How long are replies in a 'Detailed' story?

[Oenanthe]

Because seriously! I have seen so many people claiming they only did 'detailed' then proceed to say that 1 paragraph is minimum. Hell no. One isn't even casual. Three paragraphs is a good casual response.

NOOOO. I'm really tired of this false advertising we need a standard of what detailed means.


To me detailed means: AT LEAST A SOLID 5 PARAGRAPH MINIMUM.

 

[Mordecai]

Huh.


Well, I think more goes into detail than just post length. I could probably put out 10 pages worth of crap describing every blade of grass in a lawn, but that doesn't sound very appealing, does it? To me, a detailed roleplay involves an immense amount of character depth and development. It highlights how a character ticks and why they make the choices they do. In essence, I think detailed roleplays really aim to answer the question: "Why is my character and why do they do what they do?" EDIT: Answering this questions usually breed longer posts, but I've read plenty of 1,000 word posts that don't do anything for a character.


Second, I want to point the false advertising of the word "literate." I hate this term when ascribed to detailed roleplaying, because we shouldn't forget what the definition of literate is:


(of a person) able to read and write.


Therefore, everyone on this forum is literate.


Lastly, there is no standard in roleplaying. What is detailed to one person is casual to another, and vice-versa. There is no universal definition and while we do our best to make it as much of a standard as possible, it will never be a definitive term. I am strongly of the opinion that roleplaying is a hobby and shouldn't stress people out so much.

 

[amdreams]

I'm not sure but I don't think "detailed" or any of the other tags really refer to length. I think it's more about what content you bring with your posts. Things like how strict the rules of the rp are, details of the characters and settings, and how much you stress development along the course of the roleplay. Of course, while the tags do seem to imply a certain length to most, I don't think super long posts are the only thing that makes a roleplay "detailed". You can easily make amazing posts with only 1 or 2 paragraphs.


I may be wrong however so I wouldn't take my word for it.

 

[Oenanthe]

Huh.
Well, I think more goes into detail than just post length. I could probably put out 10 pages worth of crap describing every blade of grass in a lawn, but that doesn't sound very appealing, does it? To me, a detailed roleplay involves an immense amount of character depth and development. It highlights how a character ticks and why they make the choices they do. In essence, I think detailed roleplays really aim to answer the question: "Why is my character and why do they do what they do?" EDIT: Answering this questions usually breed longer posts, but I've read plenty of 1,000 word posts that don't do anything for a character.


Second, I want to point the false advertising of the word "literate." I hate this term when ascribed to detailed roleplaying, because we shouldn't forget what the definition of literate is:


(of a person) able to read and write.


Therefore, everyone on this forum is literate.


Lastly, there is no standard in roleplaying. What is detailed to one person is casual to another, and vice-versa. There is no universal definition and while we do our best to make it as much of a standard as possible, it will never be a definitive term. I am strongly of the opinion that roleplaying is a hobby and shouldn't stress people out so much.

Agreeable but


" Jim went to the store. He bought eggs. Jan was pretty and he loved her. He saw Jan. His heart lept. " Does not really contribute all that much too complex character development


Are you sure about that? I have encountered quite a few people on multiple sites (one being our very own RPnation) who really cannot write. Not in the talent sense but as in. I hve no htra wht thry trin to sy.

 

[Mordecai]

Agreeable but
" Jim went to the store. He bought eggs. Jan was pretty and he loved her. He saw Jan. His heart lept. " Does not really contribute all that much too complex character development


Are you sure about that? I have encountered quite a few people on multiple sites (one being our very own RPnation) who really cannot write. Not in the talent sense but as in. I hve no htra wht thry trin to sy.

Being able to read and write language and being able to read and write correctly are two different things.


And as I said, character development does tend to breed length, but length should be the smallest thing to consider when it comes to what divides detailed and casual, in my opinion.

 

[Oenanthe]

I'm not sure but I don't think "detailed" or any of the other tags really refer to length. I think it's more about what content you bring with your posts. Things like how strict the rules of the rp are, details of the characters and settings, and how much you stress development along the course of the roleplay. Of course, while the tags do seem to imply a certain length to most, I don't think super long posts are the only thing that makes a roleplay "detailed". You can easily make amazing posts with only 1 or 2 paragraphs.
I may be wrong however so I wouldn't take my word for it.

I suppose so but it is immensely agitating when you spends hours forming a complex character and an equally in-depth story, pouring all of your creative energy into something and then some twat wants to respond with a simple paragraph. It's quite difficult to be detailed when your post are just long enough to provide a general idea of what is going on.

 

[Sunbather]

When I started on this site, I inquired about this myself. My estimation, since then, has become something like this:


Casual: (Kinda like this)


Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua.


Detailed's the same but times three. I tend to try and write more in detailed roleplays, because everyone else does, but yeah. I don't know, really. I usually adjust to what other people are doing. To be honest, I hate seeing walls of text where barely anything actually happens, and it's just boring filler stuff. I rather have two really good paragraphs with lots of stuff happening and vidid descriptions than five or six with a lot of redundant nonsense.

 

[Lexielai]

For me, it's always been Simple includes one liners and short blurbs more suited for chat roleplaying than forum.


Casual explores characters more in depth by providing longer descriptions, introspective thoughts, ramblings, etc. They're something I can churn out with a good idea and a few minutes, and would be most similar to the transcription of what a tabletop roleplayer says.


Detailed is like reading a mini-novel.


Each tends to have correlation with a certain type of writer, but assuming their association is absolute is a fallacy. Simple tends to include newer writers who don't yet understand the fine points of prose. This does not mean good writers can't do Simple roleplays, naturally. Length continues to be associated with writing skill, as you progress to Casual and Detailed, which is why people like to use length as a solid tool of concrete measurement with something immaterial like writing categories.


My opinion is expected to differ from others, of course; there isn't really an exact science when you're talking about the refined aspects of prose, which tends to lean towards the subjective.

 

[Pine]

Alright, so here's how I interpret things.


Roleplays should abide by the prefixes list we have here, at least a little bit. Casual roleplays should be at least a paragraph, and detailed ones are meant to be three paragraphs. Thing is, if you look in actual novels that are published, their paragraphs can be rather short, so people could argue that the same thing could apply to roleplays. Then you get posts that are technically three paragraphs, but not exactly what you would expect for a detailed roleplay.


Detailed IMPLIES quality, but as I think a few of you have noted, quantity does not necessarily equate to quality. You can pump your post up with with as much purple prose as you would like to make your post seem big and important, and I'll still cringe just as much as I do when I see a one-liner, if not more.


I guess the bottom line is that roleplaying is geared most towards being a hobby. Hell, if this could be a profession where I could actually get paid, sign me the fuck up. Alas, we all commonly do it for fun, and we don't want to put anyone down just because they're only here for that exact purpose, if that makes any sense. We don't really want to make it competitive or anything, I guess is what I'm trying to say, so we leave those a little vague. Like, there isn't one prefix that is better than the other.


That being said, if someone has their roleplay set to detailed and they're consistently just posting one paragraph, it wouldn't hurt for them to change their roleplay to casual, and I can definitely understand your frustration. I fear that not a lot of people ever really look at the prefixes list. In a lot of roleplay communities, there is this mentality that more = better, so I think people's first instinct is to mark their roleplay as detailed, because hell, I'm not about to make myself out to be a newb. It's all just a big misunderstanding imo.

 

[JayTee]

This discussion again, eh? Oh well, I'll post the TLR version of my usual argument.


Quantity =/= quality.


That is all.

 

[Ursus]

Well. This is really gonna set you off then. Apologies in advance. In my opinion/interpretation, the prefixes also suggest quality and thought.


Simple: 'i walk over to sarah and say hi'


Casual: 'Stefan is sulking as he watches the new girl enter the room. 'Hey there,' " He grumbles. (maybe 2-3 more sentences.)


Detailed: 'Its not often we get a pretty young thing like that around these parts, Stefan reflects with an inward smirk. He raises a hand in greeting, and grunts out a reply. . . ' (As part of at least 8-10 reasonably solid sentences.)


I am not generally impressed by epic-length posts. All that says to me is that there's either far too much going on in your character's head in too brief a time, or worse, that you're basically playing solitaire in what is essentially a group exercise.

 

[Bone2pick]

I am not generally impressed by epic-length posts. All that says to me is that there's either far too much going on in your character's head in too brief a time, or worse, that you're basically playing solitaire in what is essentially a group exercise.

There's more than one way to exercise as a group.

 

[Lexielai]

One of the best ways to combine group work, and the full detail a lot of people like in high quality roleplays, is to do something called collaborative posting.

 

[Ursus]

One of the best ways to combine group work, and the full detail a lot of people like in high quality roleplays, is to do something called collaborative posting.

Yes. I'm familiar with the process. That's generally the only time I hit five paragraphs of 10+ sentences each, personally. Its my assumption, though, that Oenanth would like to see each user regularly contribute five paragraphs of their own work. While its absolutely fine if its outlined in the RP rules (or by example of other players who have already posted) I think its a little unrealistic to expect every 'detailed' RP to demand five paragraphs of all of its users all the time.


Regarding collab posts being used to make that five paragraph benchmark, I personally don't see much difference between a collab post of two authors for 6 paragraphs and two individual posts of 3 paragraphs. Is there?

 

[Daiagnosis]

To put it very simply, I think Detailed simply means that there are subtle hints to what a character does, why they do it and what they want to achieve by doing so. Basically, like someone already said, it's like reading a mini novel. To give an example of this, I once hinted at one of my characters having OCD, by repeating them their morning routine, which was also very specific. I never stated IC that she had OCD, instead I hinted as this throughout the things she did in her life. A couple of people eventually figured it out, but it took quite some time to be honest. Quantity should never be over Quality when it comes to roleplaying, as I rather have two paragraphs of wonderfully written and intricate prose rather than 6 paragraphs of fluff that has nothing to do with the story.

 

[Lexielai]

Yes. I'm familiar with the process. That's generally the only time I hit five paragraphs of 10+ sentences each, personally. Its my assumption, though, that Oenanth would like to see each user regularly contribute five paragraphs of their own work. While its absolutely fine if its outlined in the RP rules (or by example of other players who have already posted) I think its a little unrealistic to expect every 'detailed' RP to demand five paragraphs of all of its users all the time.
Regarding collab posts being used to make that five paragraph benchmark, I personally don't see much difference between a collab post of two authors for 6 paragraphs and two individual posts of 3 paragraphs. Is there?

I don't judge by post length, personally. It is convenient and most importantly, tangible. A lot of people struggle with judging the abstract. For me, it's always been about the depth, meaning, and quality of the overall writing. The people I want in my roleplay are the people who love writing and show it in their diction, tone, style, mistakes, habits, etc. I think that's why my collab posts regularly go 6+ pages; we end up going for hours

 

[Ursus]

I don't judge by post length, personally. It is convenient and most importantly, tangible. A lot of people struggle with judging the abstract. For me, it's always been about the depth, meaning, and quality of the overall writing. The people I want in my roleplay are the people who love writing and show it in their diction, tone, style, mistakes, habits, etc. I think that's why my collab posts regularly go 6+ pages; we end up going for hours

That sounds lovely.


I had figured you put forward collab posting as an alternative to multiple shorter posts, because, well, the thread is about post length. I guess I misinterpreted your response to my earlier post, because it sounds like we are mostly in agreement.