One thing that I want to address since it comes out a little mixed is that you do need to have fun in RPing, it goes for anything you do in life. If you aren't having fun, then it is just a chore for you and that means you're going to want to ignore it, give it up or leave. If you can't enjoy yourself all you are doing is forcing yourself against your will and you won't be able to produce what you want.

While you are correct that RPing is a serious matter when it comes to making a character, writing or how you make your posts. It is almost important to just have fun and enjoy the experience. One thing that I've been trying to work on for the RP forum is a lighter RP that is less stressing about heavy plot elements and dramas with characters. Sometimes people do just want to have some fun and blow off a little steam. Though that said there's a reason we have rules. And grammar and writing are still important even when you are just being silly. Because it is possible to be silly and still have a well thought out post. If you go looking for them, hunt down the RP that StrongBad, or whatever his name is now, made. They are little amusing RPs, but still they held themselves to a solid standard as well. So it is possible to be silly.

One other thing, the style of RPing we do here is not meant to be seen as a game. I view the RPing we do as more of a collaborative narrative and less a game. It is why it is just RP and not RPG. So easy or hard should not factor into the equation. It is about the experience and enjoying yourself. When reading a book you aren't looking for a challenge, but entertainment. If you are playing a RPG table top game, then that is something completely different.

When I get some free time I'm actually planning on launching a series of lighter RPs for people that are less focused on length or super detailed characters and more on having a good time.

The last couple of things I'm going to say is that I probably have a different view on things in the RP forum. Especially now, since activity is extremely poor. My goal is to get people back in, but not with heavy weight RPing that is my staple. People are scared of the posts I make and the RPs I create because they are too long and too detailed. And scaring people isn't going to get new people. So I believe starting people off on something simple will get people interested. That was why I'm doing the ball. It was a social event where things were relaxed and people could enjoy themselves and taste a little role-playing. They didn't have to worry too much about mistakes. Rules still need to be maintained and watched, but gaining interest needs to be where we start.

The guide is important and solid information. It is all things people need to keep in mind when roleplaying and I don't think you said anything wrong in the post. But the first step is getting them sold and then getting them writing properly. Then once they can write properly the larger pieces of character building and story creation can come in. You can't throw everything at them all at once or they'll run away scared. It's like a fish you have to bait them and slowly play with them until you got them hooked.

So I think the guide might be better served divided into the stages of progression in seperate threads. You can't really write about how to create or find interest, that is just something we, the RPers of the forum, have to do. But have a thread for just writing since that is most certainly the pressing matter for anyone and the thing that makes our eyes bleed the most. After that characters, flow, plot, etc. I can value having everyone in one location, but as I've learned length makes people scared especially on the internet where people have two second attention spans. The sad thing is that the people that would find this most useful are too lazy to read through this.

Anyway, I think the guide is good information and praise you for devoting your time to writing it. Though I will say that since you have both RP and RPB having it in specific forum will be leaving the other out of it. Though I'll have to look since Dragonheart already has a guide.