 19 characteristics. A third existing sub-category would be Southlands-type RPI as that's the third code lineage adhering to those characteristics. If one wanted to break down the sub-categories a bit more, the Harshlands-type RPI could be defined by the code: the original Harshlands, the FEM variant of the Harshlands code, the SoI RPI Engine, the Argila variant of the SoI RPI Engine and the RPI++ variant of the SoI RPI Engine. At present there are anywhere from one to three other RPI code projects in development (including one for my own game) which will if completed represent the fourth, fifth and sixth types of RPI MUDs.
There already is a term for these types of games: Role-Play Intensive (capitalized or abbreviated RPI).
To summarize the aforementioned discussion, there are lots of terms out there for text-based games featuring role-play: role-play, role-play enforced, role-play required, role-play mandatory, role-play encouraged, role-play focused (as used by the original poster in his title), role-play optional and role-play accepted. Role-Play Intensive MUDs are technically a type of role-play enforced/required/mandatory. But just because all RPI MUDs are role-play enforced does not mean all role-play enforced are RPI.
A simple comparison is the National Football League (NFL). All NFL teams are football teams but not all football teams are NFL teams. The Pittsburgh Steelers are a NFL team. If the Notre Dame Fighting Irish decided to call themselves a NFL team it doesn't make them one even if they play football and have a greater national following than the Steelers. The term applies to a particular set of teams. Likewise, the terms Role-Play Intensive and RPI apply to a particular type of role-play (enforced) MUD.
In 2006 I coined the term Role-Play Oriented (RPO) to describe those role-play enforced MUDs which bear many similarities to RPI MUDs without possessing all 19 characteristics (technically I coined the term in late 2005 but I didn't use it anywhere at that time besides in a private conversation with Wade from rpimud.com). The idea was to come up with a term the would allow games to distinguish themselves as being focused on RP without the confusion of misusing the term RPI. In retrospect, I didn't think about the abbreviation being the same as role-play optional and Role-Play Focused (RPF) might have been a better choice. No doubt though someone would come up with a term with the same abbreviation as that too though!
So, essentially there are two uses of the term role-play intensive MUD. The proper adjective refers to the original, historical use which is clearly defined by analysis of the term's origin. Then there's the later generic use of the term which has no clear definition beyond simply that of whoever uses it. This use may include Role-Play Oriented MUDs and MUSHes, role-play enforced MUDs and MUSHes, role-play encouraged MUDs and MUSHes, MUSs, H&S MUDs, PvP MUDs, and even pure PK MUDs though in the case of the last few the use would probably denote either ignorance or questionable motives (and hence why I personally discourage the use of the term for anything but those games to which the term was originally coined).
The original poster's title use of "RP-focused" and the description of the games and their use of "RPI" suggests they're not necessarily looking for a RPI but rather any RPO. Hence, I'll run down off the top of my head a list of both which might contain a game to their liking.
Role-Playing Intensive (RPI) MUDs:
Armageddon (tends to be a lot of combat emphasis though)
Black Sands (again, tends to be a lot of combat emphasis)
Harshlands (small playerbase)
Shadows of Isildur (depending where you play it has the best RP of the RPIs; I'd recommend Minas Tirith)
Southlands (again, very small playerbase)
Role-Playing Oriented (RPO) MUDs
Accursed Lands (though they recently had a major staff schism which caused discord)
Shadow Siege (continues to grow from what I understand)
The Inquisition (small playerbase)
I'm sure some more will come to mind later. I'll drop you a PM if I think of them.
Good luck in your search!
Jason aka Falco
P.S. -- I really do like the use of the term "Role-Playing Focused"!
