pawsplay
Hero
I think role-playing game, as a term of art, has a specific meaning. It means one or more players take on a role, and they can attempt to do anything that is an intelligible choice in the game. Donkey Kong, for instance, is not an RPG, because even though you play Mario, you can't decide to do anything with a barrel other than jump over it or break it. The Baron Munchausen Role-Playing Game actually isn't a role-playing game, because all you can do is tell stories, interrupt, and challenge people to duels. A computer role-playing game is such by analogy (you play a character, and can make choices) but is a different kind of game, because you can't do just anything. You can't jump over three foot tall fences with no game content behind them.