High Casual Rant

[ayzrules]

As a man of my word, I have arranged a fistfight with Byrd Man in PMs. Will update shortly.

EDIT: Byrd Man kicked my ass

@DeadbeatWalking

RIP

[Isotope]

As a man of my word, I have arranged a fistfight with Byrd Man in PMs. Will update shortly.

EDIT: Byrd Man kicked my ass

@DeadbeatWalking

Precipricks drink lots of milk, with bones that strong you never had a chance.

On another note yeah, we need to enforce the fucking labels. There's no point in having multiple sections if everyone huddles up in casual like a gaggle of craven penguins.

[Goldeagle1221]

@Isotope

Don't you ever fucking insult penguins again, you chemical alternative!

[Isotope]

@Goldeagle1221Typical, just what I'd expect from a bird.

[Goldeagle1221]

@Goldeagle1221Typical, just what I'd expect from a bird.

@Isotope

Oh, I'll show you bird!

[NuttsnBolts]

On another note yeah, we need to enforce the fucking labels. There's no point in having multiple sections if everyone huddles up in casual like a gaggle of craven penguins.

@Isotope

There's one major reason why people huddle, and it ends up being Casual. It's because you want to RP with your friends, and everyone has a different skill level so they gravitate towards the closest medium range... Casual.

I guarantee that even if you change the name to "novice, adept, writer", "good, better, best", "short, medium, long" or any other three stage combination then people will still gravitate towards the middle ground because that's how they feel they sit. They may be better than a one liner poster, but they may not feel up to the 10 paragraph scale of Advance... And so they set the bar in the middle.

What's worse, we even do specify the difference between them:

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

Casual

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

Advance

In a nutshell, casual is described as more than two paragraphs, while advance is described as many. It's a bit of an arbitrary way to control writing as it's a creative medium and shouldn't always be so rigid. Everyone has them, but you can have two posts back to back that range from the couple paragraphs to the mega lengths, just because you had those creative juices going.

As for the Ban of High Causal? That is a form of over moderation. The solution presented through that statement is that you are too good to roleplay in the casual section and you might have to lower your standards. The counter could also be said, but what that GM is specifying is that they do not want any mini posts in their section, but at the same time they've ensured that the category they chose is not going to yield a poster who writes a thesis on a character. It is simply a bad label used to manage the quality that they are aiming for.

However the hard reality is that the sections aren't going any time too soon, and if you're in a roleplay with a group of friends and that happens to sit in casual, isn't the more important factor that you are actually spending the time to write and express your creativity?

[Isotope]

I mean sure, but at least you could have tried to be melodramatic about it. Read the room! :P

[skidcrow]

There's one major reason why people huddle, and it ends up being Casual. It's because you want to RP with your friends, and everyone has a different skill level so they gravitate towards the closest medium range... Casual.

@NuttsnBolts

But hasn't it already been established that people (or rather, the mods) don't mind if someone posts a Casual RP in Advanced or vice-versa? What stops people from making an invite-only Advanced roleplay where the more casual members of the friend group aren't lynched by the GM for making shorter posts (a thing that barely happens in Advanced anyway, at least from what I've seen)? Why not just do the same in Casual, where the more advanced members of the friend group can make their posts however long they want? Because, let's be frank, maximum paragraph restrictions are a little (read: very) ridiculous to enforce. Why do people insist on sitting on the fence with a redundant tag that only serves to decrease activity in the Advanced subforum?

In a nutshell, casual is described as more than two paragraphs, while advance is described as many.

@NuttsnBolts

Note also the "see individual GM for RP specific standards" connected to both descriptions. Now, before I write any further, I'm operating under the premise that this thread is only for discussion and doesn't particularly call for change. While change would be appreciated, it's obviously sort of silly to try and outright ban a tag that people put in their roleplay titles. Instead it discusses the issue and collects different people's views on it. Right? _{(This post is also gonna be really disjointed because I keep getting distracted oops)}

Personally, I think the High-Casual tag was founded on the stigma of elitism in Advanced that intimidates many roleplayers. People feel that because their writing isn't a whole damned novel, (this comma is probably in the wrong place but honestly the flow feels weird without it) they should stay in Casual and git gud(tm). I don't think this is the case. I've never really seen Casual and Advanced as being separated by post length, because in terms of post length the two overlap a lot. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there's posts in Casual that are longer than some Advanced posts. Instead, I view them as two tiers of post quality and world-building. Casual roleplays are (typically, though everything described in this post is based on my roleplay experience alone) set in pre-determined real world locations, and posts feature more fluff and 'collabs' between writers. Advanced has more world-building, typically set in GM-created or existing fictional worlds, with posts that are made up of content more relevant to the plot, instead of a paragraph about someone brushing their teeth. Unless it's a roleplay about people who brush their teeth, in which case that paragraph would be relevant. Again, this is all how I view it and there are plenty of roleplays that "break the norm".

Yes, this post is probably me regurgitating everything that's already been said. But I want to be a part of something, damnit.

(Also, I don't think removing the subforums outright and using the tag system instead would be any good. At least with subforums you have the convenience of not having to click through page after page of Free/Casual/Advanced (choose whichever one is most relevant to you, reader) roleplays just to find one that suits your skill level. Maybe if an option to hide roleplays with a certain tag was implemented this could work, but that would require even more work from Mahz.)

[Lady Absinthia]

Okay, I'm a coward. I can live with that. ~giggles and skips back off huggling her high-casual tag~

[skidcrow]

Okay, I'm a coward. I can live with that. ~giggles and skips back off huggling her high-casual tag~

@Lady Amalthea

DeadbeatWalking vs Lady Amalthea back alley fistfight when?

[Hero]

(Also, I don't think removing the subforums outright and using the tag system instead would be any good. At least with subforums you have the convenience of not having to click through page after page of Free/Casual/Advanced (choose whichever one is most relevant to you, reader) roleplays just to find one that suits your skill level. Maybe if an option to hide roleplays with a certain tag was implemented this could work, but that would require even more work from Mahz.)

@Mara

Sort of feel like part of the High-Casual issue tends to come from lack of traffic in the Advanced section, though, so eliminating the sub-forums would help traffic some of the lesser-known roleplays that tend to tragically die out in Advanced.

[DruSM157]

High casual is for cowards? Psh, fuck that. High casual is for lazy assholes like me. It's the easiest way to write a hefty amount without putting in the dedicating to shitting together a mini-novel for an interest check. It's easier to just say "here's the fucking groundwork" in an hour and build off of that, tout de suite.

I guess if enough people raise Cain over it, shit will change. Won't get me to make any interest checks in the advanced forums still. I don't have the energy to put in the effort people believe that place demands.

[skidcrow]

<Snipped quote by Mara>

Sort of feel like part of the High-Casual issue tends to come from lack of traffic in the Advanced section, though, so eliminating the sub-forums would help traffic some of the lesser-known roleplays that tend to tragically die out in Advanced.

@Hero

If people stopped using the High-Casual tag and instead placed their roleplays in Advanced (or Casual, depending on how humble they're feeling), there wouldn't be a lack of traffic there. Of course, that's just a hypothetical — since people like spooning the tag, we can't exactly gauge what kind of activity increase it would cause if the tag went away. However, an increase in activity means more people look at the subforum and RPs die out less. We've also got the General Interest Checks section to help increase traffic. It's not like I'm opposed to the idea of a subforum-less RPG, but in the search and tag system's current state it's hard for me to imagine the benefits. Not to mention every other (big) roleplay site has a subforum system in place, so if RPG removed the subforums it would be harder for newcomers to adjust. Categorisation is what I'm all about, yo. (I would say it'd be better if we rewrote the subforum guidelines, but that's an idea that's been expressed before and hasn't really gone anywhere.)

[Todd Howard]

This thread has taught me:

1. DeadbeatWalking is fucking dead

2. The Precipricks will kick your ass

3. RPGuild is more divided than I ever fucking imagined

4. A thread is able to be 50% meme and 50% real shit

5. everyone here is gay

[DruSM157]

We've also got the General Interest Checks section to help increase traffic.

@Mara

I think I've maybe attracted one person ever from a General Interest Check. That place is trash.

[ayzrules]

This thread has taught me:

1. DeadbeatWalking is fucking dead

2. The Precipricks will kick your ass

3. RPGuild is more divided than I ever fucking imagined

4. A thread is able to be 50% meme and 50% real shit

5. everyone here is gay

@Raddum

i cannot argue

[skidcrow]

<Snipped quote by Mara>

I think I've maybe attracted one person ever from a General Interest Check. That place is trash.

@DruSM157

I can't really speak for everyone when discussing my views on the matter. I check General every time I'm searching for a new roleplay.

[Todd Howard]

I think I've maybe attracted one person ever from a General Interest Check. That place is trash.

@DruSM157

I actually had a spam thread about my opinions of General Interest Checks with this realization I pulled off of Discord.

[DruSM157]

<Snipped quote by DruSM157>

I can't really speak for everyone when discussing my views on the matter. I check General every time I'm searching for a new roleplay.

@Mara

I think the issue is every forum has a specific interest check and then there's the general on top of it. It's sort of made obsolete by one or the other.

<Snipped quote by DruSM157>

I actually had a spam thread about my opinions of General Interest Checks with this realization I pulled off of Discord.

@Raddum

My god. The forum truly is pure evil.

[skidcrow]

<Snipped quote by Mara>

I think the issue is every forum has a specific interest check and then there's the general on top of it. It's sort of made obsolete by one or the other.

@DruSM157

I just see it as a way to spread exposure. Someone might not check Advanced Interest Checks at all, but instead check General Interest Checks and Casual Interest Checks. If a GM posts their interest check in Advanced & General, then people could actually notice it and it can act as their introduction to Advanced roleplay, provided they feel they can meet the standards. Quite a few of the roleplays I've joined are ones I found through General Interest Checks, if I look back on it.