Idea
The Pun Tyrant
One thing I mention often, especially here in the discussion threads, is something I call the "simple, casual and detailed mindsets". If know the terms simple, casual and detailed, then you probably have a vague understanding of what they mean in your head. This thread is not going to dispute that idea. In fact, you can have a detailed mindset and still play casual, and you can have a casual mindset and still write detailed. If anything, the mindset is more of a spectrum, with particular elements that make you fall closer to one side or the other, but not really saying you absolutely check on all of these criteria if you are a simple/casual/detailed RPer.
No, my purpose with this thread is mostly to explain exactly what I mean when I speak of these mindsets. I want to explain the idea behind what I'm talking about, and provide some examples of behaviors that lead more to one side or the other. My point isn't to argue, though if you have any objections other than counter-examples , as always I'm happy to have a discussion with you, or at least hear you out.
Without further ado, let's begin.
When I talk about, for instance, a detailed mindset, I am referring to a set of behaviors and tastes which make you more apt and inclined to enjoy and produce detailed content. While there is a general expectation here that detailed will have the highest length, the mindset isn't specifically about length, but moreso the degree of depth and complexity of your detail. If you're someone who values long descriptions of an environment, for instance, this is an element of a detailed mindset, because that taste makes you more inclined to enjoy posts with those long descriptions and to provide them yourself.
Right away, I want to dismiss the myth of a specific one of these- simple, casual or detailed- being better than the others. Same for post lengths. They aren't better or worse than the others, but they are for people who enjoy different things to different degrees. What elements you value and your creative approach to writing will decide what kind of roleplay you can enjoy and what works for you. A marvelously written detailed post may appear overblown and boring or even intimidating to a casual or simple crowd. A casual post may seem lacking and flavorless to a detailed roleplayer and way too much for a simple roleplayer. So when I speak of a mindset regarding one of these types, and the spectrum of those mindsets, I do not mean to imply a spectrum of post quality or skill, but merely one of one's preferences being more adjusted for this or that kind of roleplay.
Simple Mindset: Being honest, this one is the one I know least about, since I don't have much contact with it. If I were to boil it down to one key idea that would be "what matters is that we're roleplaying". More than any other mindset, the simple roleplayer wants to enjoy the very act of roleplaying without worrying much about what the contents of that might be. For this reason, they are a lot less inclined to care about grammar mistakes or post length (even one-liners), or thinking about anything in the long term. They are the most likely to just get two characters and ram them together, in fact most freeform sanbox-type roleplays tend to be simple roleplays because this attitude allows every party to have a significant amount of freedoom to do just about anything they want. In the end of the day, if the simple roleplayer gets to enjoy their bit of time to just relax and roleplay, they are pretty happy.
In the same way, however, they struggle with really forming anything resembling a proper plot, developing a solid setting and with the idea of anything in the long term, like slow burn romance and paced character development. There is a certain dread to the idea of having to wait around for stuff, like watching the seconds pass on the clock while waiting for class to finish. They aren't used to having to think of a surrounding plot or setting either, so it doesn't come naturally to them to have to push it.
On the other end, however, not only are simple roleplays usually fast paced, pretty freedoom-loving and relaxed, they also are just about the most organic out of any of the posts, but they contain exclusively that most immediate and raw response, the character's natural response when done right, without feeling the need to add anything extra, not even for the sake of moving the plot.
Casual Mindset: What matters to a casual mindset is "contributing to the narrative". A narrative in this case can be plot-driven, but just as often it can be character-driven as well. However, in either case, the casual roleplayer is interested in the development of the story as their own fun (note: none of these mindsets is ever looking to do these things in spite of their own fun. They have, however, very different perceptions and needs when it comes to that fun), be it simply through the plot's progress and eventual resolution or through the character's exploration and development. Beyond this though, casual's unnoficial motto could be "I want it, but I won't ask it of you". A casual player may not be as straight up carefree as a player with a simple mindset, but they do tend to show an aversion towards trying to demand things of people, so they tend to stick to the minimums in that regard (typically, good grammar, a single paragraph that doesn't exactly have to be bulky, and making sure your posts progress the plot or conversation). That said, they won't mind and in fact will still be happy to get more (up to a point). That said, people with this kind of mindset tend to have a very book-like approach, where they tend to value saying more with less (a form of applying the show don't tell rule, often by expressing things through character action alone) and to disregard what does not contribute to the narrative as superfluous extra details or even flowery. The casual mindset tends to view these extra details as more padding than anything else, and in fact as potentially more harm than good, as they can be boring or clog the important parts of the post.
One example of this would be regarding internal monologue. For the most part, the casual mindset considers internal monologue superfluous. After all, others cannot react to your internal monologue and it seemingly contributes nothing to the progress of neither the plot nor the conversation, being there merely in place of action or dialogue or as repetition of action or dialogue. Instead of internal monolgue, the casual mindset just gives you whatever actions and dialogue it would lead to, and keeps internal monologue to at most brief reactions to the other's post or showing direct thoughts from the character.
One problem I often discuss and in which the concept of the simple, casual and detailed mindsets comes up, is in regards to casual-minded roleplayers jumping into detailed roleplays without proper consideration, and then being unable to keep up with or remain interested in the detailed posts, often resulting in at first bad detailed posts and later ghosting. The reason those players are unable to keep up good detailed posts, and in fact a reason why people often have a hard time filling their posts has to do with exactly what I just mentioned: Details like internal monologue, the state of the character's surroundings, the character's emotional state even are often considered superfluous by the casual mindset, and thus not ideas which a casual player easily associates with things they can put into a post. Even if they don't straight up think it would be bad to include them, they just think about them so little that adding them in is a possibility that just doesn't cross their mind. Instead, they often try to pad posts with more of what they know from casual roleplaying (resulting in cacophonic posts with too much action and dialogue), OR they add what they THINK a detailed post would entail (lots of meaningless repetition and pointlessly long descriptions).
Casual roleplay has advantages of its own naturally. First, it is the kind that most resembles how books are written, giving it a more familiar feel, and in combination with being a middleground of sorts, it has the biggest base, and one of the more solid ones. It is pretty organic, but if you take the time to make a better post you won't feel like you're missing out by not continually pumping out posts, and regardless of that, this mindset is pretty to the point, allowing you to enjoy an actual narrative without having to be bogged down by details unrelated to it.
Detailed Mindset: The detailed mindset appreciates what happens beyond just the narrative. They appreciate every moment of roleplaying, for the reverse reason of the simple roleplayer's: While a simple roleplayer enjoys the very fact they are roleplaying by itself, a detailed roleplayer enjoys the time they get to roleplay because of the content they make and receive, because of the richness and flavor of that content. A detailed roleplayer distinguishes themselves from the casual roleplayer first and foremost because want each moment of the roleplay to be as complete as it can be, with there being any narrative progress being a secondary matter by comparison. What others might find useless or superfluous, a detailed roleplayer may see value in- the structure of how one roleplays, the length of posts, internal monologue, detailed descriptions of the environment, lore etc... However, growing an appreciation for these things makes them all the more aware of it when it is lacking. To them a post is like meat, it may take time to give it flavor, spice and cook it, but not putting that in makes raw and pointless, even if still nutritious in the end. Likewise, for the detailed mindset a casual post is plain and bland, so even if they get that post it will simply be disappointing.
The detailed mindset tends to approach the long-term as a facet of the short-term, and thus has a lot less problems with it than the other mindsets. Where simple dreads it and casual thinks of it as what might come, the detailed mindset views the long-term as what you can set up now. However, all of this does come with a bit of a price. A detailed mindset takes effort and time, moreso than others, which in turn can affect the pacing others need or otherwise be unable to keep up with the quick pacing of casual or simple roleplays.
Detailed roleplay tells the most complete stories and has a degree of immersion not based on how organic it is, but through the artificial means it uses to completely place you in the right context, mindframe and understanding of the situation. I would argue for those with this mindset it is the kind of mindset that best allows you to experience the story, rather than merely watching it as an observer. Furthermore, detailed also has a broad range of styles it allows, because detailed roleplayers are often actually looking at and thinking about the very structure of how they roleplay, thus making them aware of more ways to approach it.
I want to mention once more: This is a spectrum. I highly doubt a lot of people will fall under an exclusive one of these. However, I do believe most people fall pretty squarely ALMOST in one. Maybe you have some ideas of pre-dispositions of a simple roleplayer, but just about everything else fits more the detailed mindset. The mindsets are ultimately patterns and inclinations, not restraints.
To wrap things up, I want to adress four topics and how they fit with this idea:
1. Skill --> Skill doesn't really factor into what mindset you have, and I do not mean to get into an argument about which style tends to have better skill attached. It is both a myth that people who want to roleplay detailed are snobbish about it (though snobbish people to tend to gather in detailed roleplay due to it being the type that values much more subtle details like structural details) and that detailed roleplay is inherently better.
2. People who value community and people who are in roleplay for reasons other than having fun --> "Wait, what about people who don't value the things you listed?", you may ask. Well, the thing is that these aren't exclusive. You can, for instance, value community over anything else and still have a casual mindset. This happens because at the moment of roleplay you need to have an approach, and unless I'm completely wrong on the subject, it will fall under the simple, casual or detailed approach.
3.Changing your level of detail --> If you want to change how you do detail, it is important that you learn the values of the other kinds of detail. A casual roleplayer aiming to transition to detail will need to learn to savor the flavor of descriptions and internal monologue, giving more emphasis on to the significance of how things are written rather than just that they are.
4.Pacing and length --> while there isn't a necessary association between a certain mindset and a certain length, it most commonly found. After all, detailed mindsets make you value the extra details more, making you more inclined to include and expect them, and in turn that means expecting more length. Length is, for a lot of people, not an end in itself, but a sign that the content has what you want to get from it. As for pacing, everyone wants quality posts, regardless of what length they may also be expecting. This means that detailed mindsets tend to be more willing to wait for posts, whereas simple mindsets will be more inclined to set aside a period when both players are free and just roleplay with each other for a period and then stop and schedule another time (so, instant responses pretty much).
And well, that's all I have to say. As mentioned previously, the point here isn't to convince people or start an argument, feel free to take this idea or not as you find best. In any case, I hope you at least enjoyed reading. Best of luck and happy RPing!
No, my purpose with this thread is mostly to explain exactly what I mean when I speak of these mindsets. I want to explain the idea behind what I'm talking about, and provide some examples of behaviors that lead more to one side or the other. My point isn't to argue, though if you have any objections other than counter-examples , as always I'm happy to have a discussion with you, or at least hear you out.
Without further ado, let's begin.
When I talk about, for instance, a detailed mindset, I am referring to a set of behaviors and tastes which make you more apt and inclined to enjoy and produce detailed content. While there is a general expectation here that detailed will have the highest length, the mindset isn't specifically about length, but moreso the degree of depth and complexity of your detail. If you're someone who values long descriptions of an environment, for instance, this is an element of a detailed mindset, because that taste makes you more inclined to enjoy posts with those long descriptions and to provide them yourself.
Right away, I want to dismiss the myth of a specific one of these- simple, casual or detailed- being better than the others. Same for post lengths. They aren't better or worse than the others, but they are for people who enjoy different things to different degrees. What elements you value and your creative approach to writing will decide what kind of roleplay you can enjoy and what works for you. A marvelously written detailed post may appear overblown and boring or even intimidating to a casual or simple crowd. A casual post may seem lacking and flavorless to a detailed roleplayer and way too much for a simple roleplayer. So when I speak of a mindset regarding one of these types, and the spectrum of those mindsets, I do not mean to imply a spectrum of post quality or skill, but merely one of one's preferences being more adjusted for this or that kind of roleplay.
Simple Mindset: Being honest, this one is the one I know least about, since I don't have much contact with it. If I were to boil it down to one key idea that would be "what matters is that we're roleplaying". More than any other mindset, the simple roleplayer wants to enjoy the very act of roleplaying without worrying much about what the contents of that might be. For this reason, they are a lot less inclined to care about grammar mistakes or post length (even one-liners), or thinking about anything in the long term. They are the most likely to just get two characters and ram them together, in fact most freeform sanbox-type roleplays tend to be simple roleplays because this attitude allows every party to have a significant amount of freedoom to do just about anything they want. In the end of the day, if the simple roleplayer gets to enjoy their bit of time to just relax and roleplay, they are pretty happy.
In the same way, however, they struggle with really forming anything resembling a proper plot, developing a solid setting and with the idea of anything in the long term, like slow burn romance and paced character development. There is a certain dread to the idea of having to wait around for stuff, like watching the seconds pass on the clock while waiting for class to finish. They aren't used to having to think of a surrounding plot or setting either, so it doesn't come naturally to them to have to push it.
On the other end, however, not only are simple roleplays usually fast paced, pretty freedoom-loving and relaxed, they also are just about the most organic out of any of the posts, but they contain exclusively that most immediate and raw response, the character's natural response when done right, without feeling the need to add anything extra, not even for the sake of moving the plot.
Casual Mindset: What matters to a casual mindset is "contributing to the narrative". A narrative in this case can be plot-driven, but just as often it can be character-driven as well. However, in either case, the casual roleplayer is interested in the development of the story as their own fun (note: none of these mindsets is ever looking to do these things in spite of their own fun. They have, however, very different perceptions and needs when it comes to that fun), be it simply through the plot's progress and eventual resolution or through the character's exploration and development. Beyond this though, casual's unnoficial motto could be "I want it, but I won't ask it of you". A casual player may not be as straight up carefree as a player with a simple mindset, but they do tend to show an aversion towards trying to demand things of people, so they tend to stick to the minimums in that regard (typically, good grammar, a single paragraph that doesn't exactly have to be bulky, and making sure your posts progress the plot or conversation). That said, they won't mind and in fact will still be happy to get more (up to a point). That said, people with this kind of mindset tend to have a very book-like approach, where they tend to value saying more with less (a form of applying the show don't tell rule, often by expressing things through character action alone) and to disregard what does not contribute to the narrative as superfluous extra details or even flowery. The casual mindset tends to view these extra details as more padding than anything else, and in fact as potentially more harm than good, as they can be boring or clog the important parts of the post.
One example of this would be regarding internal monologue. For the most part, the casual mindset considers internal monologue superfluous. After all, others cannot react to your internal monologue and it seemingly contributes nothing to the progress of neither the plot nor the conversation, being there merely in place of action or dialogue or as repetition of action or dialogue. Instead of internal monolgue, the casual mindset just gives you whatever actions and dialogue it would lead to, and keeps internal monologue to at most brief reactions to the other's post or showing direct thoughts from the character.
One problem I often discuss and in which the concept of the simple, casual and detailed mindsets comes up, is in regards to casual-minded roleplayers jumping into detailed roleplays without proper consideration, and then being unable to keep up with or remain interested in the detailed posts, often resulting in at first bad detailed posts and later ghosting. The reason those players are unable to keep up good detailed posts, and in fact a reason why people often have a hard time filling their posts has to do with exactly what I just mentioned: Details like internal monologue, the state of the character's surroundings, the character's emotional state even are often considered superfluous by the casual mindset, and thus not ideas which a casual player easily associates with things they can put into a post. Even if they don't straight up think it would be bad to include them, they just think about them so little that adding them in is a possibility that just doesn't cross their mind. Instead, they often try to pad posts with more of what they know from casual roleplaying (resulting in cacophonic posts with too much action and dialogue), OR they add what they THINK a detailed post would entail (lots of meaningless repetition and pointlessly long descriptions).
Casual roleplay has advantages of its own naturally. First, it is the kind that most resembles how books are written, giving it a more familiar feel, and in combination with being a middleground of sorts, it has the biggest base, and one of the more solid ones. It is pretty organic, but if you take the time to make a better post you won't feel like you're missing out by not continually pumping out posts, and regardless of that, this mindset is pretty to the point, allowing you to enjoy an actual narrative without having to be bogged down by details unrelated to it.
Detailed Mindset: The detailed mindset appreciates what happens beyond just the narrative. They appreciate every moment of roleplaying, for the reverse reason of the simple roleplayer's: While a simple roleplayer enjoys the very fact they are roleplaying by itself, a detailed roleplayer enjoys the time they get to roleplay because of the content they make and receive, because of the richness and flavor of that content. A detailed roleplayer distinguishes themselves from the casual roleplayer first and foremost because want each moment of the roleplay to be as complete as it can be, with there being any narrative progress being a secondary matter by comparison. What others might find useless or superfluous, a detailed roleplayer may see value in- the structure of how one roleplays, the length of posts, internal monologue, detailed descriptions of the environment, lore etc... However, growing an appreciation for these things makes them all the more aware of it when it is lacking. To them a post is like meat, it may take time to give it flavor, spice and cook it, but not putting that in makes raw and pointless, even if still nutritious in the end. Likewise, for the detailed mindset a casual post is plain and bland, so even if they get that post it will simply be disappointing.
The detailed mindset tends to approach the long-term as a facet of the short-term, and thus has a lot less problems with it than the other mindsets. Where simple dreads it and casual thinks of it as what might come, the detailed mindset views the long-term as what you can set up now. However, all of this does come with a bit of a price. A detailed mindset takes effort and time, moreso than others, which in turn can affect the pacing others need or otherwise be unable to keep up with the quick pacing of casual or simple roleplays.
Detailed roleplay tells the most complete stories and has a degree of immersion not based on how organic it is, but through the artificial means it uses to completely place you in the right context, mindframe and understanding of the situation. I would argue for those with this mindset it is the kind of mindset that best allows you to experience the story, rather than merely watching it as an observer. Furthermore, detailed also has a broad range of styles it allows, because detailed roleplayers are often actually looking at and thinking about the very structure of how they roleplay, thus making them aware of more ways to approach it.
I want to mention once more: This is a spectrum. I highly doubt a lot of people will fall under an exclusive one of these. However, I do believe most people fall pretty squarely ALMOST in one. Maybe you have some ideas of pre-dispositions of a simple roleplayer, but just about everything else fits more the detailed mindset. The mindsets are ultimately patterns and inclinations, not restraints.
To wrap things up, I want to adress four topics and how they fit with this idea:
1. Skill --> Skill doesn't really factor into what mindset you have, and I do not mean to get into an argument about which style tends to have better skill attached. It is both a myth that people who want to roleplay detailed are snobbish about it (though snobbish people to tend to gather in detailed roleplay due to it being the type that values much more subtle details like structural details) and that detailed roleplay is inherently better.
2. People who value community and people who are in roleplay for reasons other than having fun --> "Wait, what about people who don't value the things you listed?", you may ask. Well, the thing is that these aren't exclusive. You can, for instance, value community over anything else and still have a casual mindset. This happens because at the moment of roleplay you need to have an approach, and unless I'm completely wrong on the subject, it will fall under the simple, casual or detailed approach.
3.Changing your level of detail --> If you want to change how you do detail, it is important that you learn the values of the other kinds of detail. A casual roleplayer aiming to transition to detail will need to learn to savor the flavor of descriptions and internal monologue, giving more emphasis on to the significance of how things are written rather than just that they are.
4.Pacing and length --> while there isn't a necessary association between a certain mindset and a certain length, it most commonly found. After all, detailed mindsets make you value the extra details more, making you more inclined to include and expect them, and in turn that means expecting more length. Length is, for a lot of people, not an end in itself, but a sign that the content has what you want to get from it. As for pacing, everyone wants quality posts, regardless of what length they may also be expecting. This means that detailed mindsets tend to be more willing to wait for posts, whereas simple mindsets will be more inclined to set aside a period when both players are free and just roleplay with each other for a period and then stop and schedule another time (so, instant responses pretty much).
And well, that's all I have to say. As mentioned previously, the point here isn't to convince people or start an argument, feel free to take this idea or not as you find best. In any case, I hope you at least enjoyed reading. Best of luck and happy RPing!
