OOC:Starter's Guide
From ErtverseWiki
Eight years have gone into ERT, and it shows. The world and its denizens have been fleshed by a near-decade’s worth of posts, plots, and ideas. It’s a daunting thing to step into. If you are interested in becoming a part of it, however, we commend you, welcome you, and have compiled this list of the most basic information available about the world for you. Far more lies in the wiki’s remainder, and more still has yet to be written up. Contacting a facilitator, or even most members, will acquaint you with any information not stated in these articles, but this list should introduce not merely to how things happened here, at ERT, but also to the texture of our universe. Further familiarity with the latter can be gained simply through clicking through other articles, which is highly encouraged. Questions are always encouraged; posting them up on the board is doubly welcomed, but as said, contacting a player (nine times out of ten) will get you the information you need. Let your preference be your guide.
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Out of Character
Ninety percent of any good roleplaying game is out of character. It is not that we let these outside biases interfere; rather, the whole community is strengthened by interaction beyond the game’s level. ERT’s players aren’t simply role-players, my friends. They’re erters, the weavers of its world, the people who avoid posting for hours on end by lurking in MSN chats. Assumably, since you're reading this article, you want to join their ranks, which are always open to new membership. Glancing over the glossary should give you a good grasp of most ERT-specific terms, as well as implying the sense of community inherent to this little corner of the web. Formatting, meanwhile, offers basic information on how we structure posts as this game. Basic information, but one should start from the ground up, and like all long-running games, ERT has it's own idiosyncrasies.
OVERVIEW
ERT's History
The ERT universe closely resembles Rowling canon from Philosopher’s Stone through Order of the Phoenix. It should be noted, however, that some things not mentioned in the books had happened in our world, and that certain Rowling characters had their facts wrong regarding a few species, but near everything else fits perfectly. Checking out this page should explain those differences nicely, before proceeding on to the formidable timeline. Take a deep breath, and just read through it all. The timeline does a very good job of balancing out-of-character changes to gameplay, membership, and the general state of the board to a smooth explanation of the major events at Hogwarts and the wizard world as a whole. Reading the canon article is recommended first, as the development of the Ertverse as a separate entity from Rowling’s own creation becomes much clearer if one notes at which key points that divorce occurs, before ERT truly does segue off into it’s own reality. That is the goal of this group of articles: to ground the reader in the antecedents that lead to ERT’s present state as a both a world beyond the perimeter of the books and the behind-the-scenes changes that have lead to this world-building mentality.
OVERVIEW
Current State of Affairs
And from this rather sordid past, we arrive at the present. Though war-free, technically, it is not a wholly peaceful place and ordinary wizards and witches must navigate their lives as best they can when even the government seems a shaky thing, and a particular ancient institution has closed its doors, for the time being. But life goes on, as they say. This is the world your character inherits, after enduring the events covered in the above section; clearly we have one hellish generation on our hands. Though articles have not been dedicated to particular areas of this, or the articles have not yet been fleshed out, a glance at this thread should add to one’s understanding of the ERTverse as it is now. As a secondary note, ERT follows ‘real time.’ Those events described as ‘current’ are then, in fact, at work today on your very real calendar. Thus, the articles below and that link describe the world as it is.
OVERVIEW
- The War
- The Government
- Hogwarts
ERT's World
You’ve been introduced to history; you’ve caught up to the present. You understand some out-of-character basics. Here is the fun part: the articles that actually texture our world. The past, after all, can only inform us of so much. Bellsbury is a highly symbolic development of the ERTverse, as it represents perfectly the chasm between what Rowling laid out for us, a dotted-line blueprint, and where we’ve taken it from that starting point. It’s a town that is fast replacing the familiar places of Harry Potter’s world, if not quite the hotspot yet. Similarly, ERT’s own currency differs totally from that used in the books in a way meant to convert more readily with the monetary increments we muggles are familiar with, as well as, again, lending to that aforementioned great gap. The remaining articles serve as good initiations into how exactly our world fits together. The wand, for example, is an integral part both of your character and to the function of magic in this universe; as such, the article outlines how exactly such a thing is made, and what materials constitute these highly powerful instruments. While often taken for granted, food serves to illustrate how very differently the wizard world’s evolution has led it to regard that simple matter of what to eat.
OVERVIEW
Further Notes
Hopefully, the above links have helped to explain who we are and what exactly we’re trying to accomplish with this piddling bit of webspace. (Word to the wise: it’s an ambitious undertaking.) Perhaps you’re piqued. Perhaps you’re overwhelmed. In the event of the latter, I’d like to take a moment to emphasize once more that questions directed to the board at large or to any of the players are perfectly fine, and, frankly, encouraged. If there is something you don’t understand about the above, a simple post can get you the answers you need. For those that find themselves interested in joining in, consider the following sections as you go through the interview process described on the main site. Above all? Have fun.
Character Creation
Characters are not plunked in a world like goldfish into ready-made aquariums. They are formed from it, shaped by its forces. History weathers and hones and sharpens their psyche; class, blood status, and the sad fact of monetary means clothe them, dress up their self-images. In return, characters shape the world, too. They are agencies in themselves. Oh, I’m not about to wax philosophical and drag out some meliorist rags, but keep this in mind. Your character is not simply a product of the universe we’ve created; it’s a part of it. When you create a character at ERT, you are creating an as-yet undisclosed component of its world. That’s part of the reason why characters get their own articles, and why we’ve implemented such an arduous interview process. Reading the articles laid out here should point to those events that have changed the world, and thus your character, too, while also outlining the general ‘feel’ of the ERTverse. Take from these not just information to check off in your application, but truly try to understand how your creation fits within this greater scheme as a force in its own right while adding to ERT’s very own (rather peanut-buttery, with a touch of high fantasy) texture.
Starting your Character
By now, you’re probably thinking that this is a huge thing we ask of you. We can certainly see why, however, I want to stress that a perfectly acceptable character can be made by using the timeline and the knowledge of the separation from Rowling Canon. We realise that there is a lot of history and certainly, many of you have not been here for it – this is not an issue! All we want to see is what your character is made of, if they want to sweep over events you’re uncomfortable writing about that’s fine! We do not close interviews, nor do we think you have to add every single aspect of the game into them! You can flesh them out later and the rest? It’s all fun extras, what you use to enhance your role-play experience.
The application is not a test of your knowledge of the game, the history is just a base for you to play off and little more. It’s entirely your decision if you add more of the lore into your interview before you begin play, and that is just as acceptable and loved as those who do not!
I stress once more - aside from the in-character events bulleted in the timeline, and players realising the differences in canon, little else is mandatory and has to go into your bio! Saying that once you’re accepted and feel comfortable in this small corner of the web and are ready to roll…
Exploration: It's Good For You
I cannot stress this enough: click around. Treat this article as an initiation that covers some key events, but never underestimate the data-gathering powers of a good meander. Browse through wizard culture to grasp just how wizards do live in their fenced-off world. Hit up the history section to find out what’s changed the world. Peep at our characters to find out just who is bopping around with dark elves, necromancers, and the Weasley clan. Check out the happen’ scenes in the places category. Overall, just get around, because though this article has tried to get at the big stuff, the small stuff and quirky gadgetry is there for a reason, too! Don’t be deterred by a bunch of napkin doodles. There’s plenty here to find, but finding requires a good hard look. Perusing these will tell you more about the Ertverse than a thirty minute conversation or a thousand-word article could ever aspire to do.
Good Luck!
It ends here, with the sincere wish that this has helped you in some way to understand an eight-year undertaking, and that our goals and positions are the clearer for the reading. With any extraordinary amount of good fortune, you may have decided to jump in the game, but that is entirely up to you. I can only offer you the invitation.
