I can see your point, Svartalf, but I have to disagree.
Games are defined by their rules. In fact, the rules ARE the game. Everything else is just fluff. Consider: you can have an RPG where you play stereotyped western movie archetypes. You're in a saloon, playing a game of Texas Hold Em. How do you do this? Simple. Play a game of Texas Hold Em and ham it up with a funny drawl or an exaggerated scowl. Maybe wear a cowboy hat. Fuck, go for broke and have tacky, out of tune piano music playing in the background and slam down tequila while you're at it. But at the core, you know what's going on?
Not Roleplaying. Not "Speghetti Western: The RPG." Texas Hold Em. That's right, you're playing poker. Poker with theatrics, but poker nonetheless. The mechanics of poker will create power imbalances between the players depending on who is more lucky and skillful than others and who knows the rules better. If your character is supposed to be a poker wiz kid, you damn well better be one, because the ACTUAL game (poker) and CONCEPTUAL GAME (spheghetti western: the RPG) are totally different animals.
It's similar in DND: the ACTUAL game you're playing is rather boring-- roll the dice and track the numbers. The CONCEPTUAL game is what keeps people coming back-- the thrill of the critical hit, the joys of completing a story arc, and the glee that comes from properly portraying your character. The conceptual game is the soul of the game, but the actual game is the no bullshit meat and potatoes that allows the conceptual game to thrive. Otherwise it's just improvised theatrics, and a whole different animal.
Character Optimization and Role Play are NOT mutually exclusive by any means. They are in fact two facets of the same thing--- playing the goddamn game. Character Optimizers play the ACTUAL game. Role Players play the CONCEPTUAL game. These are two aspects of the TOTAL GAME: mechanics and storyline immersion combined.
If the terms actual and conceptual game are offensive, then change them up-- they're my terms and my definitions, but the fact still remains that as I see it everything outside of bare bones mechanical nitty gritty shit is just window dressing. It's what makes a Sci Fi RPG different from a Gothic Horror RPG. You might strike someone in the 342nd neural cluster with a critical hit due to your ingrained anatomical charts in your digital-optic eye replacements or you might lash out in utter terror and the pure rush of your fear fills your body with a might and strength that you never thought possible, crushing your enemy's skull with a tire iron. You know what happened "behind the scenes?" You rolled a 20 and confirmed the hit.
You see how RP and CO aren't mutually exclusive? They're different skill sets, that's all, and they relate to different facets of the game. What frustrates me so much is when people will sabotage one in favor of the other-- IN EITHER DIRECTION. A paper filled with stats is no fun to play, but neither is a paper tiger that's impressive as hell in concept but a pushover in actual play. You need a balance of both for an enjoyable game.
This isn't an attack on roleplayers, it's a refutation of Power Gamers and Drama Queens. Power Gamers need to add some life to their stat blocks, and Drama Queens need to give their avatars some backbone. I'm sick of players who refuse to do one or the other.