Quote Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF View Post
Quote Originally Posted by KingdomHeartsKing View Post
I don't really see the difference
You're seriously going to tell me that Fallout is the same thing as Dragon Quest?

Quote Originally Posted by Grinenshire View Post
Can we call them WRPG, for west, and ERPG, east?
Nope.

Seriously, US neither invented the RPGs nor do they produce the majority of them, so what the hell?
Yeah, actually, the US did invent RPGs (Unless Gygax et al. were not of the University of Minnesota?) and the term is useful, even if not capable of encompassing the entire range of RPGs made.

And good 90% of what you call USRPG are produced in EU anyway...
Now common, seriously, how on bloody earth can you call a game taking place in the classical medieval, or ancient, fantasy world (all of which oddly resemble the French Province) a USRPG?!
Because it originated in the United States, was made popular in the United States, and the majority of things to do with the whole area - from Shadowrun to Elder Scrolls - are made and played in the United States. If we start labelling things based on their settings, then your earlier suggestion of WRPG and ERPG is completely daft as well.
Eh... no. That's not entirely correct, since you've limited it down a little too much.

RPG, i.e. Role-playing Games, existed quite a bit before Shadowrun and Elder Scrolls. The very first ones were the legendary pen-and-paper RPGs. Now, the fact that someone someday implemented the system on silicon doesn't mean that he invented the genre. The RPGs as a style of play come from UK, from where they've spread to France and US, later to Germany, later to the rest of the world. While US were one of the first to take up the style, they were not the pioneers.

Now if you consider RPG just as a Computer-based RPG, you also need to consider that video gaming itself started in US. Western Europe and the Soviets simply didn't have the resources available at that time to spread this popular form of entertainment. Now being given the credit of invention is alright, but that doesn't change anything in the current situation. There are two styles of RPGs. The traditional sword&magic games from Europe and the Japanese sword&magic games. The WRPG as we know it originates and still bears strong resemblance to its ancestors. So if we follow your logic we should call it UKRPG. On the other hand this would be completely pathetic since UK doesn't really produce many RPGs nowadays. Even more so, you need to consider the fact that the American and the European RPGs are very, very similar, when compared to JRPG. Thus, calling them USRPG would not only be historically and linguistically incorrect, but would also go against the current economical developments in the gaming market.

To be absolutely correct, it should be called the European RPG for two reasons: 1.) Like it or not, America was built upon a European culture. 2.) The RPGs generally resemble European Middle-Ages or the Mediterranean Antique. However, since the United States are not a part of Europe, yet do contribute a very significant bit to the RPG genre; the most appropriate definition would be "Western RPG".