(03-07-2013, 01:35 PM)Eva Wrote: You've probably heard or read about "light" or "heavy" RP and might have wondered what these terms are referring to.  As it turns out, most roleplayers tend to be humans (at least on one side of the keyboard) and so there's a wide swath of styles, modes, and types of roleplay that they prefer.  Like any other metric that we might try to assign to individuals in a group, it's important to understand that these modes are a spectrum rather than a definite category.  In other words, most people will find themselves somewhere between the light and heavy ends of this particular scale and they may even move around on it from time to time.  Occasionally heavy RPers take a break with some light RP or vice-versa.  You might rightly wonder how such a changable distinction could be useful, and for the most part it probably isn't.  There is no style of RP that is inherently right or wrong.  The only practical use I've found for these descriptions is in matching up different players with reasonably similar roleplaying modes.  The simple fact of the matter is that light RPers tend to have more fun if they're in a group with other light RPers and vice-versa for heavy RPers.  So by figuring out which end of the spectrum you lean towards you can better gauge what sort of RP you'd prefer to get involved with.

Note: Just to reiterate, this chart is only meant to show examples of the opposite ends of light:heavy roleplay.  Most roleplayers will probably fall somewhere in the middle of most of these examples.

A light RPer might...	A heavy RPer might...
enjoy a more casual style with less emphasis on detail or continuity	enjoy a more immerse level of RP and carefully track their character's story
make up their stories/characters on a whim or as they go without much regard for the game's lore or past events	pay close attention to the game's lore so their stories and characters don't conflict with it
use a character's class to help define their character	choose to define their character purely through their story, perhaps even ignoring their in-game class all together
make use of in-game mechanics (attack moves, consumables, gear, etc) in their stories	may forgo any of the in-game mechanics to tell their stories, perhaps to the point of ignoring their character's in-game class
prefer a more flashy or dramatic style of storytelling	prefer a more "everyday" style that focuses more on the routine life of their character than regularly occurring grandiose events
incorporate elements from other games (hearthstones, aliens, Chuck Norris, etc) or even real life (modern technology, religions, etc) into their story	only use those elements that they could find evidence of within the game itself
have their character appear wherever/whenever convenient	put a fair bit of effort in keeping track of when and where their character would be at a given time to include tracking travel times where applicable
view RP as something "extra" to do when they aren't involved in another aspect of the game's play (raiding, pvp, questing, etc)	view RP as the sole reason to play the game
keep their character consistent so it's easier to play over time	have their character progress and grow over time as part of their story

You may also notice that some RPers take a much more proactive approach to their experiences, introducing many characters and plot points and often seeming to be at the center of the story arcs they work so hard to create.  Others seem to prefer the sidelines, or proudly cast their characters for the "best supporting character" role, and seldom take any sort of active steps towards creating events and incidents, but respond to the people that they surround themselves with and allow themselves to get caught up in their stories.  Both the 'proactive' and 'reactive' styles are perfectly fine, and like so many other things this too can be seen as a sort of spectrum on which RPers may sit somewhere in the middle - where they create some of their own story elements in the hopes of hooking others into them, but at the same time play into other characters' stories as well.  As with most other things in RP there really is no right or wrong here, and you should participate in whichever way feels most natural and fun for yourself.