Why collaborative storytelling is a meaningless phrase

[kyoryu]

My apologies I can't quite figure out what you mean by your second issue.

Basically you're setting the expectation that RPGs are "about" storytelling, which when we get to the secondary (in terms of time) split (between storygames and other games), the default expectation is that "storygames" are the right answer.

In regards to your third issue however I do agree that it encompasses many things and RPGs are not necessarily the first thing which springs to mind. The phrase is not meant to be used alone though. If I see something outside of my window and I wanted to describe it I wouldn't say "It's orange." This statement while true is pretty useless however it is not meaningless. The first thing which springs to mind when I say orange is an orange which the item definitely is not. I would probably say "It's an orange mid 90's pickup truck."

My point is that it adds little, if any information, and the expectations that it creates are not well-grounded in reality. It confuses more than it clarifies.

Similarly if I were to describe RPGs I definitely agree that saying "they are collaborative storytelling" doesn't really get much of the point across. I would instead say "they are a form of collaborative storytelling with two groups. The players, who control specific characters that they create, and the Game Master (or GM for short), who controls the rest of the world and creates the scenarios the characters are exposed to. When the players wish to do something more advanced than basic actions they usually roll dice based on the character sheet that they created to try and accomplish the task." Sorry about the lousy description I had to hammer this out in a rush, if I don't make it back have a good weekend all!

This is an excellent example. My point is that the clarity of your explanation is not diminished *one iota* by removing the term "collaborative storytelling" and replacing it with just about any other term (such as, perhaps, game).