June 2010 – Hogwarts New Zealand: A Blog

So, we all know how things will have me frustrated to no end. Recently, I came across something on Facebook that really set me off. I mean, Jessye had to sit and hear me rant over just how stupid people are nowadays. I remember something in the Bible (don’t ask me where, cause I don’t know where) “Do not attempt to remove a speck from another’s eye without removing the plank from your own eyes.” I believe this with my entire being. Pretty much, stop being a freaking hypocrite. Unless I am reading that wrong. Which I strongly doubt.

I’ve been nice to people, and from the vine, I’ve received some sour grapes full of insults and such about me; about my friends; about the site staff. It disappoints me and I dare not repeat the things they say. It angers me so much that we, the site staff, spend a lot of our time making sure that the members get what they want. We stress ourselves out so that you members can have your HNZ. I have been to other sites, and their staff could careless about what the members and how they felt. HNZ is a heart-warming community, yet people try to take advantage of something. Then they blame it all on the ‘cliques’ just when they don’t get what they want. Favoritism…another word that goes along with the cliques.

I want to point out that someone like me, someone who has a lot of honors, even I have been rejected with applications. Two, that I remember, and I rarely put in applications. I’ve have to tweak and work to get mine approved. Not because I am a Global Moderator, but because my applications are thorough, and because they aren’t just thrown together from a show or something. They are original. I spend a lot of time on my applications, and well, sometimes, life just doesn’t want to spoil me and give me everything I want. I see that rejection is what gotten a lot of people against the site staff. More importantly; Nick and Livvy. I wonder if those people who know that they were rejected….they can easily apply again with a more thorough application at a later time. It isn’t that hard to do, and it isn’t the end of the world when you see that your application has been denied. Come on, people, this isn’t school. :tut:

As far as the ‘cliques’ go, I am not going to point out people. That would be just rude. However, people will band together, and RP with the other more than other people because they get along with someone better than the other. It is life. For example, I RP with Jessye a lot, that is no coincidence. We are best friends and very close. Yet, she is not the only RP with, and she RPs with others other than me. I love to RP, with about anyone so long as you don’t go back on your word, and don’t mess up anything, or leave me hanging. If you aren’t interested in a plot with me, don’t plan it out, and not reply. I get excited too, and thus, this affects my muse, and I come to think that my plots that smart and awesome because I allowed one person to affect me.

What does make me laugh though, is that people complain that they don’t get anything. No rewards (prefect status, professor character, whatever). You know what makes me laugh? When that person has not done anything to receive that honor. They think they deserve it, but they don’t. If you don’t do anything, and if you don’t RP and act nice to other members, you can’t expect to get much. This applies to everyone in life. You only get what you deserve. No matter how long you have been on HNZ, for example, but you don’t do much at all, you don’t get anything special just because you’ve been around. You have to really commit. I guess this goes to jobs too. My brother has failed to realize this, and well, this may apply to those on HNZ, but I have no idea if it does or not.

What else makes me laugh, is when a group of people constantly know what another group is doing, and mocking it. I have realized this: this is obsession. That obsessive group follows the other group, watches what they do, what they say, all the time, and mocking it for their own enjoyment. I wonder if they realize that the other group doesn’t care what they do, because the obsessive will just keep thinking about them, because it is eating them inside. That obsessive is doing nothing but wasting their time on following this other group that is well known and very friendly – more often than not – and the obsessive group doesn’t do anything at all. This has happened to me – where I was being followed, being mocked, and all this jazz. You know what I did? I laughed. Nothing like that phases me, because I know that they are just trying to improve their lives, by attempting to make me and my friends feel like scum…but they fail.

That has happened so much at school and everywhere else, that I am usually the last one to know. Rumors about me about to beat up someone or something, I am always the last to know. Half the time, I am just confused and I burst into laughter.

Other than the fact that I am receiving amusement from the ignorance and stupidity of people, that has been on my mind. People judge another, and that happens. But they never judge themselves. If you think you deserve, but has not earned it, and you complain, you know that is only bringing down yourself. If you apply this to the career path, you will receive failure. I would know, for I have seen it happen to my brother. He blames everyone else for himself, says that the world is against him when he needs to just grow up and earn himself a place. My advise to you all, is if you think that you aren’t getting everything you want because of favoritism, I want you to think twice. There is no proof of these happenings, and no proof of ‘cliques’.

That seven letter word makes Nick weep. But what does make me? It makes me laugh. Generally, the people that say there are cliques, are technically in them themselves. If you think about it, cliques are bands of friends, that stick together, and possible ignore everyone else, and tease the other. That is freaking high school. HNZ is not a high school.

That has been on my mind a lot lately.

Thanks for reading!

~ Sir Kaitlyn

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Introduction
Applications are a very important part of HNZ. They moderate who can say their character is/does what, and helps keep the board from becoming rampant with Mary Sue type characters which would surely annoy most people on HNZ. They have become ingrained in the culture of the site, I believe, and when they cannot be processed as quickly as I would like, or you would like, it becomes a frustrating matter.

Yes, me.
What’s this? Processed as quickly as I would like? Yes, me. I like applications to move quickly as well. I don’t like holding on to them for ages – they clutter things. 😉 Having them around for too long makes me go a little bit crazy.

So what’s the hold up?
Right now, as many have noted, applications seem at a bit of a stand still. This is as frustrating to me as it is to you all, but likely even moreso to me. Why, you ask? Well, you’re waiting on one or two applications. I see all twenty or so currently in queue. The hold up? As you should know, Livvy has been dealing with some large real-life problems and (as says what has effectively become the ancient statement of HNZ) ‘Real life comes first’.

Real Life Comes First
I think it’s humorous that when members are going away and leaving behind work for the Global Moderators or Administrators to catch up, for the sake of the site, we still say ‘Real life comes first’. However, when it is an Admin who needs the time off, nobody seems to be able to have patience. At all. The song of ‘real life comes first’ fades away to a mob of angry villagers, pitchforks in hand, ready to go find the monster.

Trying to Catch Up
Nearly every application, however, does have a response from me. Some are even mid-discussion between Livvy and I. Unfortunately, it seems Livvy’s life has taken her for another whirl and HNZ time has had to be cut. Livvy doesn’t like to hold things up, but she loves administrating HNZ and definitely wants to be a part of the approval process. So, I trust she will catch up in a timely manner. If she knows she won’t be able to catch back up in a timely manner, then she will ask me to process applications until she can catch back up. As much as ‘real life comes first’, there are still ways we can adhere to that without ensuring applications drown.

Mid-Discussion? Wait, so how do applications work – exactly?
I have a feeling, based on some of the results from the recent site poll that not everybody is aware of how applications are processed on HNZ. What we look at for them, and why it is that applications get denied – even when hard work has obviously been put in to them.

Every form that is sent in is given a topic in a hidden forum. There are plenty of these forums for every type of application, with approved and denied archives as well for future referencing. It’s all very helpful, actually. When a new application comes in, Livvy and I read the topic then post our initial reactions. We discuss the application with each other if applicable, and either: Approve it, suggests tweaks to it and approve it when the tweaks are ironed out, or deny it.

So what is it, exactly, that we look for in applications? Here are some of the basic things:

Is it canon?
If an application, in any way, breaks with our knowledge of the canon Harry Potter universe – it is denied.
Does it make sense?
We look over applications to ensure that what they say makes sense. If a person applies to be a Death Eater, for instance, but comes from a loving household, doesn’t believe in any sort of blood supremacy, and has no reason to be a Death Eater – then such applications are denied. It may be funny, but if something doesn’t make sense then it could really screw other things up. Making sense is very crucial.
What would the repercussions of this be?
For many applications, especially plot requests, things effect characters outside of the plot, too. Usually this is in minor ways, but sometimes it can be major. Take, for instance, a plot request where an unspeakable has found a cure for werewolves. It doesn’t go against canon – nothing says there can’t be a cure. It might make perfect sense, too. But the plot would effect everybody on the site and the future of the site as a whole. It would likely negatively influence many other character’s developments as well. If that is the case, that the repercussions of a request would be largely negative and widespread – it is denied.
How common should it be?
For special ability applications especially this is considered. We only truly meet one metamorphmagi in the Harry Potter novels, through all seven books. This indicates how truly rare the ability is. We receive plenty of requests for this gift, however. So we must consider how common it should be and, if enough have already been approved for the time being, no more are accepted (even if they’re all pretty good) unless the application just blows our minds.
How many other special things does this roleplayer have?
This is something that must be considered in conjunction with How common should it be?. We don’t want two roleplayers having a character with every possible special ability and nobody else on the site being able to have anything. We want to spread the wealth a little, so this must be considered. Has the person had many applications recently? How many special things does this person already have? Could we approve this for somebody else who does not have as many special approvals?
Is this user in good standing?
This is also something we must consider. Members who constantly break board rules, are rude to anybody and everybody, etc. shouldn’t be given special allowances. It is a reward, almost, to have special plots approved, have characters with special abilities, etc. So why should a user who doesn’t care about site rules be given plenty of extra awesome things while rule-abiding members might not? It’s just one of the many prices of rule breaking.
Plenty More
There are several more considerations that are given to applications in that time that Livvy and I review them. It’s not just a quick read and a rash response, thought is given to applications, and the most appropriate response given – even if it’s not something the applicant wants to hear.

Conclusion
In summary: Stop complaining. Don’t be hypocritical. We take necessary time and thought for applications.

That is all. ^_^

~Nicolas

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