RPGs are type simulators

[CosmicCat]

I used to think RPGs were about stories, but I realized that they're more general than stories. If RPGs were derivative from story-telling, then they would just be an imitation of novels. Yet I know that RPGs have an unequivocal artistic value that is not reducible to novelization. And that this value in order to be actualized requires it to be specifically an RPG and not an adventure game or some other genre.

RPGs are to being a type to what flight simulators are to flying and to what city simulators are to being a mayor. RPGs are confused with novels because both of them have types but only RPGs simulate a type. EarthBound is an ENTj simulator, for instance.

But there's a difference between simulating a city and building one. If someone really wants to create a whole new genre of video games it should be one that allows you to make your own types like Spore allows you to make your own life.

[lavos]

I assume you mean a simulation caused by a particular character (of a particular type-the protagonist or the one you control the most), or the game itself being a simulation of one type? I guess every creation has an "imprint" of the type of the creator, but going from that, to that RPGs simulate a type, seems a bit of stretch.

Btw, I would be grateful if you stated what deliberate harm does Sonic the Hedgehog cause to ENTj children, because I haven't figured it out yet.

[CosmicCat]

Btw, I would be grateful if you stated what deliberate harm does Sonic the Hedgehog cause to ENTj children, because I haven't figured it out yet.

Ok I'll tell you.

Sonic the Hedgehog teaches ENTj children that clichés are prototypes. All the reused themes (e.g. sunny palmtree level, ice level, etc...) are clichés, but they look like prototypes. Even the character design is cliché, but it looks like it's using Sonic as a prototype. That kind of thinking is toxic to ENTj's like yourself, and that's probably the lie you internalized.

[359AML]

But there are already series that let you influence your characters' personalities. Crusader Kings. The Sims.