Role-Playing "Stages"

[Learpabru]

Role-players come in all shapes and smells, and there is a distinguishable difference as to which are better RPers than others. Most veteran RPers recognize four unofficial levels, or stages, of role-playing, each one more thoughtful, coherent, and competent than the former. These stages don't particularly denote individual styles and mannerisms so much as they mark categorizations of effort. You'll see what I mean, if you're interested enough to keep reading.

Stage 1
By far, this is the most disgusting, pathetic, abhorring eyesore of what one may hardly call "role-playing."
Example: steps ovr ur bareur and lafs ha ha ur stoopd
Key factors:
-Grammar is seemingly nonexistent.
-Capitalization tends to either occur at random, at the beginning of every word, or not at all, though there are plenty cases of Stage 1 that do manage to capitalize the beginning of every sentence.
-Punctuation is either nonexistent or appallingly wrong, which may or may not include lack of action punctuation/quotation marks.
-Spelling is seemingly intentionally poor, to the point at which one can hardly decipher a message.
-Paragraphs almost never exist. In fact, one may as well say that they never exist in Stage 1. Combined with the lack of punctuation, this often makes actions and speech blend, as you can see.
-Complete sentences are few and far between, and they are almost never for actions. Even a broken clock is right twice per day.
-Dialogue is immature and intellectually retarded when present.
-Logic and common sense appear to be foreign concepts.
-As a result of the former, details are either nonexistent or so hard to find in the mess that they may as well be nonexistent.
-Random bouts of cybering may occur.
-God-moding is considered to be a way of life, or the way of life. Exceptions are seen in those who intentionally fail at everything.
-Everything from them is an autohit, but it doesn't matter how good you are; you can never hit them.
-Bunnying is thought of as a natural thing to do.
-Steamrolling is accepted as a legitimate way to ensure that whatever you type occurs without contest.
-Stage 1 is often accompanied by vast measures of pride, despite having much to be humble about. Exceptions are those who are exceedingly humble, also with much to be humble about.
-This is, by far, the most common RPing stage in chat RPs. If one says that one only does chat RPs, one is generally admitting to being either a Stage 1 or Stage 2 RPer. Chat sites promote and act as breeding grounds for Stage 1 RPing.
-Upon experiencing Stage 3+ RPing, one will notice the distinct feeling of "WTFISTHISSHIT" upon reading Stage 1 RPing.
Recommendation: Avoid Stage 1 like the Plague. If it is seen on Sein in any context but as a joke, it will not be replied to, and it will invoke a very stern finger-wag with a variable sermon on proper RPing. If you see Stage 1 elsewhere, try to teach higher RPing and convince the subject(s) to come to a site where the subject(s) may learn to properly RP, like Sein. Stage 1 RPing is composed entirely of fecal matter. Don't be a monkey.

Stage 2
This is another rather sad form of RPing, but not nearly as vomit-inducing as Stage 1. It's not so bad, but needs work to be really acceptable.
Example: *tries to break ur barrier* Come on!
-English is better than Stage 1, but some problems persist vehemently, such as capitalization errors, so many punctuation errors, lack of proper action punctuation (Parentheses and brackets aren't good. Fortunately, a lot of Stage 2 RPers at least know to use asterisks or something.), plenty of sentence fragments, et cetera. Paragraphs may or may not be present, depending on where you're reading, but generally aren't sectioned quite correctly in the rare cases in which one has enough text for more than a couple paragraphs. Actions and speech still blend somewhat, since they often aren't sectioned into paragraphs, but at least some action punctuation is there, most of the time. Grammar is generally more acceptable, at least to the point that people can mostly get what is being written, though still rather erroneous.
-Dialogue lacks much thought, but at least is more legible and a bit more appropriate to context than Stage 1.
-In general, some logic is used, though not really as much as the writer could and should be using. At least some common sense is present.
-Details are variable. Sometimes, you'll read a Stage 2 entry that details something (like every notch in the char's sword) extremely, but doesn't explain abilities and actions. If you cast Fire on someone, and you simply describe your Fire spell as "a spell that deals fire damage," you aren't putting enough thought into things and are playing in Stage 2. When you say that you're trying to break my barrier, how are you trying? Are you just flailing your sword at it, or what? It's just generally incoherent.
-Sometimes, Stage 2 RPers will show some Stage 3-esque logic and go into the acquisition of materials or such things, rather than just pulling boats out of their asses, but fail to say what happens with the shiny rocks to make them into a sword or whatever it is that they want.
-Cybering is still common, but more planned, more private, and less spontaneous. Thankfully, there are also many Stage 2 RPers who flat-out refuse to cyber, too, so it's not nearly such an eyesore as Stage 1.
-Godhacks still occur a ton, as well as their inversions, the underpowered. It's often either that or RPers being equal (equally OP or equally sucky) and struggling all the time just to get absolutely nothing done, such as landing no hits.
-Bunnying occurs about as much as, if not more than, in Stage 1. This is because Stage 1 people often are too incompetent to do anything in relation to allies, such as combined attacks, in stead relying on godhacking on their own. Stage 2s will think of a somewhat cool combo with an ally, then bunny that ally to participate.
-Steamrolling is not nearly as frequent as in Stage 1, but still present. At least many Stage 2s look down on steamrolling.
-As in most Stage 1 RPing, the concept that one must maintain "realism" by making everything a one-shot remains, often leading to cases like what I just mentioned, in which two people dodge or block everything until one goes all godmod or failure-on-a-stick.
+Because of this, unfair autohits aren't nearly as common.
-Still, they are lying around in plenty of places that they shouldn't be.
-This is the second-most common form of chat RPing. On chat sites, the Stage 2s think that they're the best because they're better than the Stage 1s, at least until they see Stage 3. This is also very common on forums, particularly sub-par forums like Neo's RP or Vescrutia, as well as Escellsia, to a slightly lesser degree.
Recommendation: If this is where you are, start reading, learning, and practicing to get better, because this is much less abominable than Stage 1, but still not anywhere near acceptable. Stage 1s have a lot more to learn than Stage 2s, so, if this is where you are, you should be able to transition somewhat smoothly. If you have any of these tendencies, start picking them off to get more and more into proper RPing.

Stage 3
This is the seemingly ideal stage. Most qualities should be good enough, and others should be better, with rare exceptions. Basically, this is the stage that you start playing in when you start really applying effort to being logical.
Example: #Len looked the barrier over carefully. It appeared to encompass his target from all directions, so his options came down to waiting it out or trying to pierce it. He was pressed for time, so he chose the latter.#
"Have at thee!"
#Len generated a fireball, then lobbed it so that it would fall into the exact area of the barrier that Len was about to attack otherwise. He charged forth with his sword readied, then thrust it forth in order to stab the center of the barrier at the precise moment in which the fireball would be colliding with that targeted area. Len wasn't sure if the barrier could be broken by brute force alone, but, if it could, he was confident that he was powerful enough to do it, or at least be able to tell whether the barrier would be affected or not.#
+English still has faults (They don't teach the bloody language, these days.), but is mostly savvy. Grammar is generally proper, with rare mistakes. Spelling is usually right, but typoes and some little mistakes occur. Punctuation is often the most erroneous area, but Stage 3s at least try to get it right, and they learn. Action punctuation is always present for actions, unless quotation marks are always present for speech. Paragraphs aren't always sectioned properly, but, again, Stage 3s at least try to get it right and learn. Every sentence is complete. Capitalization errors sometimes exist in titles or some other things, but are not readily found in Stage 3 RPing.
+Dialogue has thought put into it; it is canon to the personality of the char and fits the context. There are elements to the dialogue that makes it more than a boring eyesore.
+Relatedly, the thoughts of the char are at least sometimes expressed to the reader, which is seen almost never in lower stages.
+The writer isn't perfect, but consistently implements enough logic to make a cohesive story with cohesive battles. Responses of speech and action flow forth with allocated thought and effort.
+There is usually enough detail to actions. Rather than simply "trying to break my barrier," you run at it and try to stab through it while launching a fireball at an angle to hit the same spot. You don't just "slash at me;" you "launch a horizontal slash from the left with a slightly upward curve, then jump to perform a downward slash with your sword in your right hand while your left reaches for your knife." You have it planned out and are expressing just how you do whatever you're doing. That's much more like it.
+You don't light your cigarettes without a lighter with fuel or matches, right? You don't load your gun without first getting ammo, you don't go running around all the time without bathroom breaks or enough food, you don't just always have whatever food you are in the mood to eat, et cetera. Stage 3s take it all into account; we gather the materials, we put them together (and give an idea of how), we take them to someone else to put together, we keep track of our money, ammo, food, and everything. It's just logical, and it's lazy to neglect these things. A Stage 3 will make some mistakes, such as forgetting that you've already lit so many cigarettes that you don't have any butane left, neglecting to sharpen your pencil, or not realizing that you need more food than what you just bought, but you do your best to keep your mind on it all and play it out properly.
+Cybering is much more rare, and when it is done, it's planned and private, so at least it doesn't get in everyone else's way. Most Stage 3s are more interested in real RPing and avoid cybering.
+God-moding and its inversion are rampant problems throughout all RPing, as we've seen, partially due to the fact that almost no one can build a fair system for RPing. Still, Stage 3s usually recognize the problems and try to work for fairness, because they know that it's not fun without fairness. Many godhacks are accidental, resulting from faulty calculations, underestimations, or overestimations, and Stage 3s generally talk things out to see what is and is not fair so that we can all come to some manner of fair flow.
-That whole bit about fearing every single hit is still present among a lot of Stage 3 RPers.
+Stage 3 RPers can be taught otherwise, though, as you see here on Sein.
+This is almost never seen on chat sites, and when it is, it's usually just in select groups that don't roll with Stage 2s and certainly not Stage 1s. Stage 3s often like to have everything managed and documented on a forum site, like Sein, so as to avoid steamrolling and bunnying (which, quite simply, should not occur in Stage 3 RPing) while maintaining a structure of other regulations that are necessary for a fun, fair game. Even on forums, though, the Stage 3s have to deal with a lot of Stage 2s, which isn't such a problem as long as the Stage 2s are willing to learn.
Recommendation: Aim for this! If you're not a Stage 3, get there. If you are, there's always room for improvement, so look for things to learn so that you can be a really amazing RPer. Sometimes, you'll want to shoot a tad higher than Stage 3, even, which I'll get to describing in a bit, but this is the main stage of good RPing.

Stage 4
Stage 4 can be rather excessive. We should give props to Stage 4s for their effort and all, but it gets to the point where it's just too much effort in one place, partially because we have to wait a century before they reply, usually.
Example:
Um, I'll spare you a full example, but imagine one who writes a large paragraph on one's thoughts about the barrier and one's thoughts about barriers in general. That writer then writes another paragraph or two of planning what to do about this particular barrier. He finally decides to allocate his abilities for one of his most overwhelming plasma shots. He details each thought that goes into each ability activation, each issue that arises, every plan in this allocation (For those of us whom have played KH: 385/2 Days, we can think of someone who is describing every motion of arranging panels.), then expresses his thoughts on how this should work, why this should work, and confirmation that this is the allocation that he decides on. Alternatively, he may change his mind and change it to another allocation of abilities. Anyway, he then details how he charges it up, what is happening as he's charging, what is going through his mind, exactly where in space some space dust is coming from and where it is collecting, and all that jazz. He finally details his release of the energy and how it travels through space for one final command to the formed asteroid to come on down and strike the barrier from above. Then, he goes through explaining what happens as the asteroid exits the exosphere and enters the ionosphere, then into the mesosphere, then the stratosphere, then the troposphere, and finally what should happen as it strikes the bloody barrier. It gets worse.
Alternatively, imagine the same RPer composing a catapult, in which he details every moment of collecting every material and tool, then describes every splinter that he gets as he describes how he puts everything together, every peg in every hole, every shaving from every wood block . . . Like I said, it's just excessive.
+English is generally about the same as Stage 3, and sometimes a bit better. I still hold the stance that the language is hardly taught, anymore, so you still can't expect to see no errors, but Stage 4s will generally put the time and effort into correcting most of them. Well, that's not to say that some of them don't go a more Stage 2-ish way, but this is all broad categorization.
+Dialogue is often like Stage 3.
-Dialogue is often accompanied by way too much character thought of every word and every phrase that (s)he is saying, often stating many obvious thoughts.
+For the most part, Stage 4 RPing is very logical, mentally mapping out every aspect of tasks. When it's not logical, you have so much failure . . .
-For the most part, Stage 4 RPing is boorishly long, mapping out every aspect of tasks in ridiculous specificity to the reader.
+Stage 4 RPing is always detailed enough. You never have to ask how a Stage 4 is doing something; it's right there for you.
-It's all over there for you. They get to detailing everything so much that they detail obvious things and just bore the piss out of readers.
+With incredibly rare exceptions, Stage 4s take everything into account. They denote where they got what, they keep track of what's enough, they stock ahead, and all that jazz.
-Some of them feel like they have to recount and reiterate every time that they draw from the resources that they gather.
+-When it comes to cybering, it depends on the context. They won't just bust out into a cyber-fest in the middle of everything. Some do, however, write Stage 4 cybering posts in disgustingly boring detail. Since cybering with a Stage 4 is such a chore, it is far from common, thankfully.
-Godhacks are actually more common in Stage 4 than Stage 3. It comes from the concept of, "I put a lot more thought and effort into mine; shouldn't I get more?" While the concept isn't innately a bad one, it stands that detailing how you put every peg into every hole won't necessarily make your catapult stronger than mine; it just makes it more wordy than mine. Detailing how you do something doesn't mean that you should be allowed to do it; you can come up with a smart, detailed way to one-shot me, but, if it's overpowered, it's overpowered. More effort does vary directly with more benefits from various forms of training (including building junk) if you apply it in such a way as to make things better, but don't expect concessions just because you write a lot. Bill writes a lot, but he doesn't get to be any better than anyone else.
+-Stage 4 opinions of what should happen with each hit varies from individual to individual too much for a broad statement.
+Obviously, this is just about impossible on chat sites, and only present where one can post a lot (namely forums). Chats have no structure or regulations, and everyone's too impatient to wait for, much less read, a Stage 4 entry, even if you section it into a ton of chat messages. That, and Stage 1s and 2s aren't really seen as worthwhile targets to Stage 4s.
Recommendation: The rule of thumb is that you should show some moderation and stick more along the Stage 3 lines. Stage 4 is just overdoing it. However, we should all strive for a Stage 4 mentality for thinking every material and every action through, just without writing out every thought in boring detail. When it comes to the composition of various machines, whether as simple as a basic catapult or as complex as a nuclear reactor, plenty of Stage 3s will neglect some aspects or some materials, so we should aim for more of a Stage 4 mindset whenever we're building things or explaining how things work. Basically, think everything through to a Stage 4 degree, but describe them in a Stage 3 manner by remembering that you don't have to explain everything to the readers as though they are all four-year-olds.

You'll notice that none of the stages explicitly necessitate lengths, but they do have a tendency to be longer at higher stages. This is because Stages 1 and 2 are lazy stages with little thought put into things, while Stage 4 is painfully thoughtful with so much wasted effort. I consider Stage 3 to be the most variable on length, since it is acceptable to simply express one sentence or one simple action, quite similarly to a Stage 2 post (Reference "Participation at Last," a thread in which Choh is making some rather short posts.), but one also delves into more in-depth thinking and explanation (as seen in Choh's introductory thread, "Solemn Decision") when appropriate. The lower stages rarely ever seem to say enough, while Stage 4 always seems to say too much, but Stage 3 adjusts to the situation. I write a lot when there is much to be written, and, when there isn't, I don't drag it out by detailing everything that I can think of until I've spoken more than Kaepora Gaebora.

[Fangodorn]

http://msadventdestiny.com/showthread.php?tid=876

first post, Lunamaria

Luna is also why i can't rp there. lol. She hates me.

[Learpabru]

Yeap; that's a little Stage 4, there. It's sorta' a 3.5, 'cause it could be much more painful than that, but that was a tad excessive. I also noticed a ton of bunnying. Like, every other sentence was about what others were doing. <_<; I should mention that a few Stage 3s and many more Stage 4s actually think bunnying to be necessary, especially when they're making their posts that stretch over several hours or whatnot. It's not; if there are other characters to interact with, you can wait for a bit for someone else to post to you.

Somewhat relatedly, it's cool if you are posting to yourself (with breaks, in case others want to join) when doing something (often building or training) and go over a long time and a lot of text, but you shouldn't just pass a bunch of hours over one post in order to get things done or something. You have to allow people to come in and start something up with you. There are exceptions, sure; if Learpabru surrounds herself in Structuremuk when she's not in battle, for instance, she can easily pass a long time (as opposed to a few seconds of fighting or a few minutes of walking) because there's pretty much no way that others can get to her and interrupt whatever she is doing for however long. If she were to just detail a stroll from the Crash Pastures to the Atypical Institution, though, there would be a problem because she'd do all that writing of what she does and thinks on the way while skipping any opportunity for encounters with anyone else, including the many monsters that she should find. It's just a common sense thing that some Stage 3s and many Stage 4s neglect.