From what I can gather, DM/GM-ing can be a truly thankless job. It combines the worst aspects of management (yes I have management experience) with needing to have a good understanding of human behavior the ability to herd cats.

The management aspect comes in when one has to enforce the rules, make sure that "company" policy is being adhered to, and generally making sure things get done, and the "customers" are happy. It's the keeping the customers happy what makes a manager's job truly thankless. Especially when you have customers that refuse to be satisfied, unless you've humiliated yourself for their pleasure. This seems to be true in both retail management, and server game mastery.

The understanding human behavior and herding cats aspect comes into it when someone is actually trying to move a plot forward. In a multi-player server, you have diverse people, playing diverse personalities. Therefor the factors that could derail said plot are multiplied by the number of people involved. One has to be flexible to move with the "cat herd", or else you're just going to be doomed to frustration, and fizzled plots.

So when a person wants to DM, they should know what they're getting in to. It's a job, which is why you have to apply, and be approved. Nik is the main manager, IE the host. Any DMs under him would be his assistant managers. He's looking for people who can manage the mod, when he's not on; are willing to help him move his plots forward, and have the imagination to create their own; and to enforce "company policy" when needed without having to defer to him when he's unavailable.

Do I want to be a DM? Not particularly... Though I'd like to know how many of those shows I guessed right. If asked, I would, if only to enforce curfew and other school rules.

I'd like to help with area design, though, if Nik's taking volunteers for that.

Booooo, curfew. It only restricts roleplaying, I've found. Essentually, it's "Go sit in a room by yourself for a RL hour!" Aside of that, I'm certain Drado would be estatic to finally have some help.

A side note- I used to DM for another server for a short while; it led to me quitting that server about two weeks later. It was, for want of better words, agony. The DM'd quests that always turned into PCs competing for the most attention, and basically who can be "better". The tells I'd get saying "can you please come..." Oh, and not that WoHP has it, but request (also known as application) revising almost brought me to tears once. Not to mention that just starting up a DM quest, or plot, is niegh impossible, considering some idiot who shouldn't even have a clue it's happening always decides he's going to pop in and start dominating everything. And the god damn whining I'd get every single time I killed someone on a quest (Even though it would be knocking someone unconcious on WoHP)
A nice little extract, this actually happened. The player was banned for griefing and cyboring over the next three days, unsurprizingly.



In the end, DMing has several enjoyable aspects. Perhaps it was because I was playing a DM in an elitist and favoritist community, one that was fairly open about being what it was - though they never did use those words.
Anyway, people should not be looking at playing a DM as playing a 'God' of sorts. It isn't. You are, essentually, a tool for the enjoyment of the players. As well as something of a law enforcment figure, regarding the rules.

[off-topic rant] Curfew, I have found, is one of the best things on the server for RP. Except that no one follows it. Some of the most serious RP I have done as of yet on the server was when characters were forced to be together for curfew (during some of the rare times curfew was actually followed by one or two people other than myself, usually because there was a DM on enforcing it). I wish it was more enforced and/or rewarded by DM's because people simply can't keep themselves from metagaming the fact that they know there are no professors around to enforce the rules. The only reason my characters sit alone for an hour IRL time is because everyone else on the server is metagaming. Curfew, when followed, is actually a tremendous opportunity for some excellent RP experiences. That and the fact that it just doesn't sit well with me allowing my characters somehow "just know" that there is no DM on, so they can go work on schoolwork during curfew. They just wouldn't know that, even if every other student in the school somehow does know when DM's are on.[/off-topic rant]

About the DM observations, I think you are basically dead on. It is not for the faint-of-heart and not for someone who simply wants the power or control over everyone, because that's not what it's about.

Most people think that getting DM status is some sort of elevated position on the server or a promotion or whatever, but really it's closer to demotion to "slave of the server," not a promotion to "master over the server". DM status isn't (or shouldn't be) something that a player will "work their way up to" on a server because if you think of the DM position as the top of the food chain don't understand what it is. People who get put into DM status and get slammed by all the work/complaining/lack of appreciation when they expected it to be a "god" position are going to be sorely disappointed. They will either quit themselves, or even worse, make everyone else on the server quit.

I would like to express my appreciation (again) for the DM's and the builders we have on this server. I think it's obvious everyone wants more DM activity, but take that as a compliment! I have had very few issues with the DM's, other than I would like to see them more. And to the DM's and builders I would like to remind them that you will hear about it every time an idiot dislikes something, but you may not hear from everyone who really liked something. Keep in mind that just because you tend to hear the bad doesn't mean everyone else didn't enjoy it completely. Some of the most enjoyable and memorable times I have had on the server have been DM activities (even if it means my character is getting pummeled) and special builder events like Halloween. Please know that even if you don't hear about it from players as much as you deserve, your efforts are appreciated.

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-Calan

Liss Crest, Slytherin
Kalara Crest, Hufflepuff
Elizabeth Finley, The Moon

I Second Calan's curfew responce. The curfew is a time that you can actually meet and interact with other house members that you may never see.

I know that when we do have DM's online they take points off of the hosue for those that an't in their rooms. One question.

I've yet to see the house points be anything but an rp tool I don't know if anything was done to award the house cup before, But I think that every so often ( week, 2 weeks, month whatever) the cup should be awarded and everyone in that house can interact with the cup somewhere and if they have their house key they get a special item or something... even something as simple as a item that allows them to portal from anywhere into their common room. whatever it is, it doesn't matter.

That would at least encourage people to get there buts into their common rooms. (I also think prefects should be allowed to remove 5 points from anyone they find outside the common rooms but thats a whole different issue.)

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Characters: Mariana McBane (7th year student at Hogwarts)

The house cup used to be awarded about once a month and put in the house which run. When you touched it you then got damage resistance for a set amount of tim.

Shova had a bunch of new ideas for the House Cup, some of which I think were implemented before he ended.

I had been holding off on awarding the Cup until after the Tri Wiz tournament we had in the works. We may still be caught in that same sort of limbo.