IMPORTANT: Plot Discussion

I think you have a valid point- it does mostly stem from that. Those less likely to hold back with their characters are typically those who are more established RPers and more comfortable on the site.

(THOUGH, I will say... Two of those I was referring to were staff at the time. A mod and an admin.)

The only point I have in bringing up this problem, however, is stating that it is a problem here on PA and inhibits plots where such mistakes must be made. Just a little factor to keep in mind.

And good luck with the plot discussion forum. I remember trying to start a forum like that on here, and it was rarely used.

I haven't really been on here much, so it doesn't matter to me, what we do, but I like the third idea. Well, mostly for the fact, that yeah, maybe I haven't been here much, but I'm trying, but there are soooo many others, who have worked hard on their characters and all, and I wouldn't want for them to just lose it, unless they really want it, you know what I'm saying?

Anyway, I like the third idea. It's probably the best. Something new and all.

I know I haven't been active so my opinion isn't that huge but I would personally go for option two. I feel like this would shift the focus of the site back on Hogwarts (where I personally enjoy it the most). School is fun. It's easy for characters to interact and lots of reasons to bond/hate each other. It's always a good time when a bunch of characters with conflicting personalities have to room together. My only concern would be the age resets. A lot of my characters are canon so I would be interested to know how this would effect them. Some of the personalities just don't work at younger ages and some have close relationships with canon characters. For example if Elijah Krum returns to being a sixth year, my Mira would also get bumped back because it just wouldn't work any other way.

But yes, I support a PA revamp. I miss this site but I don't really want to stick around if I'm going to be one of the only active ones. I'd love for it to return to its former glory.

I voted for the 3rd option.

I'm new here and just trying to find my way around, but from a point of a newbie I'd go all for option two. I know you guys are used to the plot and everything, but do you have any idea how confusing it can be for a new player?
So, basically, if the aim is new players and increased activity, I'd go for restart. Actually, for a restart without the big bad guys or big bad plots. The excitement and plot could be about other things. About the race to "who will make complicated electronics work in Hogwarts?", about discovering Atlantis, about encountering new species... You know. The old big, bad guy plot has been beaten to a pulp by now in so many RPs that it could be really refreshing to see a RP without war.

Besides, it would shift the attention back to Hogwarts and narrow down the places where you can post, therefore - more interaction. If you would actually opt for the reset, I'd even say, that you should remove the out of Hogwarts world completely.

But, then again, I do understand the old players that don't want to give up their chars. I wouldn't want it.

Audra Imbert wrote:I know you guys are used to the plot and everything, but do you have any idea how confusing it can be for a new player?

Yes. It was irritating for me when I first arrived, too.

A lot of the history of Potter's Army is fudged together. One of the reasons it's confusing is because it doesn't make very much sense in the first place.

I think if we got to a restart point like that too, it'd be best for the site, but I don't think members will go for it. The poll indicates it. And I think we've all had trouble deciphering the PA plot. I still have to go back to look stuff up.

I'll try to get the overview updated.

I generally shy away from PA's history, cause it can get kinda funky. That's one of the reasons I've never used a canon family.

But I think Audra's on to something - the "ultimate evil" plot has been done to death, and I honestly don't feel like another antagonist will work as well as it has in the past. But if we subtly retool the site so it's less about "fight evil" and more about "have adventures", then I think we're onto something. Like how Star Trek ToS was more about exploring new worlds than taking on the Klingon Empire, maybe PA should be more about doing crazy stuff in this weird magical world than fighting the Death Eaters in round 16.

Of course, adventures are sort of difficult to have if we want to keep the focus on Hogwarts, but I don't think it's impossible. If we used Hogwarts as more of a "hub" where people could meet and hang out, maybe we could start offering class trips to cool magical sites around the world? What if one of the Hogwarts professors suddenly invented a magical carriage that takes you to alternate dimensions, and let our little Hogwarts students run around in those for a while before popping back into the Hogwarts we all know and love?

From the past experiences I can say that the traveling thing doesn't work out too well. For a long time I was an admin of Latvian rp forum called "Traveling Hogwarts". We did just that. We traveled around the world with whole school, we did road trips, we did individual travels. It sounds like a nice idea, but you really got to have a lot of active members for that to be interesting and usually we ended up ignoring the traveling part. I mean, it was good fun, but it ended up being tiring - the admins worked their arses of and the members were never happy. We ended up getting tired of the constant change and the sheer amount of work needed and settled back to normal Hogwarts with little twists. And, even if the members were happy, it made everything really hard for the new members to follow plot. And PA already has this problem.