Why collaborative storytelling is a meaningless phrase

[Max_Killjoy]

You very much can do that. The people in the "all RPGs are storytelling" position are saying that by doing that you are still telling a story. Which is to say that you are still providing an account of the character's (sometimes only attempted) actions.

First, I'd still question if "creating story as a byproduct" really is storytelling.

Second, "you can still do that" is entirely missing the point... some players have no interest in telling a story, and making the game "story no matter what" lessens their engagement and enjoyment.

I don't treat the character as a story element from an authorial POV instead treating the character as an individual with their own thoughts, desires, and feeling however saying that means I'm not engaged in the storytelling process completely ignores what those words mean.

Again, I think "storytelling" is something more deliberate and involved than just being the verb-form of the broad "story is any account of events" formed by tacking "telling" on the end of story.

The character is a fictional element being played by a real player. There's no way around that, and that's all it takes to qualify by the definition that's generally being used here. A close/tight POV (actor stance in Forge jargon) doesn't change that, and neither does a deliberately distant POV (author stance in Forge jargon).

And what about those players whose enjoyment of the game takes significant negative impact when thinking about the characters as fictional elements, let alone when letting "intentional story" concerns into the equation?