What gameplay was this? The fetch quests?
Everything we do in the game is gameplay. I was referring to the exploration and travel, but everything from crafting to inventory management counts as gameplay.
The nature of the conversations is that we can only follow where the writers lead, so I'd rather have more gameplay that doesn't involve talking to people.
But it does no credit to the world that our protagonist can do absolutely everything, especially when the world doesn't react accordingly.
That the world can't react appropriately is the problem. That we can do everything is a symptom of that problem.
We should be able to do any thing, but a reactive world would generally prevent us from doing every thing.
Why?
Because it's the defining characteristic of the group. Otherwise, there's no reason for the label to exist.
Unless you play tabletop RPGs alone, then the experience is as much about playing one's character as it is enjoying your friend's characters and experiencing the DM's story. Some degree of passivity is perfectly acceptable in tabletop games.
I completely disagree. Every moment involves the player determining how those events affect his character. Do they change the character's opinion on an NPC? Do they weaken the character's resolve to complete his quest?
Maintaining a coherent mental state is an ongoing activity.
Videogames are the only media that can provide the visual immersion of a movie with the reactivity and engagement of a tabletop RPG. Attempting to achieve both does not make them a worse product.
Not necessarily.
But Mass Effect isn't a driving game. It's not even just an RPG, it's a shooter as well. In this case stripping away the RPG features (or vice versa) leaves us with a perfectly playable game. Of course, it would be a lesser experience: one would be a half-decent Gears clone and the other a half-decent Telltale clone, but still enjoyable nonetheless.
Eother it's in the category or it's not. There's no middle ground.
There's no reason Mass Effect can't be both an RPG and a shooter, as long as it satisfies 100% of the requirements of both groups.
Your comparison is especially incorrect when we consider the fact that no RPG inherently requires the player to roleplay. That rule must be imposed by either the DM or yourself. Many still find it quite fun to just play themselves wearing different skin or just play erratically to see what happens.
I didn't require that. The game needs to permit roleplaying, not force it. You can play a racing game without racing. You can play a roleplaying game without roleplaying. But roleplaying absolutely needs to be possible.