1. It is a role, just a broadly defined one. And that whole comparison to a flight sim and picking planes out is grasping at straws.....AT BEST.

2. Many actually like the combat in RPGs.....not just ARPG players either btw.

3. This is all in YOUR opinion...it doesn't make it a fact just because those are your beliefs though.
I never said it wasn't, though.

1: Its not a role. Its what your "Profession" is....All it does is determine your skills.

2: aRPG's are mainly FOR Combat. Not true RolePlay.

and 3: Most people believe the same as Mystral

It's the role you are playing though...or do you not know the difnition of role?

As for me...I like to roleplay in my mind as I go through the areas, making up story/background as I go...so no, it's not JUST a way to determine your skills to everyone.

2. They are roleplay, stop being so closed minded.

3. Again, it's just your opinion...stop being so snobbish about it.

Yes unfortunately we have our favourites, in my case strawberry (cRPG's) and I look at Vanilla (jRPG's), Mint Choc (aRPG's) and Pistachio (tRPG's) with some scepticisim. I might enjoy trying something different from time to time but I will always go back to strawberry and if people stop stocking strawberry I will complain.

Classic RPG's use an actual RolePlay Story based system. Not one you can make up in your head.

aRPG's use no such system. You make up your own story, define your own role.

Which is why I stick to cRPG's pr jRPG's

Most of the points you make about aRPGs apply to famous jRPGs such as Dragon Warrior. Just saying:)

Also, I love Dragon Warrior, so watch yourself.

I'd disagree, all three of those games are so drastically different that someone could like one and despise another. Diablo lacks any choice whatsoever, to someone who expects that from their RPGs they would be very disappointed, not to mention the lack in character customisation beyond the set skill trees (you can't even change the genders except for the new one which isn't out yet) while Witcher 1 would be very annoying to someone who doesn't want lots of talking and just wants to get to the killing. Mass Effect wouldn't appeal to people who prefer combat to be completely derived from stats while those who want their own skills to count wouldn't like Diablo (I know people whose complaint is very much they can't smack the enemy for themselves).

Not to mention the completely different gameplay systems in those games, the examples you give actually prove my point. There are several facts you can expect when you play an FPS: that it will be played from the first person perspective, that whether you hit or not depends on whether your bullets hit their target or not, not due to some stat, and that it will be combat-focused. Diablo on the other hand is an isometric view, ME and Witcher 2 are third person while Witcher 1 can be both depending on your choice. Diablo is purely stat-based combat which just requires the player to click on an opponent to fire, ME requires some degree of aiming on the player's behalf. Witcher and Mass Effect both have heavy dialogue in the game, Diablo has quest-givers and the occasional single line from an opponent.

I'll admit that counting the ME games in with this is unfair however, despite your claim that it's an ARPG it's actual a RPG/Shooter according to the devs themselves and so isn't meant to be counted anyway, though the fact that you mixed that up with them just further proves that the genres need better definition to define them.

Did not say I didn't play aRPG's. <_< Just said I didn't like them as much as I liked True Story Based RPG's.

Fair enough, I just was trying to keep the thread from devolving into semantic hand waving (probably already mission failed there) :)

Another great RPG with static story: Phantasy Star II, yes if you haven't played it you should. There's been a couple re-releases recently so a lot of folks should be able to find a retail copy.

That doesn't make RPGs any less fun or any less RPGs..

I got into Phantasy star a while back. Though, Phantasy Star Universe kinda annoyed me

1. It's not a role to me because your character being a fighter sayd next to nothing about who he is. Unless you think you can accurately predict what a lawyer's personality is just because he's a lawyer?
To me the plane choice comparison is valid, because like a class choice it'll affect your gameplay experience (what skills you have compared to others, how you'll behave in combat, etc...) but not anything else.

2. What does that have to do with anything?
I enjoy playing Diablo too, I never said I didn't. I just don't think it is an RPG or that it has any roleplaying elements.
As for the pnp combat stuff, I DO find rolling dice not all that interesting, but hack&slash combat is very different from pnp combat.

My second favourite genre after RPGs are strategy games like Civilization and I like them despite the fact that they don't have any story or roleplay elements either. I just don't expect every genre to play the same. If every game was the same, gaming would be pretty boring.

3. When did I say it was the truth? It IS my opinion, obviously, and I never said it was any better than anyone else's (though imo it's probably more though out than most people's but whatever).

@Landeril: even if my opinion was shared by most (and I'm not convinced it is) it doesn't make it any more valid. Most people once believed the Earth was flat, that didn't make it true.

Edit: saloperie de quoting system

Let's just pretend PSU never happened, cool? Cool.

I use the full definition Action Role Playing Game when putting them together. It's a role playing game played in real-time action with real time decisions needed. The devs can say what they like about ME but in reality it's a ARPG because it has similarities to games in that genre like Jade Empire and to a lesser extent KOTOR. I remember when KOTOR was released lots of traditional CRPG fans talked about it as an ARPG in a derogatory way.

The only real RPG/Shooter in my eyes is Borderlands and I guess that deserves a new SRPG classification as a sub-genre of ARPG.