HGL - Max Schaefer on IGN's RPG Vault : FPS / MMORPG / RTS Discussion

IGN.com's RPG Vault has started a new series of articles titled RPG Vault Focus in an attempt to capture the candid and informal nature of conversations with game developers experienced at conventions and expositions. The inaugural article focused on the Action RPG genre and invited Max Schaefer, Flagship Studios' COO and co-founder, to speak on the subject.

What is an RPG? Taken literally, it simply refers to a game in which you play the role of one or more characters. But in practice, I think the term means different things to different people, and from my experience in making them, it's a topic of considerable passion for many gamers. At times, it can resemble a religious war. I was fortunate enough to work on all the games in the Diablo series, a title that is today most commonly considered an action RPG. The arguments about how to classify it were strangely heated, with some people insisting that it was a full-fledged RPG, and others who refused to accept that it was an action RPG... or even that such a category was valid.

The full article can be found here and also polls Gas Powered Games' Steve Bauman about the genre as well.

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/870/870952p1.html