Post by Draco Malfoy on Mar 24, 2007 10:41:28 GMT
The Complete Beginner's Guide To Malfoy Mansion RPG
Are you brand new to roleplaying boards? Are you wondering what on earth you have stumbled upon? Is this your first roleplaying experience?
If so, then you need to take some time out to read this useful (hopefully!) guide and then the other threads of this section.
Firstly, what is online RP?
An RPG usually involves creating a character, choosing their traits, history, appearance, talents etc and interacting with other characters in the same game.
It can improve your writing and social skills, and many people use it as a form of escapism or entertainment. You also get to become part of a community and make long-term friends.
You can get different kinds of RPGs; Malfoy Mansion is a forum based 'Play By Post' RP set in the world of Harry Potter.
The Harry Potter online RP community is huge and extremely popular, there are millions of HP RP forums - many of them based around Hogwarts or a general 'Wizarding World', some stay close to the books (canon) and some are completely made-up (non-canon) but just inspired by canon.
Malfoy Mansion operates within a 50:50 non-canon to canon ratio of plot and characters. (meaning around 50% of our characters are ones you find in the books and half of our Main plot/storyline would be based on JKR's storyline)
This useful article on Wiki explains the 'Play by Post' type of Roleplay, which is what Malfoy Mansion uses.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play-by-post_role-playing_game
Malfoy Mansion operates free-style posting - one that isn't limited by a strict posting-type policy or word/line limit.
However, the most common style of posting is 'Asterisk' RP - and this is why it is our 'House Style'.
MM's House style posting
Asterisk RP is usually quicker and we like it a lot.
The other common posting style is ParaRP (paragraph roleplay) where the poster writes as if it is a chapter from a book.
We allow paraRP at MM and if the first post in the thread starts in Para, then it is common to reply in Para and the whole thread should then be in that style.
ParaRP posts are usually long and can be more descriptive.
Nearly all RPGs ban 'god-moding' and 'powergaming'.
phenom.wikia.com/wiki/God_Mod
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powergamer
and Malfoy Mansion is no exception.
Spelling and Grammar
In any type of writing RPs, your spelling and grammar have to be as accurate as possible.
It is considered bad etiquette to use abbreviations and 'text speak' anywhere online and especially on any type of creative writing sites.
There is a spell checker if you use the 'full reply' (not the quick reply) and proper punctuation is very important.
We aren't petty with grammar, but it makes us so happy to see posts with immaculate spelling and your posts will more likely be answered and understood if readers know what you are on about!
The First Step....
Now you have had a short introduction to RPing at Malfoy Mansion, you absolutely MUST with no exception, read our rules (Decrees), if you haven't already,
Even if you've changed your mind and don't want to Roleplay any more. The Decrees are not a list of boring rules.
The Decrees gives you valuable knowledge on what is accepted and what isn't and actually is more of a guide to perusing this site. You sooo won't even be allowed to start RPing until you have read the Decrees. All well-structured RP boards have rules. And MM Staff are practised Legilimens and can tell whether you have read them properly or not! ;D
So please read them.
Magical Decrees
And if you don't want to RP then you need the
Muggle Decrees.
Please note some sections also have their own rules and introductions. They are found in the first threads pinned on each board. Please always read pinned threads before you enter a section you haven't entered before.
Malfoy Mansion is moderated to ensure members are playing by the rules. Everyone does it differently. Some forums hardly have any moderators and all hell ensues on them. We like to keep it relatively harmonious and as hassle-free as possible.
OK, what's so good about Malfoy Mansion then?
We like to think we can offer you more than other roleplay boards. For a start - we cater for every level of roleplayers; we have tutorials and mentoring for beginners, but experienced roleplayers can also find all they need here. There is pretty much always a member of staff around. We have good character support section and a lively out-of-character section so that you can get to know your fellow players.
We are open to suggestions and we are highly protective of YOU, you mean something to us. We try to create a community, with no pushing or shoving around in little cliques. A lot of us are friends in real life and that makes for good teamwork and good communication. We also allow you just to come on to chat OOC and not do any roleplaying, if it's just not your thing (that means you can only post in the Non-RP sections).
Gaming-wise, we have unique features like the Owl Delivery Service (see post room), a points system (Dark favour and Bravery Bonus) which can potentially earn you real prizes. There are secret boards that you have to find in order to get to competitions and games. For those who like a fight - there is the Wizarding Duelling Arena, with a game specifically created for the board. We have locations to act as settings for your roleplays, and shops for you to shop in. And a broad range of characters to play at your fingertips.
Our long-standing members, highly active boards and lively OOC community is testament to the success of Malfoy Mansion RPG- and even members on other forums agree because MM has been given 2 awards so far:
Best Proboard 2007 (Proboards Advertisement forum)
Best Proboard September 2007 (Admin's Retreat).
It is more than just an RP, it's a gathering of fans and friends, and a unique experience.
Great. So where do I start?
You've read the Decrees and decided you want to give roleplaying here a try. Now you have to choose a character. This is the important bit. You have to make some decisions. Which side do you want to be on? The good side or the evil side? We will always have the two sides, even after book 7 and all has 'ended'. If you want to play within Malfoy Manor and interact with characters such as the Malfoys and the other Slytherins, then choose or create a character of that side. If you want to interact with characters such as Harry Potter, the Weasleys and so on, then choose or create a character to play on the good side.
You cannot choose one character and have them playing along with both sides, especially with completely different storylines going. You can however, have two characters. One to play with the Dark side, and another to play with the good side. Then you can switch characters as you wish.
We also have plenty of spare canon characters available for the taking and some of them are greatly needed. If you chose a character from the list, it would be helping us out and we would be forever grateful!
Spare roles and Canons
Please now go to 'Magical Me' for the info you need to set up your Harry Potter character.
Er. Do I have to be an expert on 'Harry Potter'?
No, not at all. But you really should have read all the books. That is because there will be spoilers. And at the moment, we 'play' in the time between book 6 and book 7. So it may very well be confusing if you have only read up to the third book.
We have provided some information about spells and potions in our Fountain of Knowledge section. It really does help to know a couple of spells off by heart or know about a particular thing so that your character has a talent or an ability that you can play on. For example, if you want to play a Quidditch player, then you must know as much as possible about the game of Quidditch. I have found 'The Harry Potter Lexicon' is the most useful site for looking things up on.
www.hp-lexicon.org/index-2.html
Also, please visit the above-mentioned Fountain of Knowledge as it will provide you will an invaluable resource for your RPs & characters.
I have created my character and submitted a profile/application form. Now what?
If there are no changes to be made on your profile, and your application has been successful, then you are ready to play. After your profile has been submitted, I will then put you in a group. (group shows under your name in your mini profile above your avatar). Then it's preferrable if you choose a picture of your character for you Avatar. If you need one designed, please request it in this thread:
Avatar and Signature Requests
Then it's a good idea to take some time to read things in each section, get to know where things are, have a look at the other profiles to see what the other characters are like. Have a peek in the Diagon Alley section and the Hogsmeade section, see what's shops we have and so on. The most useful info that you will get about the forum as a whole will be in the Sonorus section (within the Pinboard), this tutorial section and the Character and Rules section.
If you have any more questions that are not answered in this tutorial section or the FAQs, please contact me or a moderator and we will be happy to help.
If you'd like to have a practise-roleplay session before you start role-playing on the boards then please go to this thread:
The Newbies Lounge
Please Contact Staff if you have any questions! And please introduce yourself in the Befriend Ye Newbie thread if you'd like to reveal your OOC (out of character ie. real) self.
