Where did this narrative come from that RPGs have to be games where you make choices that change the story?

I've seen reddit flooded with 'E33 is barely an RPG' and the reason they keep using is there's nearly no decisions the player makes that change the course of the story.

Elder scrolls, arguably the biggest RPG franchise in the world, has almost no player choices that change the course of the game. The closest it has is who you side with in Skyrims civil war.

Is elder scrolls not an RPG? I'm baffled man.