I will only comment here briefly. I have my own issues with the ongoing development of the forum - it extremely difficult for the contest mods and their staffs to administer forum contests independently due to a lack of responsiveness - but seeing as most people do not participate in the forum contests this is effectively a non-priority issue.

I will also say that as a guild veteran myself who was around in Oldguild since 2007, I think one of the biggest problems with the site is that it is not cliquey [i]enough.[/i]

I am about to ramp my elitism dial up to 12, so discretion is advised when reading the following.

In essence, ever since I first starting roleplaying I was a regular in the Advanced Subforum, and since NewGuild came along that has remain unchanged. One of the largest community-oriented problems I have seen plague roleplays is the presence of posters who, quite simply, do not write at an advanced level. For nearly every single Advanced roleplay I have participated in, I can recall at least one poster who one might normally expect to see in the mythical Free Subforum (which, as we all know, is just an urban legend and does not actually exist), and then the vast majority of posters would be writing at a casual level. The problem is not just one of relative quality of writing, but also of overall commitment and OOC interaction. I am speaking of individuals who post once and are never seen again, posters who go on blatant power-trips and then insult everyone who disapproves, writers whose attempts to engage in the story consists of five sentences with each one dedicated to a single mundane action.

I have been of the mind for some time that the heart of the problem lies within how each forum describes itself.

[quote=Advanced Subforum Description]Advanced RP focuses on longer posts, often with in-depth plots, character development and extensive settings/lore. Must make a dedicated effort to minimize typographical errors and to use good grammar. Generally two paragraphs, but usually longer. See individual GM for RP specific standards[/quote][quote=Casual Subforum Description]Roleplay here if you enjoy writing at least a paragraph or two, character development, and some depth. Grammar and spelling are encouraged. Generally one paragraph (a few sentences) per post. See individual GM for RP specific standards[/quote]

The differences between the two subforums are not distinct enough. There are Casual roleplays that qualify as Advanced and vice-versa, and the large degree of vaguery present in the provided standards makes it so that nobody has any realistic idea of what to expect. New posters coming into the forum can occasionally stick at Casual due to a lack of confidence in their abilities despite writing better than most; others will head straight to Advanced despite having failed to grasp elementary grammar. For forum regulars, you have individuals who might be stellar writers but whose overall activity is mostly theoretical, and then juvenile writings whose activity blots out the sun.

Moreover, thread turnover is a huge, massive problem in both the Casual and Advanced subforums. Regardless of skill, many writers simply grow bored and tired of whatever roleplay they are a part of and leave, leading to stagnation. I get that this is a hobby for most and that jobs preclude full attention at all times, but that is true of most posters to begin with. Even younger posters still need to juggle school and the like, but most will treat having actual responsibilities as some kind of special, unique quality.

Given that, I think - and have proposed in the past - that the subforums should probably not be organized on some arbitrary basis of skill, but instead should cater to individuals depending on how much time, effort, and dedication they are prepared to invest. The Casual Subforum should be for people who do not necessarily want to be committed to a roleplay and want to be able to hold onto the option to bail without any kind of advance notice. Advanced should be for individuals looking for longevity and long-term projects. In theory that distinction alone would include how the Subforums are now, since the latter would (probably) attract more skilled and serious individuals with either time or at least persistence to spare. This would result in greater community coherence within the two Subforums - hence my earlier comment on the forum community not being cliquey enough.


In regards to the actual nuances of the [i]general[/i] forum community - I have been Quadruple Secret Banned from both chatrooms and none of the staff will return my calls apart from the other Contest Mods, so I am not really prepared to remark upon the atmosphere of the community. My current impression of the RPG Community is that the various cliques and circuit of regulars in each of the subforums does not consist of individuals with the same expectations, skill, or overall dedication. They are just random people who are interested in the same genre or topic, thrown together through a system of organization that is no better than wholly randomized sorting.