So was the island in “Lord of the Flies”. ;-)

I always thought that for “RPG” video games, the “R” was just the character(s) you were playing, and the “P” was the choices that you made for that character(s) that influenced the outcome of the game. For example, when playing (e.g.) Chrono Trigger, I *was* Chrono, and in that role, I made choices that could have profound influences on the plot. Sometimes you only have the illusion of control (i.e., the outcome will eventually be the same regardless of your choices), but it’s the feeling that you are making the choices (based on interactions with characters in your ‘party’ and other NPCs), and that your choices are somehow important to the world that the game has defined, that separates an RPG from other games.

To me, modern “MMORPGs” are actually just massive co-op adventure games (as you said, role-playing is sort of impossible in that scenario). You hack/slash your way through the game and maybe solve some puzzles, but the “P” as I defined it above is lacking because the plot (while compelling) is secondary to the experience of winning and leveling up. You are never truly the main character in an MMORPG. (Guild Wars trys to fake making you feel like the main character, but to me that lacks believability because I play every mission with a new group of strangers).

Is this making sense? I’m kind of coming up with this on-the-fly, so feel free to suggest counter examples to make me flesh it out.

I should also mention that many “MUDs” still strictly enforce role-playing rules, but they aren’t quite so massive.

Also, as a disclaimer, I’ve never actually played WoW.

Finally, has there ever been a massively multiplayer game of D&D? Like a massively multiplayer LARP?