I don't expect to find a codified formal definition for the various labels that people associate with their guilds however I would like to get a feel for what is generally meant by the subject terms and how they might typically differ from each other.
Family guild generally means that primary guild chat (whether in game or through voice) is appropriate for all ages (or at least teenagers). Family = multiple generations ... usually. Definitely not universal though. Others (like my guild) use it to imply that folks will help others in the guild with in game stuff, even if it does not benefit them (it takes a village idea). Our chat is definite not underage friendly. Casual in general implies that there is nothing you need to do to become/stay a member of the guild ... no guaranteed raiding, no guaranteed grouping, etc. Obviously, being bad in a guild can still cause removal/barring ... but besides decent behavior, you don't owe/pledge the guild anything by being a member. At least that's been my experience.
I could be completely off base of course... I define family guild as a guild that is more concerned about socialization than playing. I define casual guild that does a little bit of everything- socialize, group for progression, light raiding, etc.
I look at them as the same. For in game, they serve the same purposes. But those that refer to themselves as "family", they seem to be a bit more social in the guild chat and a bit more strict on how PG the talk gets. From my experiences
I've been officers in several family guilds and a key part of that was the PG13 talk, so those mentioning safe for all ages is right for how my prior guilds worked. Adding also to that, any applicant process was more about the character of the player, personality, etc. versus skill set. As anyone being added to that guild needed to fit personality wise, not cause drama, etc. While casual has some overlap with family (in that there typically aren't raids and if there are, they're not high end or pressured yelling, etc.), in my experience, casual is just that - no expectations put on the player for skill or personality; you're just a body in the guild.
In my experience being in a mixture of casual, family, or cutting-edge is the following... Family - All age groups, more willing to accomplish group targeted feats with each other. Guild chat seems more active on topics that are not game related. Close relationships are created and difficult for those to leave the guild when you are ready to advance within the game. The connections can become so strong you would rather ride it out. Casual - The guild is capable of doing it all or stepping into current content but prefer to take the easy road and continue to farm old content. They will step their toes into the waters of advancing into current content but perform very slowly. Guild chat is a mixture of game, current events, and jokes. Adult humor is pretty common and not much drama. The guild is known as a stepping stone for cutting-edge style guilds and work with those guilds to get people alts keyed. Very common situation in PoP onwards. Cutting-edge - Most of the time all game focused, Min/Maxing and Raiding is the majority of the conversation in guild chat. In my experience difficult to get assistance for group content such as some quest to improve gear. People are working on the same content as well and I hate to say it as it is not the case for all CE's but prefer to just MBox this on their own. Attempt to keep classes at an optimal stage. DKP systems can kill the ability to recruit new members. This is built around their attendance/loot policy. Be prepared to be raiding as much as possible and then continue to play after those raids to catch up on levels/AAs.
