Since I haven't really had a chance to chime in recently, I'll cover a few points in no particular order. Real OG block of text coming through.
T1* is the best** system we have for allowing people to fight competitively across genre and setting boundaries while still allowing for both a degree of freedom and of fairness. Can you make a system – or a modulation of T1 – to better suit a particular level of character power, or a specific genre or setting? Yes. You could modify the rules of T1 to better reflect the needs of a community that plays predominantly in traditional (read as: not modern) fantasy with a low level of powers. However, any system is defined as much by what it disallows as by what it allows, and a system that focus on low-powered, traditional fantasy characters will not work for characters outside that purview. So, inasmuch as a ruleset that allows for the broadest spectrum of characters and players to interact, T1 is really the only worthwhile system.
*Specifically, a variation of T1 that focuses on fair play, but any variation of T1 is built on the basic framework provided by the rules, so. Even sites that have never heard of T1 generally play by a ruleset that runs parallel to T1.
**You could easily replace the word "best" with "only" as far as free-form roleplay goes, in that there's not really any meaningful systems that compete with T1 for use.
When people refer to stats, they're talking about things like WIS, CHA, DEX, or similar "ability scores", which only have meaning within the framework of a system. Saying a character runs 30 mph hour while sprinting is technically a stat, but it's not a determinant number ment to represent some ability or capacity of a character within the context of a greater system. Numbers are useful, that goes without saying. I use numbers in my profile – my characters lifts, run speed, weight, and height are all listed.
However, these are all definite and not reliant on some sort of system. If I say that my character can bench six-hundred pounds, then what that means is evident without any further context necessary. We know what bench pressing is, we understand the number six-hundred, and we understand pounds as a system of measurement.
What does a score of 5, 10, or 20 "STR" mean? How are we measuring it? How are we defining it? First and foremost, it needs a system to provide a context of what STR, and scores thereof, mean. Secondly, that system the needs a means of interaction between one "score" and another, otherwise it's not really meaningful and it could be replaced by a qualitative/quantitative statement. And, if we say that 20 STR = benching 600 pounds, then we're merely gilding the lily; we could avoid obfuscation and simply say "benches 600 pounds."
What then (often) happens is one of two things:
First, a system can begin to delve into minutiae. What do you need scores for? Do you need a score to represent "DEF" and if so, do you need more than one kind? Magical defense? Physical? Is defense seperate from armor? Do we determine dodge chance, and take the capacity for choosing how and when to dodge (and the validity of the attempt) out of the player's hands? Do we assign a DEF score (or scores!) to a character and to each individual piece of armor? And if we assign a DEF score, is it then necessary to assign an ATK/DAM score to a weapon? How do we determine that score? Is the score always applied at a flat rate, or do we then have to develop math for glancing or partial blows? Do we have to define damage types? Piercing, blunt, slashing.? Defense vs piercing? How are characters created? Do we get x amount of points to work with? Do we roll dice?
Once you begin defining things numerically in the context of a system of play, you quickly find yourself in Pandora's Box with the lid thrown wide open. Again, not discussing numbers like a real world system of measurement. That's not a stat in the context of what I've described (although a stat could be assignd to it, see above). And the more you define numerically, the more you take out of the player's hands hands and put into the system, beyond their control wherein the determinant factor becomes comparing scores or rolling dice based on those scores. This is no longer freeform. You could make an effort to keep the system spare, simple, and lightweight, but when and where do you stop? At what degree of complexity and/or depth do you say "This is enough"? Do you just do a tri-stat system and not stat anything else? How do you define when and where stats come into play?
This leads into the second thing that can happen: as the elements of freeform are taken out of the players' hands, they grow steadily more reliant on the numbers. Eventually, what you have is less "fighting" and more of a competition focusing on one's capacity to game the system for maximal efficiency, it becomes a game of numbers. If I have 500 points to work with (and how I work with them is something the system would have to define; for example, do I pay more points to increase an ability score beyond a certain point? Do I get diminishing returns, or is it a flat buy-rate?), then I'm going to build a character that lets me exploit the numerical nature of the system as much as possible.. and the math will support me, even if I'm being an absolute tool about it.
That's why stat systems don't really work for free-form; eventually you're forced to choose between the stat system and freeform. That's why free-form roleplaying is delineated from one another in the first place. In free-form, I dictate what my character does without any systemic limitations. In tabletop, I have to roll to attack, and that roll is reliant on.. you guessed it, an ability score. In some ways, stat systems – where ability scores dictate character success – are antithetical to freeform. They're opposites.
Does that mean that you couldn't run a tournament based on a stat system? No. What it means is, you're going to sacrifice elements of free-form play in order to do so. How much or how little you sacrifice is going to depend on the system you come up with. And, again, a numerical stat system does not inherently provide more or less fairness or balance, so it's not necessarily "fixing" any problem that freeform has.
Next, on character balance.
A character doesn't need weaknesses to be balanced, they need limitations. There's a difference. Weaknesses can be a form of limitation, but they aren't the only means of character balance, and a character is often more complex than how the scale balances between strengths and weaknesses. Having an overt weakness (i.e. an allergy to sunlight, or a weakness to x or y form of magic) isn't necessary.
What is necessary, is clear, definable limits on how a character works and what they can do. What is necessary, is an understanding of what level you're playing your character at, and how to balance your character to fit that tier of power. I need to be able to look at my character sheet and say “Is this too much? Should I tone this down? Cut this out?” I need to very clearly outline the limitations of my character's powers, physical abilities, equipment, training, etc. What are they good at? What powers do they have? My profile should be completely transparent, to the point that anyone else can a) understand it and b) feasibly play my character.
I also need to have an internal system by which my character's powers (should they have any that require it) operate. Most often, this is a prep, cooldown, and/or limited-use system wherein a character must gather energy for x number of posts, cannot use a specific spell/ability again for y amount of posts, and can only use the ability z amount of times in a fight.
I don't need a random allergy to black truffle oil to balance my character. My character doesn't need to be blind six days out of the month and deaf every Tuesday in order to counter-balance the fact that he can belch thunder and shit lightning. What my character needs, is clear, defined limits on these powers.
On the topic of helping new players:
The best thing to do is to create a thread devoted to character creation and balancing that is specific to fighting, and then have a few provide help to those who need it. That way if someone's not sure about something, they have someone they can go to for help. Most people have the requisite Google-Fu to find basic information, what they often need help with is putting it together and understanding it. A small group of people - three or four - can be immensely helpful in helping someone construct and streamline a profile.
T1* is the best** system we have for allowing people to fight competitively across genre and setting boundaries while still allowing for both a degree of freedom and of fairness. Can you make a system – or a modulation of T1 – to better suit a particular level of character power, or a specific genre or setting? Yes. You could modify the rules of T1 to better reflect the needs of a community that plays predominantly in traditional (read as: not modern) fantasy with a low level of powers. However, any system is defined as much by what it disallows as by what it allows, and a system that focus on low-powered, traditional fantasy characters will not work for characters outside that purview. So, inasmuch as a ruleset that allows for the broadest spectrum of characters and players to interact, T1 is really the only worthwhile system.
*Specifically, a variation of T1 that focuses on fair play, but any variation of T1 is built on the basic framework provided by the rules, so. Even sites that have never heard of T1 generally play by a ruleset that runs parallel to T1.
**You could easily replace the word "best" with "only" as far as free-form roleplay goes, in that there's not really any meaningful systems that compete with T1 for use.
When people refer to stats, they're talking about things like WIS, CHA, DEX, or similar "ability scores", which only have meaning within the framework of a system. Saying a character runs 30 mph hour while sprinting is technically a stat, but it's not a determinant number ment to represent some ability or capacity of a character within the context of a greater system. Numbers are useful, that goes without saying. I use numbers in my profile – my characters lifts, run speed, weight, and height are all listed.
However, these are all definite and not reliant on some sort of system. If I say that my character can bench six-hundred pounds, then what that means is evident without any further context necessary. We know what bench pressing is, we understand the number six-hundred, and we understand pounds as a system of measurement.
What does a score of 5, 10, or 20 "STR" mean? How are we measuring it? How are we defining it? First and foremost, it needs a system to provide a context of what STR, and scores thereof, mean. Secondly, that system the needs a means of interaction between one "score" and another, otherwise it's not really meaningful and it could be replaced by a qualitative/quantitative statement. And, if we say that 20 STR = benching 600 pounds, then we're merely gilding the lily; we could avoid obfuscation and simply say "benches 600 pounds."
What then (often) happens is one of two things:
First, a system can begin to delve into minutiae. What do you need scores for? Do you need a score to represent "DEF" and if so, do you need more than one kind? Magical defense? Physical? Is defense seperate from armor? Do we determine dodge chance, and take the capacity for choosing how and when to dodge (and the validity of the attempt) out of the player's hands? Do we assign a DEF score (or scores!) to a character and to each individual piece of armor? And if we assign a DEF score, is it then necessary to assign an ATK/DAM score to a weapon? How do we determine that score? Is the score always applied at a flat rate, or do we then have to develop math for glancing or partial blows? Do we have to define damage types? Piercing, blunt, slashing.? Defense vs piercing? How are characters created? Do we get x amount of points to work with? Do we roll dice?
Once you begin defining things numerically in the context of a system of play, you quickly find yourself in Pandora's Box with the lid thrown wide open. Again, not discussing numbers like a real world system of measurement. That's not a stat in the context of what I've described (although a stat could be assignd to it, see above). And the more you define numerically, the more you take out of the player's hands hands and put into the system, beyond their control wherein the determinant factor becomes comparing scores or rolling dice based on those scores. This is no longer freeform. You could make an effort to keep the system spare, simple, and lightweight, but when and where do you stop? At what degree of complexity and/or depth do you say "This is enough"? Do you just do a tri-stat system and not stat anything else? How do you define when and where stats come into play?
This leads into the second thing that can happen: as the elements of freeform are taken out of the players' hands, they grow steadily more reliant on the numbers. Eventually, what you have is less "fighting" and more of a competition focusing on one's capacity to game the system for maximal efficiency, it becomes a game of numbers. If I have 500 points to work with (and how I work with them is something the system would have to define; for example, do I pay more points to increase an ability score beyond a certain point? Do I get diminishing returns, or is it a flat buy-rate?), then I'm going to build a character that lets me exploit the numerical nature of the system as much as possible.. and the math will support me, even if I'm being an absolute tool about it.
That's why stat systems don't really work for free-form; eventually you're forced to choose between the stat system and freeform. That's why free-form roleplaying is delineated from one another in the first place. In free-form, I dictate what my character does without any systemic limitations. In tabletop, I have to roll to attack, and that roll is reliant on.. you guessed it, an ability score. In some ways, stat systems – where ability scores dictate character success – are antithetical to freeform. They're opposites.
Does that mean that you couldn't run a tournament based on a stat system? No. What it means is, you're going to sacrifice elements of free-form play in order to do so. How much or how little you sacrifice is going to depend on the system you come up with. And, again, a numerical stat system does not inherently provide more or less fairness or balance, so it's not necessarily "fixing" any problem that freeform has.
Next, on character balance.
A character doesn't need weaknesses to be balanced, they need limitations. There's a difference. Weaknesses can be a form of limitation, but they aren't the only means of character balance, and a character is often more complex than how the scale balances between strengths and weaknesses. Having an overt weakness (i.e. an allergy to sunlight, or a weakness to x or y form of magic) isn't necessary.
What is necessary, is clear, definable limits on how a character works and what they can do. What is necessary, is an understanding of what level you're playing your character at, and how to balance your character to fit that tier of power. I need to be able to look at my character sheet and say “Is this too much? Should I tone this down? Cut this out?” I need to very clearly outline the limitations of my character's powers, physical abilities, equipment, training, etc. What are they good at? What powers do they have? My profile should be completely transparent, to the point that anyone else can a) understand it and b) feasibly play my character.
I also need to have an internal system by which my character's powers (should they have any that require it) operate. Most often, this is a prep, cooldown, and/or limited-use system wherein a character must gather energy for x number of posts, cannot use a specific spell/ability again for y amount of posts, and can only use the ability z amount of times in a fight.
I don't need a random allergy to black truffle oil to balance my character. My character doesn't need to be blind six days out of the month and deaf every Tuesday in order to counter-balance the fact that he can belch thunder and shit lightning. What my character needs, is clear, defined limits on these powers.
On the topic of helping new players:
The best thing to do is to create a thread devoted to character creation and balancing that is specific to fighting, and then have a few provide help to those who need it. That way if someone's not sure about something, they have someone they can go to for help. Most people have the requisite Google-Fu to find basic information, what they often need help with is putting it together and understanding it. A small group of people - three or four - can be immensely helpful in helping someone construct and streamline a profile.