Disclaimer: Most of these rules are simply guidelines; they should be followed, but no one will ever be banned for making simple mistakes. Only those who intend to do harm to the site or its members run the risk of being intervened.
To make viewing the rules easier, each part has been condensed into a spoiler section. Click a button to expand that section, and click it again to hide it.
About the site:
The Administrative Team Dave (Master Admin, President, site founder) Lori (Vice President, Secretary of Twerk) Precious (First Lady) Jess (Queen of England) Eme (Official Poster of Long Posts, Dark Lord of the Sith) Jenn (Secretary of HNG) Natalie (Director of Senior Citizens' Affairs) Bones (Head of Early Childhood Education) Morgan (Leader of the Peace Corps) Ian/Anthony (Official Poster of Even Longer Posts) A complete list of the administrators and moderators (admins not on the above list are alternative characters to the listed admins) is available by clicking here.
Role Play Location and Time - The role play is based directly in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The current time and date is listed at the top of the site. The real events of the Harry Potter story have been stricken from history. Voldemort does not exist, etc. If someone happens to play Harry, he's just another guy. - This site is the second generation of Hogwarts Interactive, which means that we've established quite a history that deviates heavily from the book. Please see HIRP: A History (click me!) if you'd like to learn more. Characters:
Account Names - Format: Firstname, last name. Examples of good names: Jeffrey Johnson Examples of bad names: JeffreyJohnson, Jeffrey_Johnson, JeffreyJohnson16, OMGWTFBBQ, SnapekillsDumby, jeff johnson. Format: First name, space, last name. No titles, no underscores. Use capital letters. Suffixes such as "III" or "Jr." are fine. - Using the names of celebrities or real people is somewhat frowned upon, but not disallowed. Avoid using well-known celebrity names (ie: Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise). - Names should be creative. Characters with names like "Mistress Gemini" will probably not be taken seriously. - Name change requests can be made through this form (click me!). Please let an administrator know when you submit a request.Important: if you submit a name change request and it is approved, keep in mind that you will have to log in using that account name from then on. If your account credentials do not work, the request has probably been approved.
Canon Characters - A list of canon characters is viewable at the end of the Character Roster (click me!). - The names and personalities of canon characters may be used. Their names or personalities may not be changed. - Extension canon characters are allowed. For example, characters can be related to a canon character (ie: Beth Snape). - Canon characters are only given to writers with exceptional applications. Extension canons are a little less strict.
Character Creation - Characters should be original unless they are canon. Please do not rip characters from other fandoms and/or attempt to pass them off as your own. Although exceptions to this rule have been made for comedic purposes, this is largely not negotiable. - New characters are required to fill out the character sheet template in the Sign Ups area. You may add fields to the sheet as you see fit. Please do not remove any. - Please omit the example text from your character sheets when you fill them out. - Mary Sues. No character is perfect. Characters can't be the best-looking, smartest, strongest, most powerful person in the school. Everyone has weaknesses and negative qualities in addition to things they are good at. Perfect characters are boring and will be ridiculed heavily. Spotlight hogging will be met with ridicule. - Every member of HIRP is required to have read the entire Sparklypoo comic (click me!). Consider it a brief explanation of what to avoid. - Characters who have a violent history concerning their parents, have mental disorders, problems with addictions, or anything else that could result in PTSD are strictly prohibited. This rule is in effect as a courtesy to people who fit these descriptions who might take offense to someone playing a character with these issues for fun, which would not be in good taste or appropriate. There will be none of the following, under any circumstances: - Abused children
- Rape or rape victims
- Drug abusers
- Mentally ill characters
- Suicidal/self-harming characters
- Characters suffering from eating disorders
- Special abilities, odd heritages, or special possessions are uncommon (an invisibility cloak, being a werewolf or vampire, or being an animagus at the age of five). If you would like to request a special ability for your character, please see the special abilities thread in the OOC section after you have been approved for your character. New characters will not be given special abilities under any circumstances until the writer can prove their ability to use them responsibly.
Broomsticks
Multiple Accounts/Characters - Multiple accounts/characters are allowed. You may create additional accounts as long as your average post count across all accounts is greater than 50. We keep track of this metric using this document (click me!). Please request to be added when your application is accepted. - All accounts and characters owned by the same person MUST be registered under the same email. - For the various factions (Ministry of Magic, SAVIOR, Amaranthine Sisterhood), we say "don't call us, we'll call you". If you feel a character of yours would fit into these organizations, contact an administrator. - NPC characters now have their own section and rules. Please see the NPC Characters, Rules thread (click me!) for more information.
Avatars, Banners, and Celebrities - No two characters can have the same celebrity. Please see the Celebrity Claim thread (click me!) for a complete list. - The maximum combined pixel width for banners or other images in signatures (buttons, etc.) is 475. Avatars are automatically resized by the site. Playing your character:
Navigating Around Hogwarts - Hogwarts Interactive is unique in the way that characters navigate around. Characters can only be in one place at any one time (but keep in mind that you can RP at different times at once).
- When having your character "enter" or "leave" a room, please announce it using a color code so it is very clear. Here is an example:
Dave walked into the great hall and sat down at the Slytherin house table.
- If time moves on, feel free to continue posting "out of time". Be sure, however, that if anything major is going to happen, that you plan ahead and make sure that your character is aware/reflects what happens if you are posting in the present.
Example: My character, Dave, is posting in the Slytherin common room when time moves, and I decide to continue posting in the common room as well as post that he has arrived in class. Then, for example, if Dave is injured in the common room, I will have to post in class like I knew it was going to happen and/or edit my posts, because the events in class are technically happening after the events in the common room.
- The time and date are listed at the top of every page. Please use this information when planning interactions.
Thread Creation - No more than one unlocked thread should exist in one location unless one thread is current and the other thread is a thread from a previous time that is still active. - If there is already a thread that exists in a forum where you wish to role play, and the time stamp matches the current day/time, use it. If none exist, or the only unlocked thread is from a previous time, feel free to create a new one. - When creating new threads, please be sure to label your threads as such: Title: Whatever you like. Description: YEAR, DAY, PERIOD/TIME - Anyone can create classroom threads if one has not already been made. Please refer to the Classroom Thread Creation Template (click me!) for more information. - Please let an administrator know if you see any threads that are not labelled correctly.
Posting Guidelines - Discriminatory remarks regarding sex, race, or sexual preference are not allowed. In character discrimination, such as against halfbreeds, half bloods, or muggles, is fine. - Cursing is allowed, but should be taken in moderation. Avoid sexual remarks. - The most important rule about posting: post in third-person in the past tense. Refer to your character by their name, or by "he" or "she". Conjugate your verbs in past tense. Here's an example: Good: Jennifer walked into the great hall, moving her head around to see if she could spot her friends. Bad: Jennifer walks into the great hall, and moves her head around to see if she can spot her friends. - Make sure to be VERY CLEAR when you use pronouns in your posts. If you are responding to someone else's post, be sure to mention character names the first time you refer to them in order to establish the subject(s) for your reader. Good: Dave raised an eyebrow at Amelia, but he laughed at her joke all the same. Bad: He raised an eyebrow at the girl, but he laughed at her joke all the same. - Proofread your posts. Most browsers come with built in spellcheckers. - Use commas (,) when you would pause if you were reading your post aloud. Use quotation marks (" ") around spoken dialogue. Know your homophones (your and you're, there/their/they're, and its/it's). Please do not use accents ( ` ) as quotation marks or apostrophes. - There is no minimum or maximum post length, however, short posts might be boring, and long posts might be even worse. - Avoid double posts, and make use of the edit feature. If you accidentally double post, ask an administrator to clear it for you. - Hanky panky is okay. Graphic hanky panky is not. - Extreme violence should be kept to a minimum. Violence is allowed, but think realistically; assaulting someone is enough to put you in jail in most places of the world. - If you see someone breaking the rules, please do not take it upon yourself to flame them. - If you are reading this, I commend you. At the end of your application, please answer "the ultimate question" with your answer to the following, so I know you have read the rules: "Please explain the defining characteristics of a typical Sparklypoo." Don't forget! - Use the post codes at will. Use bold and underline, or both for stressing words. Use italics for character thoughts. - Code:
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[b]bold text here[/b] [i]italic text here[/i] [u]underlined text here[/u]
- Quote:
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Jack walked into the great hall, feeling very nervous. "Wow... I didn't realize there were this many people here," he thought to himself. Not aware that he looked utterly stunned, Jack sat down at his house table with the rest of his house.
- Be mindful not to confuse thoughts and dialogue. Keep in mind that your character should not bring up someone else's italicized dialogue, as they will not hear it. - Use color codes to denote entering/exiting, and (optionally), dialogue. You can view a list of the built-in color codes here (click me!). Please be consistent in your use of colours (ie: use one colour for each of your characters). Examples: - Code:
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[color=green]Hello[/color] [color=darkred]Hello[/color] [color=#FF8800]Hello[/color]
Which turns into the following: - Quote:
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Hello Hello Hello
Role Play Etiquette - Threads are always open unless specified, but please be mindful of other people when posting, especially if your character's actions are disruptive.
- Please make sure that you read threads before posting. Make sure that you are aware of where other characters are, how they're positioned, and who they're talking to or what they're doing. The safest bet is to enter a thread and then let other people come to you, but feel free to approach other characters as long as you are aware of the situation.
- Be extremely mindful of your character's actions. Attacking other people's characters without permission is frowned upon and can disrupt important plots. Please ask permission before butting into conversations aggressively.
- Be realistic. Assaulting someone or blowing up the school is going to affect your character in a very negative way.
God Moding - God moding is the practice of dictating how your actions against another player end up happening, generally in your favour and against theirs. If you cast a spell at another player, it's up to them if it hits, and what it does to them if it does hit.
- Please be reasonable. If a character is dodging every spell thrown at them by twenty people at a time, there's something wrong.
- Every action performed on another character, either positive or negative, has its effects decided by the target. Spells, and even friendly actions such as hugs, work this way. A character can try to hug someone, but if the recipient doesn't like the character, it gives them a chance to push them away or move. Something as small as saying someone has a surprised look on their face is god moding.
- The bottom line is that your posts do not concern the actions of other characters. You may paraphrase their previous posts in your own for cohesion (ie: As x did this, I did this in response to that action).
- Intentional god moding can be done with permission. For example, you may take another character with you when you exit a room with that person's permission.
- You may god mode your own characters, but please make it very clear who is speaking and who is taking which actions.
Other rules:
Forum Activity - All information and character sheets are kept on file, even if they are no longer visible to you. If you return to the site and cannot find your character sheet, please ask an administrator to retrieve it for you.
- If you need to leave or are going on holiday, post in the off-topic section to let us know.
- Canons will be taken away if they are inactive.
Advertising and Affiliations - Advertising via PM or in the CBox will result in an instant ban with no questions asked. Please report any advertisements PM'd to you immediately. - Advertisements and affiliation requests may be done through the appropriate forum. Please see this thread (click me!) for more info.
CBox and OOC Etiquette - Please be respectful of other members at all times. If you have personal issues with another member, either ignore/avoid them, or take it up with them via PM or other private means.
- The CBox is what brings the site together. The first thing you should do upon logging into the site is say hello in the CBox, and get to know the other members.
- Religion and politics are not to be discussed in the CBox. If you would like to discuss these things, feel free to open a thread in the Off-Topic Section or discuss it elsewhere. Discussions related to pudding and the consumption of pudding are not only okay, but encouraged.
Questions and Concerns If you have any questions or concerns, please head down to the CBox or PM an administrator (please let us know if you send us a PM, as we have many accounts).
Most importantly: please do not feel intimidated by myself or the other admins. I created this site with the intention of role playing with you, and nothing more, so don't be shy! We're actually relatively normal, totally sane people (not really).
Mistakes are okay. We all make them, and we're all here to have fun while writing a story, so as long as you come with a good attitude, minor rule breaking is not a huge deal. These "rules" can be seen simply as guidelines. 
Please do not PM this account, as I do not check it frequently. If you require assistance, please contact an administrator in the CBox.
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