Free/Casual/Advanced Pros and Cons

[Kiriyama]

I've always wondered the true Pros/cons from these three. Try to put as many things as you can.
(Aargh my English >_<)

Free:

+Simple
+Don't have to write so much(I'm going to get a lot of hate from this)

-Can sometimes go too fast
-Many rps die
-High skill difference between the players

Advanced:

+High character development
+Good storylines
+Turns are controlled(?)

-Umm... You need to write a lot

Note: I only have played free thus far, so I don't know everything about Advanced and Casual

[Dervish]

Big problem I see with free is while you don't write as much, it's still a huge time commitment given how fast I see some of those games move. You don't spend hours online keeping up, you fall behind those who do. Obviously not all games are like that, but when you get dozens of posts a night, if not an hour in extreme cases, it's nuts. I also kind of get the impression Freebis mostly the younger crowd and usually there isn't much in the way of plots, creativity, or planning. It's very pick up and go without formality.

Casual is actually probably the best fit for most people on the forum, this is where character sheets really start to come into play and some GMs get stricter about rules and expectations. There's the most players here, which means the most games and likelihood of finding something that interests you. However, with that comes a wide range of expectations and player skill/aims. You get anything from players who write at a free level who think there's a stigma for being in Free (which is unfair to think; it's what some people enjoy) while others write a constant couple of paragraphs or more and end up meeting Advanced requirements without either realizing it thinking it fits there. This leads to problems where you can have people in the same game with vastly different skill levels and expectations and conflict can stem from that. This is why there's that whole High-Casual tag to ensure consistency in player writing.

Advanced isn't nearly as daunting as it sounds. If you can write two or three solid paragraphs you're fine. It's more geared towards story telling and character development and it can often read like a collaborative novel. Posting tends to be slower and it can be hard finding people to join your games given the relatively small player population, but a good, dedicated group can make a game last for years. It's the best fit for people who like being descriptive and have a hard time writing short posts because they have a lot they want to say or do within a post. Main problem with Advanced is it can move dreadfully slow at times, where players may disappear for a while because they don't have time to write or the will to do so because of the general length they write at can lead to writer's block, which can happen at any level, but when you have several paragraphs it can seem daunting.

Either way, there's something for everyone and no "better" level. If you like it, go nuts.

[Kiriyama]

Yea the problem you mentioned in Free has happened for me. I just went to sleep, and when I woke up, there were 5 PAGES of mostly one-liner turns. Then I dropped out. But I'ts best to have people from a timezone near as yours, that's how you can at least prepare for something :D

[Dervish]

Try giving Casual a go, and look for RPs that have a "no speed posting" rule. That usually means there's a loose turn order and it will stop that scenario from happening again. There's really not that much more requirements, if you can write a small paragraph or two you're totally fine.

I had to leave the RP section on my first forum years ago because it went from what's Casual standards here to speed posting Free. I couldn't keep up with like 100 plus posts a night, I didn't have time or interest in doing so.

The worst part is, usually a night's worth of speed posting ends up moving the plot along less than a decent Advanced collab and have barely any of the details that make it interesting to read while being way more time demanding.

[AlienBastard]

Much of what dervish says is pretty agreeable.

I prefer advanced mainly since I find the slow pace a good thing; an irony with forum RPs I've noticed is the more "advanced" they get, the less time you actually need to spend roleplaying which is good for me since I need the time to study or improve on other skills like drawing or coding.

You only need to post once or twice a week, as opposed to casual RPs where you should post once or twice a day. Or like in free RPs where you need to post multiple times a hour or else like in the OP's case, completely fall out of the loop.

[MissCapnCrunch]

I agree with all that has been said so far ^^
But I will say this before I do my list; I have never done advanced because I don't feel confident in my writing skills- though I like the development those roleplays go into. Anywho, here is MY little pro/con list for ya from experience:

Free Pros:
- Fast paced, keeps the roleplay moving and going within days
- Actual start up time is faster from interest check -> ooc -> ic.
- If you're active online one night, you get to roleplay ALOT
- You don't have to worry too much.

Free Cons:
- Sometimes TOO fast paced, you get left behind- sometimes forgotten.
- If you're NOT active online one night, you get to READ the roleplay ALOT
- You're not worrying and neither is someone else- so they don't care, which sucks.
- One liners... :c
- txt spek &&& comon spelling misteaks!
- Roleplay disbands/dies quickly

Casual Pros:
- Lots of people here to role play with
- Lots of various skills here to role play with
- Matches best with my schedule of 1-2+ posts a day
- Let's me get more creative and in depth with my characters
- Usually some rules placed to help avoid 1 liners, txt speak, god modding, power playing, etc.

Casual Cons:
- Lots of various skills here to roleplay with
- My in depth characters usually don't get used cause at least all the roleplays I have joined die eventually. (days..weeks, months)

In the end, Casual is my favorite section but I do go in Free if I want to just have ALOT of mindless role plays to pass my time while i'm here. I really recommend coming to casual and roleplaying there sometime. It might be scary at first- I know when I first came to the guild I did free and strictly free (Even though I'd write more than 1,2 paragraphs every time I posted) cause I was way too scared to leave those boundaries.. but its not that scary :D and I bet you'll love it.

If anything, come join a role play of mine in the future- cause I'm a pretty friendly and cool GM!

[Kiriyama]

I post usually once or twice in a Free roleplay I'm in.

Still, I can agree with Dervish. Seriously, who even tries to keep up in the pace if only one night gets the rp full of one-liner turns??
But yea, I think I should try out some Casual some day. But I'm not really good T_T

[Dervish]

Kiriyama said
I post usually once or twice in a Free roleplay I'm in.Still, I can agree with Dervish. Seriously, who even tries to keep up in the pace if only one night gets the rp full of one-liner turns?? But yea, I think I should try out some Casual some day. But I'm not really good T_T

My friend, you know how to spell and write a paragraph or two. You'll be fine! Don't be afraid to try; you'll never know until you do!

[MissCapnCrunch]

Dervish said
My friend, you know how to spell and write a paragraph or two. You'll be fine! Don't be afraid to try; you'll never know until you do!

^ Always listen to Dervish, he knows things.

[Kiriyama]

MissCapnCrunch said
^ Always listen to Dervish, he knows things.

So can he read minds too?

[Dervish]

Kiriyama said
So can he read minds too?

I can also see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

[Kiriyama]

Dervish said
I can also see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

I've never tasted that.

[Kestrel]

I don't play a lot of free, or well, any at all, so I can't go very in-depth there. As far as casual and advanced go;

Casual's main strengths are having a huge audience, easily excitable players who are ready to jump in. You can also work in a lot of different things and ideas because players can switch and adapt quite easily, provided your ideas are interesting.

Casual's main weaknesses are that because there are so many alternatives players drop more easily and so everyone tends to be less committed. Also don't attempt too complicated engines or plot-lines, because casual players just want to pick up and play.

Advanced's main strength is that when a game gets off, it offers the best potential for depth and complexity, due to the slower pace and patience of the players. It's also the section where you don't have to worry about skipping a week of posting and can go at it quite relaxed.

Advanced's main weakness is that between the slower post frequency and... Frankly a lot of people writing more words than content, the pacing can be horrible. Some of the hardest to read posts on the forum can be found in advanced, as well as some of the longest intervals between posts. While players won't switch gears as quickly as in casual, this is no less deadly for your game because every so often people will think your game is dead while one post would've saved it. ie, as a GM ALWAYS have IC important elements to reply to for everyone. Also learn to use your OOC far more than your IC.

[Dervish]

Kestrel said
Also learn to use your OOC far more than your IC.

This point is super important. I always worry about the health of a Casual-Advanced game with far more IC posts than OOC. Getting to know other players is a great way to keep happy and invested.

[Jannah]

I think I agree with pretty much everything that has been said so far, but I spend most of my time in High Casual-Advanced so can't really speak for Free. I do find that getting players in Casual is typically easier, likely due to the fact that there's just more people who frequent that section. Oftentimes that makes it tricky when I want to play out an in-depth story, but can't find anybody to play it with.

[Ellri]

What we feel about the differences between the three categories has more or less been stated by others already.

The most important thing we have to say is that people should not be scared to try a level above where they think they are comfortable. Casual might seem scary at first, but if you avoid the wrong RPs, you'll find that the plot is well worth it, without having the quite-so-impossibly-fast pace of some free RPs.

As advanced goes, this category is probably the one the greatest number of people are scared of. Which is kind of silly. At least where our advanced RP is concerned, the only real requirements are that you can follow the RP's lore, write with decent lingual quality and have fun. Some may write near essay-length, but others can achieve just as much in 3-4 paragraphs. The longest advanced posts typically have multiple authors, and its a well-known fact that a collab can easily get far longer than what most people write alone.

If your English is of relatively good quality (doesn't have to be flawless), don't be scared to try advanced. If it doesn't work out the first time, don't run. Just leave that RP.
Either wait a while, or just jump into another RP, perhaps with a different GM/player group. Perhaps try a different type of character for yourself. Not all characters work for everyone.
If advanced RPs don't work for you after five or more attempts, only then might it be worth considering that advanced really isn't something for you. Not before. There are so many different GM styles that trying any less will not give you anywhere near any idea of what is available out there.

The gist of the above: Don't be afraid to try more than you're initially comfortable with. Most RPers here don't bite. Much.

[ishtar]

I fancy myself as a Casual player, although several friends from the old guild back then pointed out to me that I should be able to play in Advanced as well.

I admit, I simply don't have the courage to try on Advanced. ^^;; I can write down about 1-2 paragraphs, and maybe more if I'm trying to describe something, and that kind of writing should be placed in Casual (or maybe High-Casual) instead of Advanced, IMO.
I take a look at Advanced and sometimes it feels like I'm reading a whole story on its own within a post. I know that not ALL of Advanced is like that, but it sure seem that way for me.

Another thing is, I'm the kind of player who tried to pay attention to details to avoid inconsistencies. What was my friend(s)' character doing? Did they do anything related to my char or in a completely different scene that has nothing to do with my char at the moment? Did they interact with my char? Or do something that could affect my char? Things like that.
I tried to pay attention to those things so I can write my char's responses or reactions accordingly, something like if like 2-3 other characters were trying to talk to my char, I could have my char responded either to all of them one by one, or like focused on one and ignored the others (I'll write down that my char was pointedly ignored the others or didn't hear the others' question)

In Advanced, there are a LOT of details being thrown within every single post, and I can already feel my mind approaching its boiling point just by trying to taking in all the details. @__@ I have no idea how to keep up, so I'm sticking in Casual, well, 1x1 Casual for the moment.

[Gowi]

"Advanced roleplaying should focus on developing interesting and complex characters that become part of plot-lines which catch the imagination and inspire the writer behind them to exercise creativity. It is mature, humorous, imaginative, tragic, terrifying, passionate, and rife with descriptive language and characters with real personality and relatable cares. Quality posting is far better than needless novels, yet one should never neglect detail when one feels the need. However, while word and paragraph requirements ought to be unnecessary, single paragraphs cannot contain enough detail to suffice."

This is one of the definitions I stand by when I plan or join an advanced roleplay, I don't think every roleplay in advanced should adhere to what Gaiaonline called "literate" roleplays (which was a condescending way to segregate roleplays, imo) where we are looking at 4,000 words per post with streaming paragraphs. It surely depends on the feel of the roleplay, I think. I mean look at the Ultimate Comics games (all-star marvel, ultimate dc, one universe, independent comics universe); as roleplays they aren't highly detailed with every post by every user but rather goes by the definition that they are advanced because of the scale, scope, and size of the roleplay as they are alternate universe sandboxes that create concurrent stories. Sort of realized cooperative fanfiction in a way.

I admit, I simply don't have the courage to try on Advanced.

When I joined RPG a year ago, I felt the same, but a game that I wanted to write in (the then Master Bruce-led Ultimate DC) inspired me to try when I saw other people of the casual "distinction" joining as well and not being pushed aside and being told they were not good enough. Perhaps the comradeship helped, but I'm not sure. But I will say that a lot of us as writers need to stop being afraid of advanced simply because some roleplays in the category read like a book. Though I feel I'm echoing Ellri with this statement.

[Brovo]

I've been in both categories since 2008, so I'll put it as plainly as I can, whilst still retaining every detail I think is relevant.

Casual is a section dedicated to a more games-like atmosphere. Language comprehension varies from basic to post-secondary though tends to average out around junior high level. Its main strength is the versatility it can bring to the table: You can see anime RP's, fandoms, original content, fantasies, sci-fi, tabletop-inspired, and so on, all playing out side by side, with few to no conflicts whatsoever. Its greatest weakness though is its versatility: It often doesn't know what it exactly is between the wide range of tastes and literacy levels, and ergo, you see Balkanization terminology pop up from time to time. ex: High Casual, High Free, Low Advanced, etc. (I've seen all three used.) It can be isolating to new people and create unnecessary divisions.

tl;dr
+Fantastic variety.
+Wide range of literacy levels...
+Widely accepting of many kinds of players.
+Moderate pacing.
+Low barrier to entry makes it easily accessible for both the new and the old alike.
...
-Doesn't understand itself more often than not.
-...Wide range of literacy levels...
-Can suffer systemic voluntary Balkanization.
-Moderate pacing is not well suited towards those with busy lives.
-Low barrier to entry often means both GM's and role players have only rudimentary literary knowledge.

Advanced is a section dedicated to a more literary-like atmosphere. Language comprehension tends to fluctuate between junior high to senior high levels. (7th-12th grade), and averages out around high school level. Post-secondary level is surprisingly about as common here as it is in casual from my personal observations. Posts are long and extremely descriptive, which is both a positive and a negative, depending on what you're looking for. There isn't as much variety here as in casual, but it tends to understand itself better: You don't see the Balkanization terminology here in general. Its greatest strength is its connection to having larger posts which are more descriptive, more can be fit into them, which can be a breeding ground for more complex characters and rich dialogue interspersed between metaphor, ideologue, perspective, and emotions. Its greatest weakness is its larger posts: It can drone on about things that ultimately are red herrings, unfired checkhov's guns, or worse still, nothing at all.

tl;dr
+Greater literary comprehension...
+Characters and plots tend to have greater depth with longer posts...
+Larger posts allow for more content at a slower pace, making it easier for people who have restricted posting schedules to keep up...
+I roleplay here more often than anywhere else because I'm an advanced author!...
+Fewer regulars here than in casual means that people tend to quickly gain their own "crew" to stick with them, which increases survival odds.

-...That is still only in the high school range, but often thinks itself greater.
-...Or, sometimes, they're just writing meaningless tripe that is the equivalent of textual masturbation.
-...At the price of making the barrier to entry higher than in casual, sometimes to the point of scaring people away who would otherwise fit in just fine.
-...A perfect example of the elitism that sometimes still wreaks sufficiently to drop role plays dead straight away in advanced!
-...Can also mean that if you don't like what's currently popular, it may take upwards of months before you'll see something you would want to play in as a player.

That's 'bout it really.

Oh, wait, one last thing! For people who are scared of advanced!

Casual asks for one paragraph or more, advanced asks for two or more, both ask for basic to intermediate levels of language comprehension. The difference in "skill level" is one paragraph more, so if you're scared to give advanced a try, don't be. Just remember that the atmosphere of casual is more games-like, whilst advanced is more literary-like. This means that casual's characterization tends to be based in action while advanced's characterization tends to be based in dialogue and biography.

It's the difference between an actor and a screen writer. The actor is remembered for what he physically does. The screen writer is remembered for the storyline he wrote, the metaphors, the emotions, the thoughts, and the dialogue. (Though the two do cross realms sometimes. tl;dr: It's complicated but nothing you really need to worry about, it's pretty easy to pick up on without knowing much. )

[Lucius Cypher]

I guess I'll step up to bat and give this a swing...

Free Pros:

Free is a good place to go if you're looking to scratch that Rping itch but don't really have the dedication to invest heavily into a RP. Not to say that free can't churn out some fairly high quality stuff; Free has pretty much no limits, so you can be as verbose or latonic as you want. Sometimes you might even find what I call "Walk-On" Rp's; pretty much you establish yourself as someone who will be joining with a character in mind and just go wherever the story is going off right than. Additionally, I like using Free as a "Field Test" for some of my RP ideas that I want to GM. Free doesn't require much aside from listening to the GM while they're there. And if it flops, than you can just take notes of what worked and what didn't, give it a week, and start over.

Free Cons:

Let's be honest: Everyone thinks that Free is the noob area. You'd get all types of Mary Sues, Online twats, trolls, and just about every other negative player types. Granted, you'd find them at higher levels too, but in Free it's more likely that they'll stick around simply because of Free's fairly low standards. Worse still is those who, again being honest, are not good writers. In fact some of them will be very bad writers (Those Mary Sues aren't well thought out). But in Free, if the GM doesn't keep a standard, they allow those players to keep making those crap characters and don't really evolve. Some say practice makes perfect: I disagree. Perfect practice makes perfect. Players who don't hit that level of "Perfection" by the standards of say, Casual, will always be writing at Free's worse. This largely is dependent on the GM's ability to weed out or help their players, but in free sometimes they just don't care.

Casual Pros:

Like what most people have mentioned, Casual is that golden zone between the independence of Free with the skill of Advance. Often you will find that many of the Casual players could very well qualify for Advance. Casual's requirements usually just warrant that you are able to maintain attendance (And tell us if you are going to be missing) and largely doing as the GM says. While they don't accept bad writing in terms of spelling and grammar, they're usually willing to help you out on it and let you try again. Casual RP's tend to have more story behind them too; some of them are heavy in lore while others provide just enough to allow you to head into the world knowing what you can do, but with the ability to add onto it yourself.

Casual Cons:

The term "High Casual" has it's merits and flaws. While it implies that the RP is almost advance in writing quality, it also inadvertently says "GTFO Free". High Casual is a way of saying "We want to write in depth about the story but without the constant paragraph churn out of Advance, but without the low-level scrubs of Free". Additionally, just as often as you'd find casual GM's and players are are friendly, you'd find as many Casual GM's and players who are rather bullheaded. They'd harp constantly about you actions or characters under the impression that they're trying to help you, when you in turn may just get the impression that they want you to play as what best fits their characters instead of what you'd want. And the thing is, they're neither right or wrong; sometimes you are writing such a horrible character that others are going to give you a hostile whipping, while other times they're just egomaniacs who insist they know what they're doing. Some may even admit this (I do).

Advance Pros:

Advance can be one of the greatest experiences in your life. Everyone there has an understanding of what they can do and what their place is but also know each other well enough to creating works of art in the form of text. You come to Advance when you want to feel like you're part of a bigger world, even if you yourself is only observing it. If you have a passion for writing and the willingness to keep at it, Advance may soon be your home.

Advance Cons:

You see the issues Casual has? Same here, but instead of it merely being a possibility, it's the standard. You don't come into Advance expecting that anything will be fine. you have to write a character that is not only deep and likeable, but also synthesis well with others. They could either be the best of friends or the worse of enemies, but either way, it's not something that can merely be "up to chance". There's a certain controlled chaos when it comes to Advance. On one hand a lot is happening and it's nearly impossible to keep up with it. On the other hand not many are willing to help you figure it out because you're suppose to already know this. You don't go into advance with a casual mindset; you go into Advance under the impression that you can be there when it needs you. Not all the time, but the windows where you're needed are small and often random. As others would say, Advance is slow pace, but don't think that it can't catch you by surprise if you haven't been watching it like a hawk.

Those are just some of the general impressions I get from all the forums. I won't say that they're accurate or true, but that's just what I get from them. Maybe you might understand, maybe I'm just a weirdo. Hopefully it helps somehow.