Well that was genius of me. Type a pointlessly long response, leave to grab something to eat, come back upstairs, close web browser. *facepalm*
1. What is your favorite RPG and why?
Basically, I have a weird appreciation towards games with poor fan reception. Case in point, most of my favourite games tend to consist of "great" games like Rogue Galaxy, Shadow Hearts: From the New World, Pokemon Emerald, and the ever under-appreciated Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja 5. To be perfectly honest, that isn't anywhere near the worst of it, but I'd rather leave it at that than admit to thinking at any point in my life that Bomberman Kart was a contender for the best kart racing game of all time (dear god it wasn't).
Now that I've got that off my chest, my favourite RPG would probably be either Suikoden V or Nostalgia. Being the first DS game aside from Pokemon Pearl I completed, as well as having the best general balance of RPG elements I like out of any game I've played on the system (which admittedly isn't very many, unfortunately), Nostalgia was my favourite RPG on a system I acknowledged as having a great range of RPGs, earning my respect. Suikoden V, on the other hand, initially caught me by surprise. First playing it back in late '09, what I was expecting was a short, easy RPG I would've considered a secondary priority to FF12, which I was also playing for the first time back then. Instead I got an immersive story on a grand scale with an unhealthy amount of quirky (and annoying) characters. Yes, the controls were not exactly a strong point, but the same could be said of a lot of games, even undisputed classics like Chrono Trigger.
2. What subgenre is your favorite and why?
Definitely JRPGs. To me, JRPGs have largely remained true to their roots over time; something WRPGs frankly haven't. I've had excessive exposure to the blatant features that are core to probably half of all RPGs (stats, party members, detailed battle systems, relative linearity (not in a bad way) and amazing plots). I can only be disappointed when I hear about RPG awards going out to some shooter of sorts that barely fit half of those features.
3. Does "RPG" do enough to describe a game in the genre?
Definitely not if people remain as willing to label virtually every game in existence an RPG (seriously, you can make an argument for a lot of games nowadays being RPGs ranging from racing sims to puzzle games, and you'd still find others who'd take that seriously >.>)
4. If you had to chance, would you change the name to something else?
Yes, it really isn't accurate any longer, but I think it's simply too well-known to be replaced without largely sacrificing the appeal of the genre. It's fine as it is.
5. Would creating more defined subgenres help or hurt the appeal?
I think it would help the appeal as long as it can help label off the many so-called RPG hybrids that just turn out to be your everyday FPS with a stat screen.