An Address to the Inhabitants of the World of Harry Potter Regarding Temporality and Its Effects on Our Current Situation


Time. Time, and its ebbs and flows, is a difficult concept for us humans to grasp, in general. Once we step beyond the bounds of our everyday lives, perhaps delving into physics or mathematical understandings of time, we become even more swiftly confused. The concepts of time are not ones to which we adapt easily.

On our server, time has always been a contentious subject. Due to the great and varied restrictions and limitations posed by the mere existence of our game as it stands, a truly universal concept of time is impossible, nearly irrelevant. I recall my first weeks on the server, and my struggles to grasp the concept of time as it applied here. I remember well, and those who played with me at the time surely do too, my determination that I would be the first to actually spend an entire Real Life year for each year my character gained. It is interesting to think that, had I continued on this path, little Feargus would be thirteen today.

Of course, I swiftly learned that what I sought was, for all real purposes, impossible. Feargus’ friends quickly became higher years than he, and I realized that I would be dooming him to have a constantly rotating cast of friends, none of whom would understand him. Or me, for that matter. I gave in to the temporality of our server.

Many of us have benefited from and been pained by the patented JB Time Bubble. The Time Bubble concept is what allows us to have roleplay which makes sense, pulling it from the constraints of both NWN time and Real Life time, and putting our characters back where they belong once the roleplay has occurred.

Most of you have some internal understanding of temporality and its effects on our server and on your roleplay. I am asking you to think about these now, as they relate to what we are trying to do with our Plot. In Real Life terms, it has been over two years since Professor Dumbledore left Hogwarts and ventured us all into a very interesting period in the history of our server. In that time, some characters have lived entire lives knowing nothing other than a school in which Dumbledore is absent and threats surround us. Feargus would certainly be among those. There are also a significant number of students who have been seventh year for the entire period of this, our current situation but one chapter in the books of their lives.

I am asking both groups, and all of you in between, to appreciate how difficult it is and can be for all of us to comprehend time as it exists. Professor Dumbledore has not been absent for the entire life of your character, he can’t have been. He also has not been absent for a couple months, it would be impossible. The plots that have been transpiring have taken about two years because of OOC concerns. They have passed through a number of hands, to land, today, in the care of those of us currently working to bring about resolution. We hope sincerely that we will prove to be faithful keepers of them.

Well, if it hasn’t been two years, seven years, or two months, how long has it been? One year. It has been, as of this general timeframe, been one year, in game, in character, since Professor Dumbledore had to leave Hogwarts. This has been discussed at length, and we have come to the conclusion that one year would make the most sense for the events which have transpired. It is long enough for all the events which have gone on in the last two years RL time to have managed to play out. It is a short enough time for no one to have forgotten poor Professor Dumbledore or the others who have been missing. It is a good amount of time for everything to have been occurring at the pace which makes the most amount of sense.

If your character is a firstie, or even perhaps a second year (depending on your RP), they may never have seen Professors Dumbledore, Lupin, or McGonagall. Otherwise, your character will be familiar with them, according to your own RP.

We understand that this decision is not ideal for anyone. There are many who will have much difficulty adapting their roleplay to this fact, on both sides. We are asking you to do a difficult thing. It is our hope that this difficult thing will also be a positive one.

Yours in Grateful Service,

~Lieutenant Shiftyeyes, and your DM Team

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"They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me" -Nathaniel Lee

Shifty are the eyes of the gambler...