A guide to Yet Another Harry Potter Guild-Read Only!

[Spastic waffles]

Ok, welcome to the first and only role-playing guide. That's right, this is the place where everything and anything about this guild and how it is to be used is explained. So, if you are wondering about anything at all, the directory is posted below.

Directory
Introduction-you are here.
Player profiles/Student Applications-post 2
How to roleplay: Basic principles-post 3
How to roleplay: Posting-Post 4
All about teaching-post 5
Quidditch: How do I get on the team?-post 6
Volemort and his deatheaters:WTH?-post 7
Azkaban: it was inevitable that you would end up this way-post 8
What about the other subforums?-post 9
Special Events/Contest/Storyline: unconfuzzling the confuzzled- post 10
General Guidelines-post 11
FAQ (frequently asked questions)-post 12  

[Spastic waffles]

Starting out: Player profiles/Student Applications

When you first join this guild, you are asked to PM your student application to Notsalony. That's this (Filled out for Jim Bob George):

vvv THIS IS WHAT YOU PM TO NOTSALONY!!! vvv

Sn: Gaia72
Name: Jim Bob George
Age: 12
House: Hufflepuff

^^^ RIGHT HERE, BETWEEN THE GIANT LETTERING!!! ^^^

There are two places where we have set up for player proflies, which are completely different than the student application. These you post directly in the threads you find them in. One is the CHARACTER PROFILES thread, the other is the Welcome members! thread. You are not required to post in both, but we do ask that you post in one. Either one, doesn't matter.

How to fill out your player profile (feel free to make it more detailed. I'm not going into a lot of detail because I'm doing like 50 of these with this thread. Give them good backgrounds.):

Now, let's say you are making a character. His name will be Jim Bob George, 12 years old (making him a second year), And you were sorted into Hufflepuff. The following is an example of a correctly filled out player profile (this profile is from the welcome members thread).

Name: Jim Bob George
Age: 12 ((You don't have to start as an 11-year-old first year.))
Year: 2
Personality: Jim is shy, caring, outgoing, and funny.
Likes: girls, food, camping
Dislikes: grass, water, the color green
Pets: An owl named Ferret.
Favorite class: Divination
Other: Jim is an orphan.

**Remember, the other category is for whatever you want. This is for you to tell us a bit about your character. Interesting facts, special powers, or whatever else we need to know about your character goes here.

This is an example of a correctly filled out application from the character profiles thread:

We'll use Jim Bob George again.

Name: Jim Bob George
Age: 12
Year: 2
Personality: Jim is shy, caring, outgoing, and funny.
Likes: girls, food, camping
Dislikes: grass, water, the color green
Pets: An owl named Ferret.
Favorite class: Divination
Background: Jim is an orphan. His parents were both killed by a tradgic Dragon accident when he was eight. He now lives with his brother's second cousin. He is a half-blood, his father is a wizard, but his mother is a muggle. The family he lives with is middle-class, and he sometimes has to deal with hand-me down robes or books.

***Remember: you do not have to be related to anyone famous. Also note that we are not in the same time frame as the Harry Potter books. You cannot be Ron's brother, because Ron is now in his twenties or so. Also note that it is not neccesary for you to be an orphan, a half orphan, or to have any tradgedies at all. Yes, it sometimes adds a bit of a twist, but when everyone has lost their parents, it gets rather redundant. Be creative with your background.

Year-by Year guide:
In case there is any confusion, this will tell you exactly what age corresponds with what year.

11 years old-1st year
12-2nd year
13-3rd
14-4th
15-5th
16-6th
17-7th  

[Spastic waffles]

You've got your character-How to roleplay-basic prinicples.

Okay, so, now that you've made your character, you're ready to start roleplaying. There are a few things you should be aware of before you start out.

1. There are only a few classes with set times. Most of them just kind of go. You'll see what I mean once you start posting.

2. You can be in multiple classes at once. Often times, you will have one person in divination, at quidditch practice, and in dueling club, all at the same time. Also, time periods change according to the situation. In one thread, a week may pass, while in another one, only an hour will. At first, it may confuse you a bit. But really, you will get used to it. Just remember to adapt accordingly.

3. Grammar is a good thing.

-Example of good (smiled upon) grammar:
Hello, my name is Jim Bob George. How are you on this fine day?

-Example of bad (unacceptable) grammar:
helo mi name iz jim bob ge0rge how r u 2day?! biggrin xd confused
-StIcKy CaPs and 7331 are included under this section.

***Note: emoticons are completely unneccesary while in character. Out of character, they are fine, but in character, please stray from them. Also, please don't rape the emoticons, anywhere. They did nothing to you to deserve that.

Now, we here at Yet Another Harry Potter Guild are not grammar Nazis. We will not bite your head off for not capitalizing or spelling a word wrong (I myself may be one of the worst spellers in this guild!). However, we need to understand what you are saying, so please, make the effort to type well. And possibly most important of all: They put the period, comma, question mark, and exclamation point buttons on your keyboard for a reason. Please use them. When you write an entire post that should be five sentances as one sentance, it is almost impossible to understand.  

[Spastic waffles]

How to Roleplay-Posting

Now, you've got your character, you've got your grammar, you have half a clue what's going on. Now what? Well, now it's time to post.

Now, roleplaying in a guild and roleplaying on Aim are two very different things.

How to post here (Still using Jim Bob George):

Jim walks into the Great Hall. He sits down at the Hufflepuff table next to a girl he has never met before. "Hi, I'm Jim. What's your name?" He asks.

What to do (break it down!):

-Say your actions in either present or past tense. Use whichever depending on the situation, but try to be consistent.

-Use third person when indicating actions (Say Jim walks into the room, not I walk into the room)

-When you talk, use quotation marks (Ex:"Hi! How are you?")

-When your character is thinking something, put it in italics so that everyone else knows that is what your character is thinking, not saying.

-Indicate when you are typing out of character. Some of the most common ways: ((double parenthesis)) --double dash--
Whatever you use for OOC, please indicate (the first time) that this will be the way you show out of character phrases.

What NOT to do:

-quote posts. If you think someone won't be sure you're talking to them, put it in your action that you are talking to them. (Ex of what to do: "insert talking here" Jim says to Fred.)
-astericks to show actions (Ex:*walks into common room*)
-Dashes to show actions: (Ex: -walks into common room-)

Showing actions by asterics, dashes, or anything else for that matter is unncessasary. You show actions by not putting them in quotation marks. (See example post above) However, using these in OOC (out of character) forums is perfectly acceptable. In OOC forums, post just as you would in a normal gaia thread (literacy still applies!).  

[Spastic waffles]

But what about the teachers?

Ok, so you're going through this, and it dawns on you: I want to be a teacher.

Well, you're in luck. This is the place to find out how.

Firstly, you have to pick a class that someone isn't already teaching. We will not have more than one of each class (as in, we're not going to have three different people teaching transfiguration).

There's two places you'll find a list of teacher openings. I've made a list in the Teacher Update thread, and there's also a list of teachers in the Guild Info thread. You may want to check both, just to be safe, in case one gets updated but another doesn't!

Now that you have your class, you need to PM an application to Spastic waffles (me!).

The following is the teacher's application (filled out correctly), found in the Character Profiles thread.

Name: Professor Randy Martin
Age: 65
Class(es): Divination ((Note-this class is already taken. Remember, this is an example.))
Head of House: ((We have all Head of House positions filled, so please, leave this blank.))
Times Online: 5pm-10pm CST (Central Standard Time)
Other: I will not be setting up certian class times, come when you are on. Homework will usually be given once or twice a week.

Now, you may make your thread for your class, if and only if Notsalony or another mod tells you that you have recieved the job. Then, you run your class however you want to.

You are allowed to give house points and take them away, although you must have a good reason to. PM Nots for house points also. Most teachers give house points for completed homework, but the choice to do so or not is entirely up to you.

You are allowed to give out homework that should be PMed to you. Essays are generally not practical, but if you do want to assign one, you may want to put a word count in it.

You are allowed to have both a student and a teacher character, on the same Screen name. Please, at least use different colors to help distinguish between the two.  

[Spastic waffles]

Quidditch-How do I get on the team?

Now, you may have noticed by now our subforums, which will be detailed in a later post. This one, however is for quidditch.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about: The Quidditch pitch

Yes, we have quidditch teams. And yes, you can be a player.

I have recently taken over quidditch, and so am looking for players. There's announcements everywhere about it. There's also a waiting list you can be put on for when the teams are full. If a player quits or is inactive for a long period of time, you'll get put on the team in their place.

To get on the team, Pm Spastic waffles (me) with this application (example of correctly filled out form shown For Jim Bob George, Imaginary Screen name Gaia72):

User Name: Gaia72
Character Name: Jim Bob George
Year: 12
House: Hufflepuff
Position(s): Chaser (Second choice seeker)

***Note: you can apply for more than one position, just indicate which one you want more. You cannot play two positions, however.

Once you are put on the team (You can view the list of players, along with the application above, at the Players thread in the Quidditch subforum), we have another form for you to fill out (you'd think we get tired of all the forms, but no). This one is your player profile, it just tells us a bit about your character (again, filled out for Jim):

Character Name: Jim Bob George
Year: 12
Position: Chaser
House: Hufflepuff
Team: Spynx
Broom: Nimbus 2003
Playing Style: Agressive and smart. He'll play dirty if it's neccesary.
If you could play any other position(s) other than the one you have what would it be and why?: Seeker, because I'm good at spotting things.

Player profiles found here.

Another thing: Don't freak out if you don't get on the team immediately. I will put people on the team based on the order in which I recieved the applications. If you PM your application in, I've recieved it. You're on the waiting list. Sit back and watch the game while waiting for an opening, because if you continually bombard me with PMs about why you're not on the team yet, it makes me less apt to pick you to fill a spot.  

[Spastic waffles]

Voldemort and his Death Eaters-WTH?

Now that we've been through all the aspects of Hogwarts, it's time to venture into the other parts of the wizarding world.

You may have notice that we have a Death Eater Camp subforum. Yes, we have the bad guys too. jojo089 is our Voldemort, so no, you cannot become Voldemort. You can, however, become a death eater.

At the Recruiting Death Eaters thread, you will find yet another profile form to fill out. For this, you can make up an entirely new character or make your current character a death eater.

The application for a death eater is as follows (filled out for Gaia72, making a new character instead of using Jim.):

SN: Gaia72
Character name: Martin James
Age: 34
Other:
Appearence: Martin is short, dumpy, and balding. He doesn't look like the deatheater type, which is part of what makes him so valuble. Nobody suspects him, ever.

Special Traits: Martin is especially good with transfiguration and potions work.

***The "other" category is completely up to you. You can write whatever you want in there, the two I used were just examples, although, putting in your appearence is usually a good idea.  

[Spastic waffles]

Azkaban-it was inevitable that you would end up this way

We also have an Azkaban subforum, as you have probably noticed. For this, it is neccesary to make up a new character. There are two types of Azkabaners: Guards and prisoners. You can be one or both. Please do not make more than one prisoner at a time. If yours gets executed or let off, you can create a new prisoner here.

Prisoner application (Filled out, as always):

Username: Gaia72
Prisoner's Name: Frank Jimenez
Criminal History: Frank is a long suspected, now confirmed Death Eater.
Crime: Frank is in Azkaban for torturing a couple to insanity using the crucius curse.
Description: Cold, merciless, unemotional
Appearence: Tall, lean and muscular.
Other: Frank has actually confessed to being a Death Eater, and the only thing he has said since he was captured was one sentence he said as soon as he was taken: The Dark Lord will be so pleased...So very pleased...

Secondly, you can create a guard here.

Username: Gaia57
Name: Alexander Jones
Race/Origin: Wizard
History: Graduated from Hogwarts near the middle of his class. Comes from both muggle parents. Has been acknowledged, but not awarded, by the ministry for some important captures.
Special Abilites/Skills: Very skilled in Occlumency and Legilimency.
Appearance: Big in general. Very tall and beefy.
Description: Works hard, is pretty ruthless and cold with the prisoners.
Other: Alexander is a generally cold person and doesn't get along with many people.
What you would do if a prisoner got out of hand: Cause pain.
What you would do if there was a prison break: Cause lots of pain.  

[Spastic waffles]

What about the other subforums?

As of now, we have 13 subforums. I have already discussed three of them, but there are nine more that are hanging around there.

Our twelve subforums, as you can see on the front page, are as follows:

Holiday Events
Staff Room*
Hogsmeade
The Death Eaters Camp
Secret Forums Secret Rooms*
The Quidditch Pitch
Number twelve, Gimmauld place
OOC subforum
Wizarding World
Azkaban
Durmstrang*
Beauxbatons*
Summer Holiday-Character Homes*

Asterisks (*) indicate locked/private subforums. In other words: you have to be a mod to veiw them.

A brief summary of each subforum:

Holiday events- Things like balls, summer/winter vacation, ect. ect. Holiday/season-specific events.

Staff Room-This is where the mods go to complain about us.

Hogsmeade-Shops, just like in the books. We have a mass variety of different shops, go check them out! We don't use real money or anything, you just have to use your imaginations. Remember, you pay with galleons, sickles, and knuts.

The Death Eater Camp-Voldemort's lair. This is where he (Well, she) and the death eaters plan all of their evil.

Secret Forums Secret Rooms-Well, the word secret is there for a reason.

The Quidditch Pitch-This is where Quidditch games and practices are held.

Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place-This is where the Order of the Phoenix meets. You'll find another player profile to fill out here, and once it's filled, you're in the Order. Of course, the Order is run by Harry Potter, played by Shura-Pendragon.

OOC sub forum-This is where everything that is done OOC is put. Once contests are decided, the thread gets moved here. This is a bit of a chatterbox, but please, don't make completely random threads that pertain to nothing in here. We're not a spamming guild, we are a Harry Potter guild.

Wizarding World-This is where you can RP outside of Hogwarts. This is usually used for adult characters, such as Death eaters or Harry Potter and his group.

Azkaban-Wizard's prison. This is where you RP your prisoner and guard characters.

Durmstrang-Once it opens, it'll be...well...Durmstrang.

Beauxbatons-Once it opens, it'll be...well...Beauxbatons.

Summer Holdidays-Character Homes-Well, this will be for your character's homes for the holdiays. When it opens, that is.  

[Spastic waffles]

Special Events/Contests/Storyline-unconfuzzling the confuzzled

I already discussed the Holidays subforum, but rest assured, this is completely different.

As of now, you know that we have a Voldemort. Well, we have a Harry Potter too. Shura-Pendragon plays Harry. Harry is no longer 16. He's in his twenties. Remember what I said earlier? We are not in the same time period as the books. To see these contests, check out the OOC subforum. The threads are there. We also have Ron, played by Evil_excel, and Hermione, played by me. Yes, you can apply to be any other character we have a contest for. For every contest, Notsalony makes a storyline update with questions for an essay. You fill out the essay, and the Mods vote on the best. Majority wins.

Also, we have a storyline going based on these contests. To see current storylines, and all updates, check out the Story line -read only- thread. Yes, read only. That means no posting in that thread. Nots will post his updates for all of us to read. He always posts when there is a new contest winner, but keep an eye on this thread, because you never know when the storyline will be updated.  

[Spastic waffles]

General guidelines

Now, you should all be getting to know this guild if you read this nifty little thread. But there are some things that didn't really belong in any of those threads, just some tips and rules that may or may not be posted somewhere...Now they're posted here.

1. Do not make a new thread without someone's consent. Prefferably, that someone should be Notsalony or one of our other Mods (listed below)

2. When in doubt, don't. If you are unsure of whether something you are doing is allowed or not, either ask about it OOC or PM a mod.

3. Suggestion threads-all of these are held out of character. You may post in these, there is a suggestion thread for the guild as a whole and most of the subforums. Nobody will bash your ideas. And if we do, we're joking.

4. Please, please, please, have a sense of humor. Many of us in this guild playfully insult each other. Do not take offense to any of it, we don't mean it. If you do have a problem with something someone is saying, take it up with them or one of the mods, preferrably through PMs. Keep drama out of the guild as a whole as much as possible, please.

5. I cannot say this enough: Chatspeak is bad.

Mod list:

Notsalony-Guild captain
babyshady-Vice captain
Wicanprince-Mod
Black Orical of Thorns-Mod
Evil Excel-Mod
jojo089-Mod
Spastic waffles-Mod
[+[Shade]+]-Mod
Knight of Shadows-Mod

Also, all donations should be sent to HP_Guild_Mule.  

[Spastic waffles]

FAQ

We get a lot of questions about this guild. Most of them were probably answered in this thread already, but for good measure, here's a list of the most often asked questions answered.

Q: What does SN stand for?
A: SN stands for screen name, that is, your gaian screen name.

Q: Why is Harry in his twenties?
A: We are not in the same time period as the books. This Roleplay is held later.

Q: Can I have multiple characters?
A: Yes, as long as you can handle it and you give them a profile.

Q: Can I put a character on my mule?
A: Yes. If you get your mule into the guild and want to put a character on it, by all means, do.

Q: I want a date to the ball. What do I do?
A: You have two choices here. You can either ask someone else's character (Be careful, most of us are already taken) or you can make up a date. You can make this character become your boyfriend/girlfriend, or just have them as a date to the dance. Your choice.

Q: Can I became a vp or crew the day I join the guild?
A: Um... No. It takes time for Notsalony and the other vp's and crew to see how you do in the guild and what you do to decide on that.

Q: What classes are taken?
A: Check the front page and the teacher post above, Nots updates them as he gets time.

Q: Who do I send the gold and items to?
A: Send them to " HP_Guild_Mule ", only two people have access to that acount. And neither of us will steal from it. One is Nots, and the other is Matt.

Q: Why do we need to send items and gold to the mule?
A: Because we would like to be able to reward our witches and wizards of the month and need a system for doing that, so we are opening up the guild mule acount to accept donations from you the people to help be able to give something back to the comunity -ie guild-.

Q: I joined the guild x months ago and am not listed anywhere but the member's page. Why?
A: Because, we have a lot of current users in the guild. We are going through them and getting the info we need for each one as quickly as we can. So... we are having a bit of a time getting it all up right now.

Q: How do I become a witch/wizard of the month?
A: That is quite easy, every month three will be chosen. To get chosen you have to impress people in the guild, who may nominate you to either Notsalony or the other mods. They will discuss it and the winners will be chosen. You just have to participate and participate often to have a chance at getting choosen.

Q: I have a pictue to show what my character looks like. Where do I put it?
A: In the "other" or "Appearence" section of the character profiles. Don't put them in posts in the threads.