[sub]Yep, that's the question. I trust you all to behave yourselves so Mods don't feel obliged to lock this. If you can't behave, please get out at this stage. Cheers.[/sub]

So, the big question is [b]Is there such a thing as a good RP?[/b]
By which I mean, can an RP be measured in such a way that one is 'better' than another? I've spent a lot of time being frustrated by this collective medium of storytelling (which is [i]explicitly[/i] how [i]I[/i] view RPs) and wondering what the difference is between an RP and a play. Both have a cast of characters typically controlled by one actor/player each under the stewardship of a director/GM who creatively guides the content and may or may not participate in the show/IC thread themselves. We wouldn't find it outlandish for a critic in a newspaper to assess the merits and weaknesses of a given production of a given play - so is RPing different? And if so, why? And if not, how does that translate to this hobby that I gather most of us on here do?

Bonus food-for-thought questions:
[list][*] Is RPing 'art'?
[*] If so, is it less 'art' than traditional media - say, [i]The Great Gatsby[/i]?
[*] If one instinctively looks at one game and considers it 'better' than another, what does that mean, and what is that based on?
[*] At what point, if any, can a game be judged? When it's being born, while it's still being played, while it's dead, or never?
[*] Do the 'Free', 'Casual', and 'Advanced' Tags factor in here? Even if not the sections themselves, which are unregulated, but the principles behind them?[/list]

Please for the love of god no specific examples before this thread gets more locked than Trump's cold, dead heart.