WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL?

It's a question we're often asked as roleplayers, and something that is
very hard to define. Many sites define it these days by a number, the
amount of words a person can churn out per post. However, there is a
lot more to good writing than just the amount of words on a page, and
indeed, some of the greatest works of fiction have been shorter than
this very documentation.

So what does make a good writer, and how can we distinguish the
difference between the different levels of RP in a manner that doesn't
rely on something as completely superficial as word count?

Below I've attempted to define different levels of writing, based on
what I believe good writing in roleplay is. Not all of these
definitions will apply to all members, and just because someone fails
to run their post through a spell checker before posting does not make
them a poor player - there are exceptions to every rule. But first,
let's look at what makes a successful thread.

SUCCESSFUL THREADS HAVE...

• Storytelling - do the players successfully communicate a story through the thread?
  
• Pacing - is the thread paced appropriately? Does it take
  forever to walk to the shops for no good reason, while it takes minutes
  for characters to travel hundreds of kilometres?
  
• Flow - are the posts easy to read, easy to understand and
  entertaining? Do you find yourself bogged down by irrelevant detail? If
  yes, the flow has been broken.
  
• SPAG - although good spelling and grammar is not necessary
  to a good thread, it certainly helps with readability. It's simple
  enough to fix, just run it through a checker before posting.
  
• Action & Reaction - characters should work together to
  attain a common goal. This means that if one character sits, the other
  should not mention them standing - if one character drops a bottle, the
  other should respond to the dropping of the bottle. This combines with
  storytelling to make the thread more complete.
  
• Sharing - this means one character does not hog the
  limelight. Especially in long posts, for a character to waffle on and
  accidentally take the moment well beyond where the thread was at the
  start of the post, leaving the others in the thread to play catch up.
  

So what level are you, and what are the common characteristics of levels of RP? Read on, my wayward son.

BEGINNER

• May not understand the conventions of RP such as the Mary Sue, god-moding, thread-hogging, explained below.
  
• Mary Sue -- the beginner's character may be overly perfect,
  attractive, depressive/self-destructive, the character may be 'evil
  with a nice side' or have a terribly tragic past that only presents
  it's effects in the character when attention is needed. We're all
  pretty familiar with the Mary Sue, and methods to avoid her appearing
  on our boards.
  
• God-Moding -- another well known RP phenomenon, this is where the
  player controls aspects of the game they couldn't possibly control.
  Whether by knowing information their character couldn't, by controlling
  other people's characters or by being all-powerful, god-moding is a
  standard no-no.
  
• Thread-Hogging -- this is where characters take center stage of
  the thread and effectively bulldoze over all other characters. It is
  not always intentional, none of these now well-known mistakes are.
  Learning to take turns telling the story takes time, and thread-hogging
  is an unfortunate characteristic of the beginner.
  
• Actions -- may be expressed in asterix's, as they are in some roleplays.
  
• Response -- the character may not respond to the previous posts in
  the thread at all, or may misinterpret the situation entirely. While
  the player may get the setting right, other aspects of the post may be
  off.
  

Handling the Beginner: Note that while these are some of the
more extreme characteristics, there are exceptions to every rule. Some
beginners will come to a board with a sound knowledge of writing, and
may (despite the short amount of time they've been roleplaying)
automatically jump to intermediate, or advanced. This level of play
typically describes someone who is generally a very young player, who
may not have a particularly good command of the English language. With
the right guidance, any beginner can quickly make it up the levels to
more advanced roleplaying techniques. It is up to administrators to be
patient, and to teach where they can.

INTERMEDIATE

• The intermediate player generally has a better command of language, and understanding of roleplay concepts and regulations.
  
• Mary Sue -- the characters may still display some MS
  characteristics, but not to extremes. The player consciously tries to
  make a balanced character, and to play a diverse set of characters.
  
• God-Moding -- the player displays an understanding of god-moding,
  and makes a conscious effort to avoid accidentally control the
  environment around the character.
  
• Thread-Hogging -- the player plots with other members and allows other players a turn at the limelight.
  
• Storytelling -- the player successfully uses posts to further the story in the thread.
  
• Flow -- posts are entertaining, and not a chore to read. Posts may
  include irrelevant detail, but description is included, and the setting
  is more easily imagined than in posts from the beginner.
  
• Size -- although not relevant for rankings, the intermediate
  player makes an effort to match the size of other posts in the thread.
  
• Response -- the characters of the intermediate player respond
  appropriately to the situation, but may occasionally break out of
  character at convenient moments. Smaller aspects of other posts may not
  be appropriately addressed, but the post is solid enough to respond to.
  

Handling the Intermediate: Intermediate players are generally
very easy to handle. They may require additional assistance and
guidance if the standard of your board is particularly high. As most
boards are rated intermediate-advanced, these players should have no
difficulty fitting in.

this documentation written by mousie of RPG-Directory