4. Plagiarism. It is against site policy to plagiarize (take another person's work and claim it to be your own. If you are caught selling products on here that are not yours but claiming that they are, we will shut down your shop and if it happens ever again you will no longer be able to use the shops on site any longer (we will block your access). You can find online art work as a search service for users but you need to be honest that the work is not your own.
5. Lying. Do not claim a product is one thing when it is something else. This is not "he claimed to be a good artist and he is terrible" but rather "I made this by hand" when in truth they used several filters to make the product. Both are valuable services but you need to be honest when you make any claims. Your customers are entitled to being able to make an informed decision regarding the purchases that they make.

Dear [Name];

I am sending you this letter to ask you to cease all communication with me -- this means I do not wish to speak with you over discord DMs, site private message owls, email, etc. This is because [insert reason or skip this] I no longer feel comfortable remaining in communication with you. I have screen shot this communication for my records. If you continue to communicate with me despite this firm boundary that I have placed, I will be forced to contact the site administration.

Hexwizard Tournament

We are planning on holding a year-long tournament called the Hexwizard Tournament. This being the revitalization of the Triwizard Tournament that was last held in 1995 at Hogwarts that resulted in the death of Cedric Diggory. The name has changed both for political reasons as well as the fact that the tournament is going to involve more than just Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Mahoutokoro, Ilvermorny, and Koldovstoretz will also be joining us in the tournament next year. As other schools become available for NPCs and become filled with players we may extend this to Castelobruxo and Uagadou if this becomes a recurrent adventure.

During the Blossom Ball we will be in character bringing back the Goblet of Fire. We have removed the Age Line that surrounded the goblet of fire, meaning anyone can cast their lot in character into the goblet. The Age line had proven in 1994 to be woefully insufficient as Potter's name was drawn all the same. Rather we have taken other 'safety' measures and hope that there will not be any fatalities. This might prove to be a fun an important moment for your character (or NPC). The actual champions have already been out of character determined. The Champions are a mixture of tenured staff, non-staff and former-staff users, all of which have active player character's and NPCs that have established themselves socially that. These champions will be announced in character (as well as officially out of character) at the ball.

Question - So why cast your lot in the Goblet?

In character this is a fun roleplay moment for yourself. To show your pride, your cockiness or your want to please someone else. It can also show how devious you are if you are casting someone else's name into the goblet in character.

In addition, this is how you express interest in participating in the Hexwizard Tournament. Yes, it is a sign-up page for players that has both an in-character and out-of-character function. This thread will be put up during the Blossom Ball.

Question - Wait, if I am not the champion how am I also involved in the Hexwizard Tournament?

A major change we made to the tournament to include as many players as possible is the creation of TEAMS representing the schools. The teams are led by the Champion and chosen by the Champion. There will be 7 members on each team, meaning there will be 42 players in addition to the champions involved in the Hexwizard Tournament. There is also a "dear person" that will be listed by each of the Champions that will also be involved in this competition (for 49 actively invested main characters). We are also offering optional back-up positions (similar to a wait-list) for teams that lose players due to inactivity (we expect it to be needed). While the back-ups may not be active in character in the trials it will still be a valuable roleplay opportunity. As for the back-ups, they can be added at any time during the tournament in character except mid task. So please for the sake of your team remain active during the task and if you cannot remain active during the foreseeable duration of the task please defer your position to a waitlisted member.

Question - How were the Champions Chosen?

I chose them. There is no reliable metric for picking members. Top earners have dedicated rewards. Placing it to a public vote becomes a popularity contest and neither of these options will promise me an active, dedicated members of the community. So I sought several consistently active individuals that are in good-standing with the community that have an NPC in different schools so that I could get a good spread of users. Their identities will be announced at the Goblet of Fire Ceremony after it closes. If some of the champions wish to ruin their own (and just their own) surprise by out of character telling others that they are one of the champions intended, that is on them. I am trying to give them some fanfare.

Question - So what can I expect as an overview?

1. 1 month preceding the Ball NPCs will be open so that players can create and update their NPCs. NPC updates are anticipated to open up sometime around March 1.
2. When the schools arrive for the Blossom Ball, there will be a two week span during which players can place their name in the Goblet of Fire. This is anticipated to be between April 11 and April 24.
3. At the end of the two weeks the Champions will be announced publicly. This would be sometime between April 25 and April 26.
4. The teams will be in-character formed by the Champions, they will each have a post in a shared thread that they update with their team as well as their wait list. You might notice that some schools have more to choose between in comparison to others, you might have better luck being a part of a Hexwizard team if you have not already made an NPC to make the NPC in a school that does not have many students. This is done in-character, so please make yourself known to the Champion. This can be done at the ball, during the summer camp and interacting in places such as Diagon Alley or even claiming that you both are aware of one another because you go to the same school (in the cases of NPCs). Please try to have your presence on the team make sense. Part of the challenge of being a Champion is picking their team so some may get creative in who they approach.
5. The general team composition will be announced in September. While members of the wait list can be added, by Sept 1 the core team should be determined. The Champions will each have their own post in a shared thread that they edit and add team members to as a sort of roster to reflect their team.
6. The trials will take place throughout the year. The first once taking place in October during the Fall Ball. The second taking place in late January, there will be a small activity ongoing during this time.. The third taking place in April around the time of the Blossom Ball.

Question - Is there anything else going to be happening?

There is going to be a storyline, forces at work. Some small side information to carry the weight of a setting story. The details of this is not something that can be disclosed at this juncture.

Question - Will we be doing this again?

Possibly, there is no way of knowing right now. If this does not work out well, we get too many player complaints or there ends up being too much drama behind the scenes then we probably will not do this again. However, if players are able to cooperate with one another, play fairly and have a good time then this is likely something that we will do again if it does not appear to be too burdensome.

Question - When does iNPC applications open again?

I mentioned this earlier in the post but in case it was missed -- we are opening them around March 1 (give or take a few days as it is the change of the month.