Hey guys,
well, a lot's been happening on PA recently i've noticed, and of course one of the most prevalent of these things is that not a lot has been happening
So, i figured i'd make this post to just sort of give you guys, the members, a general idea of what happening on the site. I'll try to cover as many topics as possible, and i'll deal with all of the issues i can think of right now, there are a few things i've noticed you've all been noticing, so i'll try and focus mainly on them. Please try and make sure most people read this, if there's someone who hasn't, give them a kick for me. You have my permission.
I know there's a bit, but i think that you should all read the whole thing
So, on with the list i suppose. The first, and biggest, most glaring "issue" on the site is the plot, or lack thereof as the case has been recently. Well, let this be the official announcement that the demon plot is now officially over, we, the admins, have made an executive decision to shut it down and move on, this is owing to many reasons, most of which are fairly obvious, but i'll outline them briefly anyway
- It wasn't moving along well, something that is necessary for a plot
- What we the admins envisioned and what you the members wanted/envisioned were rather clearly two different things, although the demon plot was supported, we were out of our comfort zone with it, and as such it did reflect on the plot itself
- What we'd decided on happening didn't seem to sit well with you guys
- This is an HP site, really, we should be sticking on with HP stuff, and there were a lot more prevalent HP matters that were demanding our attention than demons, we should have recognised that from the outset
Hopefully that solves any queries on that part, whether we do or do not decide to pursue something with the demons in the future, i do not know, but for now i for one wanna see a little more HP RP
On that note, planning for the next plot has begun, and we do have a fairly specific idea of where we'll be going with it, i'd say it should be up in a week at most, and it'll be prodded along quite a bit by the admins i think. This new plot will most likely be reverting to the usual HP stuff that we all love and cherish. (Can someone please email Nerezza and tell her we're back to HP RP, i'd really love to see her back)
So, effectively we want to erase it from everyone's memories. The demon stuff never happened, your personal stuff should all stull have happened, but please don't wonder what happened to the demons, don't RP about them, just pretend that you've been doing all the stuff you would usually do for the past few months. I'd wager that half of you have been anyway
Secondly, the admin team is not falling apart, despite what i've seen being insinuated by a few people *Coughs* Selwyn *Coughs*
Yes, we're all noticing that RL is a very big thing, and i will admit that we've not been up to our best recently, however every admin is still doing their part, we are still effectively working together, and things are still being done on the admin side of things, there isn't really anything to worry about there.
Also, another announcement, and this one i think should reallycome as a shock (I'm hoping) The Order never really disappeared *Does shimmer fingers*Oooooh. And now we're back, better than ever, and ready to kick some DE ass, something we plan to incorporate into the plot, so be on your guard. Personally, i'd like to see all three factions really bloom now, i mean, we have 92 graduate accounts on this site, and about a third of that number are actively involved in any of the factions, something i really really don't like to see, so lets all do our best to boost activity in the factions. I'm not talking go make new charries and enlist them, i'm leaning more on the "There's a pile of charries that aren't in any faction, why not" leg. If you're neutral, go work at the Ministry as an ordinary worker, if the jobs're full, apply for something with an admin in it, we're generally happy to give up jobs for members. Or, even suggest a new department, you never know, you might even make head.
On that note, there's a forum on this site called "PA Discussion" we made it in the hopes that all you members would post your suggestions there and voice any concerns, however it seems to me that you're all harbouring resentments or complaints to yourselves, only sharing it with other members, who can do nothing to change it. If we don't know you have a problem, we can't help you, and if you PM one of us, you wont get half as good a response as you would if you were to just make a topic voicing your concerns, so start doing that, or don't say anything at all, because you're all obviously perfectly happy and content, as far as we know.
On the Hogwarts front activity has boosted a shiteload in classes, however i'm yet to see this big big boost follow through to the out of class topics in hogwarts, again, i remind you that we have a little button that would just limit your posting to hogwarts, and i'm sure we'd love to press it, good thing we're all such nice people *gigglesnort*
But seriously, i've been sending PMs out to you all encouraging you to make your own main topics in the dorms, and i've noticed that many people have, however, other than the Gryffindor Tower, which i have been force feeding activit y into, i'm yet to see these places take off, please, start posting there, i think you'll find that they can be a heck of a lot better than some of the other Wizarding world locations out there, especially because this site is primarily a Hogwarts one, believe it or not.
Other main topics include the ones in the grounds, and in the Great Hall, i'd love to see you all start posting there, and start to enlist in Quidditch, as the season may be starting up again, depending on member interest.
Also, the triwizard tournament seems to be coming along quite nicely, i know that on the admin front we've pretty much sorted out the champions, and we're just waiting for the date to come around, however, suggestions for the tasks are desperately needed, please send them to us, i know darren'd never admit this, but we do need your help for this to work!
A few other little things've been happening as well, most of you know about them, but only one seems to have had any real response.
The first of these is the Personal Houses update, i know it was only recently, but come on people, it's an opportunity to spend those hard earned sickles isn't it? Why hasn't this taken off yet? I see no reason as to why posting numbers in numerical sequence in the games topic is more amusing than going to visit your mate's new house, or buying your own, honestly, i hear of people complaining that they've got nothing to do, why not post in all these places we're trying to get activity into?
The second is the couple's spot. As i said in that actual topic a little earlier, this isn't a big thing, it's just one topic to get all that mooshey smooshey stuff off the main forums and out of people's topics, to open it up to other people, i don't see (m)any real arguments coming up against this, and there is a fairly large lead in one direction, so i don't see why i shouldn't be starting this now, i mean, is it really that big a deal? The way you people are talking about it in relationship to the admin team's inability to work, or make a plot is as if it's going to be something that takes hours up everyday... seriously people, it's not that big a deal.
Thirdly is Khaat's up & coming st fair, i don't know particularly much about this, but i do know that it will be halloween themed, and that you should all be joining in on this, for both the planning and activity...ing of the actual event, it looks like it's gonna be real good fun, we just need the backing of you guys.
Anyway, those are the little things out of the way, and i'm begining to run low on ideas, so i'll start to wrap it up, not just yet though.
Something that's occurred to me in the past few days is that maybe the inactivity in factions and hogwarts is due to too many people having too many characters that they never use, seriously people, if you're not using these charries, you shouldn't be making new ones, i personally want to be bringing in stricter rules on this as there is an actual rule that states "
If you decide to create another character, please state that in the 'multiple accounts' thread. You can have as many accounts as you keep active, although when creating multiple accounts please consider balancing your accounts, gender-wise and age-wise." If you're not keeping the accounts active, you should either be dumping those accounts before you make new ones, or you should be working on making them more active, i'm all for the number of accounts dropping back a little more if it means that better developed, more thought out charries start appearing, rather than the "If i get five minutes i'll spew a post out of this one" i've been seeing recently. Mind you, it could just be that we've got too many forums for you to all post in, and maybe we should be cutting back on them.
Ummm, what else.
I wouldn't mind seeing comings and goings pick up a little, i mean, it's nice to think that someone's noticed when you go away. I'm not talking write them a serenade and account of how distraught you were when you read they were leaving, but a little interest can go a long way in cheering people up, and overall improving the site's feeling of community.
Really, i think that's all there is for now, i'm thinking of doing a weekly thing like this, a lot smaller and more related to the week of course, just to keep you guys up-to-date with what's going on, please, feel free to give us some feedback on how you think things're going, just post it here, or make a topic in discussion, we don't mind.
So, keep safe, and stay beautiful.
The Admin Team
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