Like I can understand why people would think someone thinks it means something along the lines of "good level with bad decoration" from people who don't understand the trend but honestly more often then not I tend to enjoy the decoration a lot. Bur what really bothers me is the "so bad it's good" reading I saw. It's just not that, "Raw" levels are all good levels to me. Idk what do y'all think

I personally believe the term "raw" is a pretty stupid term, and would only use it in irony. Usually, raw means that it is undercooked, but usually whenever a level is considered "raw" it is overcooked. This makes no sense to me and I still don't understand why it is used in the first place

I believe it is a way of saying "unpolished" since polishing means it had more time in the oven and would make it less raw and more cooked (forgive my terrible analogy explanation). The term also seems to get paired with intensity though. It is mostly undefined but this explanation makes the most sense to me.

Rawsus here. You cant officially define raw. Raw is a feeling. If you believe in raw if you pray to raw youll understand raw.

I feel like this can also apply to a "Hidden Gem", when most people that say that its usually on a relatively known level among the community. But its all opinionated anyways.

'rawness' to me is determined by the viscerality of the way you react to it, like levels that don't use bells and whistles to be confident and sincere with their ideas. i think unabashed artfulness is the first thing i think of to describe a level being that way

of course, resultantly, the definition is disputed when it comes to a level by level basis, but it still serves as a useful descriptor of what people might like about aspects of levels

the term is pretty loosely used, so it sort of makes sense as to why it’s been overextended by so many

personally I have always thought it means “unapologetically so”, in that something does not try to “play it safe” by sticking to what is considered the norm.

I think there’s no right answer per se, however there are some descriptions of it which I also think are just bad. For example, I have heard certain people say they think it simply means “so bad it’s good” - while I suppose this could be the case for some levels which are funny bad or something, overall I just really could not disagree more with this sentiment.

I agree with solarion regarding this, I think something being raw is just someone not being afraid to test out new ideas even if they don't look the best. Something that doesn't conform to any sort of standards, a levle where the creator had a vision and they did their absolute best to pull it off. Even if the execution isn't the best, there's a sense of passion that is needed for something like it. And while 'raw' is a term that's kinda grown out of its normal scope, it's usually referred to levels like this that are on the more intense side, usually being very abrasive with ideas that nobody would think of putting in their level, and yet the creator did it without a second thought.

Basically levels that are really cool and intense despite not being the best looking, and usually incorporating some sort of original idea or design choice(s) that the status quo of levels usually wouldn't come close to.

by this point it's kind of fallen into meaninglessness because a lot of people deliberately try to make "raw" levels on purpose and then bend over backwards and make an embarrassment of themselves. whatever it is it has certainly proven itself to only come naturally

I really enjoy reading all the responses I've gotten so far and just realized I never really gave a proper definition of what raw meant to me, but Kaley Wilbie and Solarian all seem to be adjacent to my definitions. To me, a raw level is made without a preexisting bias for a certain standard which allows new ideas to be freely expressed. I feel like overuse of the term can cause understandable confusion but to me a very large portion of levels can be considered "Raw", even if they might not be good. But mostly, I enjoy levels that can be called "Raw" a lot more because I find them more interesting than staring at something that simply looks good.
Raw is something that is created through uniqueness, but more general than the term "experimental" (which is a term I dislike but thats another convo). I also tend to associate "Raw" with levels that have a good representation of intensity but that might just be me conflating the two concepts because i like them both. I'm glad I got some good responses here though, I was genuinely worried I wouldn't get anything