These are the rules of the game. We’ve tried to word them as plainly as possible, and cover all possible contingencies. We know this isn’t actually possible, but we’ve done our best; be aware that this means, yes, there might be rules added after gameplay begins. If this happens, we will make an announcement bringing attention to the addition, or the change.

Also, these rules are the result of a combination of common sense and personal experience in past games. If something seems very specific, it's because we've run across that problem as players in previous games, and have decided we will not tolerate it in our game.

Lastly, yes we know we will probably come across as somewhat dictatorial. It’s on purpose. Think of us as your benign dictators. There’s plenty of things we will be lenient about, and plenty of other things we will not be lenient about. Please trust us when we say there was lengthy and in-depth discussion over where there should be leniency and where there should be stringency, and we always took into account what would be best for the game. We are being upfront and honest about this, and doing our very best to be open about what we will and will not control.

With all of that out of the way, here are the rules:

Application

--Please fill out the application in full. If there are parts of the application that do not apply to your character for whatever reason, do not leave it blank, put "N/A" or "Does not apply" or something similar. For the sample post, please write an original sample. Links to threads in other games will not suffice.

--Please do not send more than one application at a time. This is to keep us poor mods from being swamped, as we do tend to receive several applications at once.

--Please wait until you've posted at least once as a new character before applying for a new one.

Characters

--The limit for the number of characters one player can have is three for the first month. After one month, if the player proves consistently active well above the minimum, then their character limit will be upped by two, for five characters total. At the end of their second month of play, if the player still proves consistently active above the minimum, then all character limits are removed. However, the mods reserve the right to deny any current player a new character based on their activity levels.

--Characters should generally have the same canon traits they had in the books; if your character was stubborn, they should still be stubborn even if the circumstances make it manifest differently. A character who always had hope should still be hopeful, barring any backstory or in-game events that have broken them. Canon is nice, but we understand that we’ve moved beyond canon into new territory. Keep it as canon as you can, and always, always have an explanation for why something may not be as it was in canon. If it makes sense, we’ll probably let you have it.

--Also remember that the game is AU (Alternate Universe). Lily and Harry are dead, and Voldemort is in power. From approximately six months before the deaths of Lily and Harry Potter, events took radically different paths than they did in canon. As a result, many characters who died after that point in canon could still be alive (and thus are open for applications), and some who lived might be dead. Voldemort in power and the decrees he’s passed have changed a lot of things for most characters, especially those who are young enough to have grown up completely under Voldemort’s control.

--Thus, think very carefully about your character’s backstory. We are interested in seeing how well you can play a canon character in a non-canon environment, and we encourage creativity (within reason) in deciding what alternate route your character’s life has taken (we doubt seriously that Kingsley Shacklebolt will end up a male stripper, for instance). It’s a fine balancing act, and some characters will come with less canon personality and more room to play. Those who do have a lot to work from in canon, though, should act completely within their canon-described personalities, only under different circumstances.

--Please do not come into the game with any preconceived ideas of what sort of romantic relationships your character will be involved in, and with whom. The other character may already be in gameplay and be with someone else, the player for that character may not be interested, and you would be limiting your character's options. The exceptions to this are characters who were already married during the Marauder's era in canon: Molly and Arthur Weasley, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, etc.

-- Original Characters will be subject to recasting. Once they are in the game by doing at least two scenes, they belong to the game. Just like the character journals belong to the game. We understand you made them for the game, but it's unfair for you to expect us just to have characters drop off the face of the game.

Gameplay

--There is, of course, the usual no godmodding rule that applies. We do, however, understand that there is a difference between “hey, we two players know each other well and know what’s acceptable” or “hey, we talked about setting up this thread this way” and “My character is going to haul off and smack the crap out of yours even though I didn’t ask you if it was all right because I hate you.” The first two are acceptable. The third, and any variation thereof, is not.

--By the way, if someone’s character has an opinion about your character that happens to be negative, they’re not godmodding you. If you’ve chosen to play your character in a way that is bound to garner overwhelmingly negative responses, then be prepared to deal with the consequences. As nice as we are, and as understanding as we want to be, we have no sympathy for players of the sort who think their characters shit sunshine and rainbow bunny rabbits, even when they’re being complete jerks.

--There’s also the issue of info-modding or meta-gaming. This is a form of godmodding that occurs when your character knows something he or she couldn’t possibly know within the realm of canon and reason. If you’re going to have your character know something that should be secret, have a really good, sound line of reasoning prepared. As long as it makes sense, there shouldn’t be a problem. If you want your character to know something that should be secret, but don’t know how to have them know it believably, feel free to talk to one of the mods. We’ll try to help you find a way, but if we can’t then you’ll have to deal with the fact that your character just can’t have the information.


Threading/Tagging/Posting

--We aren’t the thread police. Everyone appreciates a good post/tag with brilliant description and dialogue, something to work with, but sometimes short is best. It just depends on the situation.

--The "we aren't the thread police" thing applies to tag length. When it comes to making certain everyone participates, and no threads are dropped? Yes, we are the thread police. It can take a while to finish threads, and that's fine. We won't bug you so long as you actually help move the thread towards an end. But... do not drop a thread. It's rude, it's bad playing, and no one likes it. If you're tired of a particular thread, speak up and say something to the player or players with you in the thread. You can either work out a quick ending (but please, an actual ending, we'd prefer not to just end in the middle of a scene), or in the case of multi-character threads, work out a quick way to get your character out so the rest can go on without you. In case you can't tell by the length of this rule, dropped threads is a serious pet peeve with us. We do reserve the right to talk to a player if it seems they've dropped a thread, and tell them to pay more attention. It will be uncomfortable for everyone involved, so it's probably best to just avoid it by not dropping your threads.

--For the love of Merlin, please do not use textspeak, leetspeak, LOLcat, or any other internet form of communication. We’re all educated here.

--This is an English-language game, and all players should be able to type in English fluently.

--Even though this is a Harry Potter game, we’re not going to require you use British English or British slang. If you want to, that’s fine, just if you’re going to, then try to do so consistently.

--Please use the following header at the beginning of all posts:

Date:
Characters:
Location:
Public/Private:
Summary:
Complete/Incomplete:

--Please put the body of your post under an LJ cut: < lj – cut text = “text here” > without spaces except for the one between “cut” and “text.” End the post with < / lj – cut > without spaces.

For your convenience, here is the header pre-formatted:
<b>Date:</b> <b>Characters:</b> <b>Location:</b> <b>Public/Private:</b> <b>Summary:</b> <b>Status:</b> <lj-cut text="TEXT HERE">


Participation

--All players must be active in at least one thread in a two week time period. That means if two weeks have gone by since your last activity, you’re probably in trouble.

Clarification: This is not to say we only expect you to participate once every two weeks, or that you may tag a single thread once a week and be considered active. Most of our players are vastly more active than that; we're a very busy game, there are constant threads going on, and players usually find themselves involved in more than one at a time. Any player you get involved with will likely expect a response within a day or two at most. The mods do keep track of complete and incomplete threads, so we will be asking around to see who is keeping up and who isn't. You just won't be in danger of getting your characters taken away until two weeks have gone by without any participation and no notification of hiatus.

Further Clarification: We are an extremely active game. We can tolerate players who are less active than once a week only for so long. If we believe your lack of inactivity is hurting the game in any way, and is consistent, we reserve the right to discuss this with you, and if your performance does not improve, we will ask you to leave.

--We highly recommend contact with other players as soon as possible after joining, for the purposes of plotting for your character and getting to know your fellow players.

--To that end, there are chats almost every night for the players who wish to join. It is not mandatory for players to participate in these chats, as most of the time they are just for fun and not plotting, but it is highly recommended to participate. Knowing your fellow players is vital to becoming a tight, active part of any game, and this one is no exception. Besides, they're fun!

--If you know you’re going to be inactive for more than a day or so, be courteous enough to let any players with whom you are threading know, so they’ll know not to expect a tag in that time.

Clarification: This is just common courtesy. If you're going on vacation for the weekend, and you've got characters in the middle of a scene, it's just nice to let those other players know you won't be responding until you get back.

--If you know you’re going to be inactive for more than the two week period, send an email to the mods and post a hiatus message in the players’ community.

Clarification: This is actually a rule. Doing this will keep you from losing your characters (as per the rule immediately below this one). Of course, if it becomes one hiatus after another with no end in sight, you'll probably be asked to give up your characters anyway.

--If you have been inactive for two weeks with no communication with the mods, then you will be placed on probation for another two weeks. If your activity level does not pick up in two more weeks, you will be asked to leave the game.

--Characters freed by vacating players will be offered first to current players before being added to the open characters list for recasting.

--We understand that real life issues often come at you quick, and will always take precedence. However, it is simple and common courtesy to make the mods and any players you’re threading or plotting with aware that you are on hiatus. The participation rules for this game give you a total of one month to type up a quick email to the mods, and unless you are completely bereft of internet access you should be able to handle that much.

--Should you actually be completely bereft of internet access and any other way of contacting the mods, and return after the allotted month with a really good reason for your absence, we could be convinced to let you reclaim any of your characters that haven’t been recast. If all of your characters have been recast, then you would be welcome to apply for new ones.

--If you dropped out due to inactivity once, and we let you back in because of you’re amazingly good reason you were gone without any form of warning, then you do the same thing again, you will not be allowed back again.

--Remember, if you burn a player once, even the most trusting of players will be reluctant to thread with you again. That goes for not tagging in a timely and consistent manner, and also for harassing a player for tags after only a few hours. Give that person a day or two at least.

--Bottom line, we want players who are as dedicated to this game as we are. We understand real life issues, but if they're going to keep you away from the game too often, then think twice about applying. This is for you, and for us.



Complaints


--If you have a complaint against another player for any reason, please do not begin harassing that player; remember the Rules of Respect.

--Take two or three days to consider all aspects of your complaint; it’s possible you’ll find it isn’t as troublesome as you thought.

--After thinking about it for a few days, if you’ve decided it’s something that needs to be discussed, please approach the other player about it first, and do so in as calm a manner as possible, again remembering the Rules of Respect.

--If you and the other player are unable to reach a compromise and/or understanding, at that point you may email the mod team to make an official complaint.

--However, understand that if you make an official complaint, and especially if you choose to do so without first approaching the other player yourself, the identity of the complaining player will be made known to the player the complaint is about. We are not in the business of keeping secrets, or of being conspiratorial mods. The legal system in the U.S., where the mods are from, gives everyone the right to face their accuser. The same will hold true in this game. It is our sincere hope that most players will be able to work out their differences amongst themselves by behaving like mature adults.

--Any decisions made by the mods may be appealed once. To do so, all one has to do is email the mods asking for the chance to appeal a decision. The mods will set a date for a chat in one week, giving the player that amount of time to gather a well-thought out and convincing argument. However, if the mods are not convinced by the player’s appeal, then the decision stands.