The Rules

[MEG]

the rules

what is war without some guidelines?

These are the rules for this form, separated into different categories. I know it’s lengthy, but reading it is a must! If you do not follow the rules, you will be warned by the admin - we work on a “three strikes, you’re out” policy, unless you happen to break big-ticket items.

joining/character creation

• I would prefer your username to be your characters name - I personally use only their first name, as it makes tagging much easier.
• Your display name, however, must be your character’s first, middle, and last name, with no fancy characters. If it won’t all fit, you may omit the middle name.
• If you are unable to finish your application in one sitting, please post (ND) or (WIP) - meaning “Not Done” or “Work in Progress,” respectively - in the title of your application. If this happens, you have two weeks to complete the application or it will be deleted and you will need to start again.
• Please wait until I have posted in your character application, welcoming you to the site and formally accepting your application, before you begin roleplaying.
• You may have as many characters as you want, but please keep them on separate accounts.

• Please do your best to have an equal representation of male and female characters within the site, as well as equal representation of alliances and ages. It’s less fun if every character you have is a seventh year female Gryffindor.
• You may choose your own House, but keep in mind: I have the right to ban certain members if one House is filled more than another. Please try to keep your character’s personality in line with what the House is looking for. The only time this may be overridden is when family legacy comes into play - we all know that the Sorting Hat likes to follow bloodlines.
• Please avoid “perfect” characters or those with super cliche and tragic backstories. In addition, I fully expect you to keep to your character’s personality. People do change over time, of course, but a rude character doesn’t gain compassion overnight.
• In addition, use discretion when using face claims that belong to canon characters within the Harry Potter universe.
• There will be a limit on character creation - I know how addicting and fun it is to create new characters, but it’s difficult to put all of them to use. So, from here on out: you will be required to post at least two times in-character with your previous characters to create a new one.

roleplay rules

• Please, NO ONE LINERS. I would prefer there to be at least two decently sized paragraphs per post (about 200 words at the bare minimum, though more is definitely encouraged). It isn’t difficult, especially if everyone writes that much. Obviously, quality trumps quantity, but there’s a lot that can be explored in each post to get you to that 200 word mark.
• Drama is excellent, but only to a point. All deaths, pregnancies, and other life-changing events (marriages, divorces, etc) must be approved by me. The odds are, I won’t say no, unless it’s something that doesn’t quite fit or is something you’re asking me about every month or so. The only exception to that comes from large site-wide events and battles (which, don’t worry - they’ll exist). In that case, you may kill off whatever characters you’d like. This also carries over to the murder of family members of your characters.

• new: in order to take on a large, plot-heavy role on the site (leader of an alliance, large job role, minister of magic, special plot-influencing abilities, etc.), you must demonstrate active involvement with plots regarding the character beforehand. if a character that does have one of these privileges becomes inactive, one warning to the member will be given. further inactivity for the character will result in removal of the title.
• Swearing is 100% okay, but keep it consistent with your character, and don’t overdo it.
• Keep everything PG-13 to PG-17 regarding violence and sex.
• Gore and other such violence is acceptable, but it can’t get too graphic. For example, you can describe the pain of bones breaking, but don’t go into detail about the bone protruding.
• For sex, once clothes begin to come off, you must utilize a time-skip. Keep the graphic terms involved with sex to a minimum as well.
• “Liquid time” is in effect for this roleplay. The roleplay month is set in stone, but you may jump around to multiple threads. The only thing I ask is that you keep your major events in order. If your character finds out they’re pregnant in Thread A, but you’ve established that Thread B happens before Thread A, you shouldn’t be talking about the pregnancy in Thread B.
• If a thread has more than one character, you do not have to establish a posting order (though I do recommend it for organization sake). Character A and Character B can have a back-and-forth, then Character C can enter, Character B can reply, then Character C, etc. Just don’t ignore other members in group threads.
• Absolutely NO God-Modding. You are not to control other people’s characters without their permission, and you are not to play any of your characters as invincible or overly powerful. You will all have your weaknesses.
• Stick to realism. While we are inhabiting a magical world, realism still applies.
• Please mind your spelling and grammar. Spell check is your friend.

graphics

• Please keep all avatars in .jpg or .png format.
• Avatars are required. ALL AVATARS MUST BE 200x300. As long as you find a 2:3 image, the site will crop it down to 200x300. Below is how to change your avatar:

- Click “Profile” on the top banner of the site.
Click “Edit Profile”
Select “Use only Uploaded/Linked”
You may either upload your own image or insert the direct URL (http://www.urlgoeshere.com)

• Hover images are also required. ALL HOVER IMAGES MUST BE 180x100. .gifs ARE permitted for this image. Below is how to change your hover image.

- Click "Profile" on the left side of the site.

- Click "Edit Profile"

- Click "Personal"

- Scroll down to "Hover Image"

- Imput a direct URL link. (http://www.urlgoeshere.com)

• If you are unable to find an image, I would be more than happy to help.
• I will check profiles regularly to ensure they are following image guidelines. You will receive a message from me and your image will be removed if you fail to meet them.
• Please avoid excessive/graphic nudity or violence in your images.

ooc/discord

• You may not, under any circumstances, impersonate anyone else.
• Please don’t spam or flood with nonsense.
• You may only advertise things in the appropriate board. Please do not pop into our discord to advertise your own site.
• Be kind and generous to everyone.
• Keep all personal information to yourself. This is more of a suggestion than the rule of thumb, but please don’t put all your business out there for everyone to see.

activity

• You must post twice a month for each character that you have in a non-OOC thread. if you fail to post by midnight EST on the first of the month (according to the site clock), your character will go onto the activity check.

• new: last-minute posting before deadlines will no longer be tolerated. you must make an active effort to complete your posts on time in order to be able to keep characters. active effort is constituted by competing 80% of the necessary per member (not per character) posts three days prior to the deadline in question without an extension. characters who continually fail to do this after one warning will be removed from the site.
• Monthly activity checks will be held. They will be posted on the first day of each month with a list of characters who failed to meet that two post minimum in the previous month. You will have until the fifteenth of the month to post with said character in a non-OOC thread. If you fail to do so by midnight est (according to the site clock) on the fifteenth, that character will be removed from the site.
• If you fail to save a character from the activity check, but you are an active member, you will be required to wait a full activity check cycle before you bring that character back to the site. However, you must not have any characters on the activity check in order to do so. For example, you lost Character A to the activity check in January. In February, you kept all of your characters off of the activity check, so you may bring your character back in March once you post for all of your characters, keeping them off the check a SECOND time.
• If your character gets on the activity check for the month, that means you must post THREE times that month in order to keep them off the next month’s activity check. So, you had Character A on January’s activity check - your first in-character post saves them, then the second and third in-character post keeps them off February’s check.

• new: extensions are available upon request. all requests must be made one week prior to the deadline by midnight est and can be submitted by this google form
  
  
• If you have created an open thread and no one is taking it, putting your character in danger, you may delete it and repost it - you should not be penalized for other’s inactivity! I can also randomly tag an account if you wish, simply shoot me a message and I can do that. In addition, you can change the openness of the thread at your leisure if no one is biting.

• new: characters who rely solely on reposts to pass deadlines will no longer be tolerated. in order to pass an activity check or avoid being on one, 80% of the posts needed per member (not per character) must be original posts and not reposts. if a character already has the necessary posts needed via original posts/replies, then a repost will not hurt the character or the members.
  
  
• new: repeated reposts to pass deadlines will no longer be tolerated. a given reply may not be reposted two months in a row and count towards an activity check or saving a character from their next check. this will be monitored and noted by the admin team. if a second repost occurs without admin permission and no other posts are put up to save the character, the character will be deleted.
  
  
• we have a "three strikes, you're out" sort of policy on the activity check. if you find your characters on three consecutive checks, they will be deleted immediately.  for example, if you have a character that is on the checks for january and february, and then they do not get two posts to save them from march's check, they will be deleted on the first of march, no exceptions.

monthly character awards

• Each month, an awards competition will be held. There will be six different awards: member of the Month, characters of the Month, Couple of the Month, Friends of the Month, Family Members of the Month, and Enemies of the Month. The awards will be determined throughout the month for THAT month (the nominations and awards that take place in May will be for the month of May).
• A nomination period will take place, starting on the first of the month and ending on the fifteenth. You may nominate one or two characters/pairings/trios for each category.

• new: all nominations are due by midnight est on the fifteenth of the month. failure to submit nominations on time results in a disqualification of the nominations for the awards.

• new: regarding the character of the month awards, you must nominate and vote for characters of different genders. failure to do so will discount the votes cast by that member in all categories. for example, if you nominate two characters for the awards, if character is a female, character b must be either male or non-binary. the same applies for the voting.

• new: you may not nominate characters that have won the award for the previous month.

• new: you must nominate characters for all categories if you are submitting a nomination.
• You may not nominate your own characters for the characters of the month, but your characters may be included in the pairings/trios for the other four awards.
• The voting will take place from the fifteenth until the end of the month with those characters that were nominated. The winners will each receive an exemption from an activity check and recognition on the sidebar for the rest of the next month (winners from May will be displayed all of June).
• The maximum exemptions you can win is ten, and I reserve the right to still put you on the activity check if you have gone entirely inactive.
• In the rare event of a tie, the admin will randomly generate the winner. Proof of that generation can be provided upon request.

deltra of gangnam style