Frequently Asked Questions
Please, if you have a question - or even if you don't, be sure to read through all of this page. Your question may or may not be answered, but there's a good chance it will be. If not, feel free to send us an e-mail, to contact one of the administrators personally, or post your inquiry on the board.
Q: So uh... What year is this again?
A: If you read the About section, you would know that this takes place during the 1999-2000 school year, during which Harry and his year are in their second year at the university.
Q: Okay, I saw that the canon students will be around, but... What about professors?
A: As teachers rarely ever spend their entire career at a single school, we've decided to allow some canon professors. But, not all of them. We don't very well want to go and steal all of Hogwarts' occupants now, do we? If you want to play a Canon professor, feel free to fill out the proper application form. If you portray them well enough, chances are good that you'll be accepted.
Q: It's been established that canons are here but... How do I know who is available?
A: Well, there are two ways of finding out which canons are available. First, you can go to the Staff and Students pages. Names listed there are already taken and you cannot apply for them. If the character you wish to play is NOT listed there, they may still be taken, depending on how recently the lists were updated. So, regardless of whether you check there first, you should go to the MU RP Board and click on the About Section. In there, is a topic entitled Available Characters. That list will be constantly updated as soon as new canons are accepted, so if the character is there, feel free to apply.
*NOTE* In the case of Canon Professors... If the teaching position of a particular professor has been filled by an Original Character, you may still apply for them, but as an Other Character. If, for example, you want to play Severus Snape, but all available Potions classes are filled, then you can still play him, but probably not as a teacher. We will make exceptions, but only occasionally, in which they can teach a class OTHER than what they taught at Hogwarts. In this case, Snape could still be accepted as a DADA professor.
Q: Okay, I checked, and the character I want to play is free. How do I go about applying for them?
A: In the case of canon characters, the application process is called an Audition. Canon characters will not be given away lightly, so the best portrayal of each will get the desired role. The application process is still the same, but more emphasis is put on the sample roleplay. It's all fine and dandy if you have an ace Harry profile figured out, but don't know how to PLAY him, or simply just don't but enough effort into posting. However, just because we put more weight on the sample does NOT, by any means whatsoever, mean that we will accept "crap" applications. Keep it realistic and close-to-canon. And keep the fields lengthy - this is something we ask from ALL applicants, not just canons.
Q: I must be an idiot to have to ask but... What's the difference between a Canon and Original Character..?
A: Not stupid at all! This is an easy question to answer, and just about everyone has to ask it at one time or another during their Roleplaying career. Basically, a Canon character is a character that was created by the person who wrote the book/movie/game/show/etc that the RP is based on. Completely original RPs won't have canon characters.
Alternately, Original Characters are characters that are created by the players. They're also referred to as Made-Ups in some circles. Harry Potter is a canon, while a character you create completely of your own accord, who has never been mentioned or even thought of in the realm of the Canons, is an Original Character.
Q: Hmmm... Well, can we create original characters who are based on people not in the Harry Potter world?
A: You can, but it's not suggested. You see, if you make an SSJ based off of DBZ, or a Sailor Scout based off of Serena, you will be laughed at... Basing characters off of real people, however, is fine. A lot of people will use celebrities to be the basis of their character's appearance, and use the celeb's likeness as an Avatar for the character. Others will take snippets of the personality of an on-screen character that they adore. But, keep it real. And remember, even if your character is based on a celebrity, the character his or herself will not be a celebrity. You can create a character based on Catherine Zeta-Jones, so long as the character isn't ACTUALLY Cat.
Q: What about supernatural-
A: No.
Q: But-
A: No.
Q: Let me finish, damnit!
A: Fine...
Q: But there are supernatural creatures in the Harry Potter books!
A: We know... But no. I mean, you can play a supernatural creature, so long as they are NOT a student, and NOT a staff member. When it comes to staff, we may be pursuaded to make an exception, but ONLY if they're not something major like a vampire. Vampires are dark creatures who don't live in the school. Ghosts haunt the school but don't attend classes while in some cases (like History of Magic professor from Hogwarts - Professor Flitwick) they may teach them.
But we will have NO vampiric, lycanthropic, poltergeist, et cetera, students. And there is no debate on this, either. Students are to be human, as are 96% of Staff and about 75% of non-university-related characters. Be warned, however, that if you create an Other Character that is a werewolf, or a centaur, you're going to find yourself with not a whole lot to do. And just because it says here that supernatural Other-Characters MAY be accepted, it doesn't mean they will be. If you apply for a vampire, we will be wary and you probably won't be accepted.
I know, damn our infantile love of the strictly-human race, and all that jazz...
Q: Not even hybrids??
A: No. End of discussion.
Q: Hmm.. Can I be related to a canon character?
A: No. Not unless the relation is also canon.
Q: Not even if I pass the idea by the person already playing the canon character and they say yes?
A: *sigh* No... Maybe. Only in very RARE cases. If you want to play Snape's bastard American daughter who decided to come to MU cuz it's the best law-enforcement school, and the person playing Snape is okay with it, we MIGHT allow it, depending on a consensus of all of the administrators and opinions of other members of the board. And we'll probably still say no unless we fall in love with you AND your character.
But there are no long-lost cousins of Hermione, or Harry's twin that was lost at birth. Full-Stop. Period. Finito. The End.
Q: Fine, what about friendships with canons?
A: Those are fine. Friendships and other non-blood-relations are fine by us, but you have to clear it with all canons (AND non-canons too, as you won't have a character who it only friends with canon characters) first. If they're okay with it, so are we.
Q: Is there a minimum age on the board?
A: Yes and no. There is an age limit, but it isn't set on AGE, it's set on personal maturity and skill level. If you're ten years old but mature for your age, and don't mind seeing the occasional F-word, then you can feel free to apply. But if you're fifteen and act like a three year old, don't even bother applying. Immaturity and insanity in personality is fun sometimes, but immaturity when it comes to roleplaying is something we all hate. We take this very seriously, and if you're not going to, then this isn't the board for you.
Q: Okay... What did you mean about skill level then? Are newbies not welcome?
A: No, that's not what we mean at all. There are two facets to Skill - the first is basically how long you've been RPing, and how much you understand the concept. If you've never roleplayed, you're a newbie, while those who have been going for years now are something of RP-Veterans. The other side to skill, is basically the quality of your work, how good you are at what you do. At MU, we want to have only the high-quality and high-effort roleplayers here.
If your spelling is atrocious and you don't use a spellchecker, and you don't have a very good understanding of the English language and grammatical concepts, it detracts from the quality if your work immensely. If you don't put effort into your posting, and all of your work is minimal and not enjoyable to read, you're considered a low-skill roleplayer. Posts don't have to be eight pages long to be ex ceptionally excellent, just like they don't have to be three sentences to be construed as 100%-horrible.
Basically, if you're a stranger or an old friend of roleplaying, you're welcome here, provided that you will make a conscious effort to make your posts enjoyable to read, your characters seem "real". That's all we ask for; effort, and good quality of work.
Q: WOW, Finally, an RPG that doesn't take any crap members who apply, who don't take kindly to slackers... *glomp* I love you guys!
A: We love you too. And thank you. Now, stop glomping and get writing your application =P
Q: I think you were being a bit harsh when you rejected my application...
A: The first thing I have to say, is don't take our criticisms personally. We want the best for our board, and we know what we want and don't want, what will work and what won't. When we review applications, there are two possible outcomes. The first is that you will be told you are accepted, and that's the end of the application process. However, if we reject it, we're going to tell you WHY we rejected it, any possible problems or errors in the appliation, so that if you wish, you can revise it. Much more often than not, rejected applications that have had a few small revisions and/or additions will and have been accepted.
However, if you're going to get heated and angry over our criticisms... Well, you probably shouldn't be here. We are picky, and we'll be the first to admit this - and this pickiness is born of too many years on RPGs with exceptionally low standards and therefore extremely poor quality posting.
Something we hear far too much is "God, it's only an RPG!" Sure, it's true enough, but this is OUR RPG, and we have a right to know what we want. We have a right to demand good quality work. Sure, it might not be an entry for a university English-Lit class, but we're still going to scritinize your application. That's just the way things run. And on that note, since I'm PAYING good money for these forums, I think I have more than a right. There's no sense in paying for something you don't want, is there?
Q: *Whine* Sia yelled at me!
A: No, no, no NO. We had to put this in the rules for a reason, and we're sticking it in the FAQ to make an impact and impress this upon you. If you have a trivial problem, ANY trivial problem, with ANY administrator or ANY member of the board, your first stop should be to confront THEM about it. I can't tell you how many times I've been dragged into personal disputes, and over the most meaningless of things.
However, that isn't to say that if you have a real problem I don't want you to come to me. So long as you're not coming to me to bitch about someone else without even discussing the matter with the "someone else" in question. If you have a genuine complaint to lodge or feel that you're being treated unfairly by staff, or a member is harassing you, we surely want to know about it, as we have a no-tolerance policy when it comes to our members and slander, harassment, and bigotism.
But if you get into an argument with an administrator (especially about the rules, as they're written there in green-and-white), that's a problem between the two of you, and you don't have to e-mail me and tell me how POed you are with me for not stopping it. People are bound to have disagreements and disputes. But even if you don't get along with one or more admins, doesn't mean that we won't be fair with you. Personal disputes are to be left at the door. You can pick them up on your way out.
