Alright, that makes more sense. I was curious if '7' could be constituted by just heavier adult themes, or if that's where the blurred line was between 6-7. Thank you.

This is really good advice, and I like the detailed reasoning (not to mention common sense) behind them. If you don't mind, however, I've one question regarding the rating system (I still consider myself new to this site, so I apologize for the intrusion, just this article made me think of something:)

So I've read the ratings instructions article on its main page and I've seen the "5 = PG-13 movie, 6 = PG-13-R rated movie, 7 = R rated movie" aspect of it all, but taking that and this into account, at what "point" do you consider it an "R-rated movie"/7 level rating? (I'm thinking in context films rated R which I think under these guides would fit in with your rules? Such as Birdman.)

Actually carrying on with the Birdman analogy, Birdman (to me) seemed pretty tame, everything was understated and nothing was focused on for too long, but it was still rated R. Here you describe 7's as pushing their edginess, so if Birdman (or something done in that sense) were a storygame, would it be 7 or 6? (I suppose I'm more asking about what it is that pushes something into the hard-set R rating vs PG-13 to R. It's the "to" that I'm curious about.)

Summary:

In the PG-13 to R rating that makes something a 6, and the R rating that makes something a 7- where does the "to" end? Is it sheer amount of content of that kind? Or is it how that content is handled?

(Again, my apologies for the mass questioning.)

Okay, makes sense. Thank you for clarifying!

This may be in the forums/guides somewhere and I'm just missing it, but how does the length number system work? Is it by number of pages? Such as "between 10 and 20 pages means the story is a 2, and between 21 and 41 pages means it's a 3"?

That actually brings up an interesting point:

Is there a specific length at which a story game, no matter how well-written, no matter how interesting the characters are, and no matter how captivating a plot it has, is simply too short to be considered "good"? Could the same go for being too long? (Or is it one of those "never enough" kind of situations?)

This is more just out of curiosity than anything else. Most likely it has been asked before but I haven't seen a thread discussing it, hence this.

How long would you say is the average story-game on here? As for units... usually I go by word-count but I'm just generally curious so pages or choices or however you wish to count by is okay.

Thank you so much! I'll be sure to do my best!

That's completely fine! Thank you very much for your kind comment! Also, okay, thank you! That's good to know (not to mention I usually end up having trouble with commas, so I'll be on high alert for that, thank you!)

I can see how you might get that impression from the first couple of pages (since I believe those are choosing your best friend and who you used to date), but trust me- romance isn't the main part of it as you go on.

Although there will be romance side-quests and you can chose an RO, you can also opt out of that completely and it won't affect the storyline in any way. (Minus a few changes in dialogue).

Thank you so much for your kind words!

In order to make sure there's no major mistake pattern I'm falling into, would anyone be willing to read the beginning of my story and just check and see if there's any grammatical error patterns that I'm falling into? (I.e. lots of run-ons or comma errors). You don't have to read all of it, just one or two pages so I know if there's anything I need to be looking out for as I write, and to make editing later on easier as I'll know what to pay close attention to. Thank you very much!

http://chooseyourstory.com/story/subjectivism