Welcome to the FUTURE of Alohomora!

[Admin Sora]

Hey lovely members!
Well, that's a wrap! We have posted the conclusion of the Purifier plot. This plot was created by our founder when Alohomora was first created in 2014! Holy cow! That was 6 years ago! As we all know, endings can be bittersweet. But here, we are, looking towards the future! Now, what exactly does this mean for the site a a whole, for us members, and for our characters? A lot! Quite a lot! So, without further adieu, let us look to the future.

We understand this is a lot of information, but it will save you a LOT of headaches if you read it all! If you have any questions please reach out!

New Skin, Application, and Claims, Oh My!

It's hard to miss the obvious and immediate changes! Alohomora has had the same skin, and claims since the dawn of time. While our old skin has served us well, it's times for something new. Just like how our site plot has come to an end, an era for Alohomora has come to an end. It felt most fitting that we bring a new look to Alohomora. To start we have prepared a light and dark variation (depending on your preference), so please check them out! We may add more later, but we wanted to cover the basics first! We've also completely revamped the application and the claims so they are fresh and fun!

For the application! We are NOT requiring you update your application to the new format unless you want to. If you want to update it, let us know in the HELP channel in the discord and we'll unlock the applications you request! Please be patient with the code, it may  take some getting used to! So save a copy of your application as you work on updating it. If you accidentally lose your old application while trying to update it you will only have 1 week to redo your application before you lose your group and aren't allowed to post in threads with that character until it's done and reviewed.

Our graphic sizes did NOT change, so all your graphics are safe! But you will notice we have a new, third image you can now use! This can be a still image or gif and the size is 190x100. Because of how many images that will have to load the hover image (230x400) MUST be a still image. You can use gifs in the other two, just not hover. Staff will remove your hover image if it's not a still image. 

P.S. Because we have a dark and light version of the new skin do NOT color fonts in posts. What may look good on one version could be difficult to see, or completely invisible on the other. We want to ensure that members can read all posts without issue,  regardless of the version they are using! The colors of each skin have been thoroughly tested and group colors actually DO vary between the skins to ensure that all font is always easily visible!

Job Adjustments

We've made a few adjustments to the jobs claim (not just the appearance)! In particular we've cut out many requirements, or adjusted the requirements to be more streamlined. The biggest change is that we've ended age requirements and instead opted for "experience" requirements. The only exception to this is teachers because until we start turning out graduates of the new school with an Education degree it'd be difficult to put an experience level requirement. Most teachers at the school didn't teach before Hogwarts, after all. They almost all came from other careers.

The freelance section in the jobs as well has also been limited only to jobs that have a played character. Instead of just listing everything possible, we'll just list what's currently being done. We'll add jobs as they are claimed.

The Fast Forward

For the next six ooc months Alohomora will be experiencing a "fast forward" which you can see the timeline of below. This fast forward happening for a few reasons. 

IC May 15th 2026 - May 31 2027
OOC October 30 2021 - May 31 2022

The first reason this is happening is because we will be dissolving the by semester calendar and instead keep things simple where 1 IC month = 1 OCC month. To make it even simpler we want these months to be the same. So, we need to get IC and OOC months in sync.

The second reason is because we would like to have all holidays and events match up (aka, no more IC Christmas holiday in OOC May!).

The third reason is because after the end of a plot a story always needs a return to normalcy. This is a time in which there are no plots or events going on that significantly effect the world. Our characters need a break from the Purifiers, in other words, before we can throw anything at them. This is a normal story telling tactic in which the world must return to a neutral/normal point before the next chapter. 

A Whole New World! ... For Now?

During this fast forward we will be having all student aged characters attend other Wizarding schools. We'll be offering: Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Ilvermorny. For those that would prefer to homeschool, that is also an option! As Hogwarts will be unfit for students for the school year, obviously the kiddos all have to go somewhere else!

For now, we are only planning on offering these schools for the upcoming school year. All students made during this time should be Hogwarts students that are attending another school or a student that will transfer to Hogwarts after the fast forward ends, OR they are a 7th year and will be graduating (and  thus able to go wherever they want). 

But what will happen to the teachers? Well, they have a few options! Teachers can choose to take the year off, teach at one of these other schools, OR they can assist in the overall of the education system mentioned below! (see below for more info)

Depending on popularity of the other schools, we may consider leaving these schools open after the fast forward and having the site as a whole be a more global wizarding world site. We will be doing a poll at the end of the fast forward to gauge interest on expanding or going back down to just the UK.

Below is what will be happening to education after the fast forward ends!

A New Education System - Hogwarts Campus

For several years people have expressed a desire of having some sort of "higher education" on the site. Well, we've heard you! We've been discussing this shift in education for several months in the staff and we've created a system that we feel fits the universe as a whole, takes into consideration many loopholes we felt the current education system had, and fits the UK education system.

Pre-School (ages 4 to 10/11)
Yes, school for the kiddos! Obviously this won't affect us in the sense of playing these kids but this will affect our characters who have kids or young siblings! Your kids or younger siblings will now be attending a day school (not boarding!) weekdays starting at age 4 until they are ready to attend Hogwarts! This school will be for ALL children of magical parents (regardless of if they've shown signs of magic). They do NOT learn magic during their pre-school days but learn skills such as: reading, writing, mathematics, history, etc.  Muggle born children will transfer to this school as soon as they show enough signs of magic to be considered muggle born. If a wizarding family child doesn't show signs of magic by the time they "graduate" they will transfer to a non-magical school at that point. They will use a system similar to the Knight Bus that picks them up and takes them home every day (or if they live close enough, some parents may just opt to drop the kids off and pick them up each day. You know, just like a regular school with a magic bus).

The reason for this new "school" is because we've felt for a long time that it was strange magical children didn't attend any sort of school before Hogwarts. Likewise, we felt it was important that children of nonmagical parents be introduced to the world in the best way possible as finding out when they are 11 can be quite traumatic. If they had a few years to learn about the Magical world before learning magic Hogwarts would be less of a learning curve.

Hogwarts General Education (year 1-5)
This is the "general" education. Aka all leading up to your OWLS! This will function basically identical to how Hogwarts is currently run except for one difference. You do not take electives. Only Core classes! Core classes are: Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Home Economics and Life Skills, Potions, and Transfigurations. Apparition will now also be taught during 5th year! At the end of the Hogwarts General Education students will still take their OWLs and graduate! Yes, that does mean after completing their fifth years, they will be allowed to use magic outside school moving forward!

Why the change? Age wise, we felt it appropriate to let teenagers that really want to be done with school to do so after their OWLs. As we know, there are many witches and wizards that never completed their Hogwarts schooling that went on to be successful (Example: Fred and George Weasley). So, we will be shifting the focus of 1-5th year to be your general wizarding education, in which you can be functional members of society after. The end of 5th year also lines up age wise with the UK education system of secondary school ending around age 16.

Hogwarts Specialized/Elective Education (year 6th-7th)
Should a student choose, and done well enough on their OWLS (basically didn't flunk out...) they can CONTINUE their education by returning for their NEWTs. During the 6th and 7th years of Hogwarts they ONLY take electives such as (though it won't be limited to, we are open to adding more!): Alchemy, Ancient Runes, Ancient Studies, Arithmancy, Art, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Dueling, Flying Special Skills, Magic Theory, Magical First Aid, Muggle Studies, and World Magic Studies.

You can consider this 6-7th year as a trade school, or an associates diploma. It's basically just more education beyond the general education needed to function/

Specialized Job Education (2+ years beyond depending on the study)
And now we've reached the point of schooling and training that is required for certain jobs in the Wizarding World. For those pursuing these jobs, they will be attending school for all their classroom related job training (some jobs may require on the job training as well, but that doesn't apply here). This includes: Healers, Aurors, Hit Wizards, Interpol, Curse breakers, performing arts (yup! WADA is integrating!), lawyers, etc) Basically consider this the "grad school" for those that need even more education before entering the work force. BUT you don't have to only be going into these jobs to do this! If you can come up with a reason for your character to continue their education, go for it! During these years the students take a variety of classes that can be extremely specialized for their focus (such as how a lawyer or interpol agent would want international law), or they can be more general where you're mixed with other focuses (such as defense against the dark arts classes can be beneficial for many careers).

Here is a flow chart to show how the schools work in a nut shell, and how your schooling would affect job prospects fresh out of school for your characters!



When the time is closer we will be putting up a poll for names for each of these schools! So start thinking of names now. All of these schools will be located where the original Hogwarts was, and rebuilt into a unique multi-school campus. Again, more information will come as we get closer to the opening of these schools at the end of the the fast forward!

To Age or Not to Age, That is the Question

During this speed up all members have the right to decide if their characters do, or not, "age up". As we know, when creating a character age can be a very important factor and being forced to age a character a whole year in such a short time can be very difficult. As such we won't be forcing everyone to age that doesn't want to! You don't have to decide now, think about it. You have until the end of the fast forward. We do advise you let us know sooner, rather then later, however. So that you can thread accordingly!

This is how it will go:
If you DON'T want your character(s) to age up you must notify the staff via PM OR the help channel in discord by the end of the fast forward! So that we can work with you to make sure that your application is updated to reflect that character being born a year later to ensure they remain the same age once the fast forward ends. Anyone that doesn't notify staff by May 31, 2022 will be aged up (no exceptions. If you don't want to age up and you don't tell us until after the deadline you have to buy a character redo).

Now, some rules and exceptions to this are:
1. Canon characters with predetermined birth years must age (sorry Harry Potter).
2. Next Generation kids don't have to age up if birth year wasn't specifically said (we don't count Cursed child soo.... Most yall are safe except for like Teddy and Victoire)
3. Families, stick together. AKA played siblings have to unanimously decide (we aren't doing 1 ages, 1 doesn't nonsense because we don't want to mess with family trees). If there are played parents we may be more lenient to parents aging/not aging while kids being different if it doesn't break your family lore. If you are the only played character of the family you decide for the whole family.
3.2. We may give exceptions to the above ruling if there is a big enough age gap between the siblings that it doesn't mess up the family to have one age while another doesn't.
4. If the character participated in an event that was age specific you have to age (for example, Maria has to age because she was a Durmstrang rep during the Tri-Wizard Tournament).

Board Overhaul!

Now, I'm sure everyone has seen some boards that have never had much traffic! You may have also noticed that we've cut down on some of these. You may also notice a few more disappear after this announcement. We'd rather focus on the boards people want and use. We also hope that by cutting out unused boards, it means that we can have room to add new ones!

Because of this shop boards have actually been increased in price in the Galleon shop, and only owners will be able to purchase them going forward. 

Goodbye Affiliations!

Yup, you read that right. We are saying goodbye to the affiliations (aka the Order of the Phoenix, Purifiers, etc). Because the plot has ended, the groups are going to be officially disbanded. They have no place in a world at peace. But hey, maybe they'll find a new purpose someday and make a comeback? You don't have to un-claim these, we'll be un-claiming it all for you.

So.... What happens Next?

With the end of the current site wide plot many must be wondering what the staff has in store for a new plot after the speed up. Well. I'd like to answer that now. The answer is... Nothing! In recent years staff has come to realize that Alohomora might not be suited for a single, site wide plot. Everyone has different opinions and desires when it comes to plots so it's impossible to find something that makes everyone happy. We are shifting to a 100% member run plot system.

But what is member run plots? In a nutshell it means that you plot what you'd like, you participate it, and you move it. Staff will not force any plot movement. Staff will individually participate (as members, not staff) in the plots they like, and move those through participation. Just like all other members. Basically: only the plots that people are actively participating in will actually move. 

Does this mean a site wide plot will never happen again though? No, not at all! Anything is possible! What if a plot happens to draw in the majority of the members? It'll become site wide purely because most people are participating in it!

This doesn't mean staff is going to be hands off though! In fact, staff will be very involved! Because staff will be participating and moving the plots they want, as not all staff want the same plots! Staff will also be watching these plots closely to ensure that you aren't doing anything that would be considered site wide (the definition of site wide in this situation is: Anything that effects played characters not participating to the plot). There, of course, will be some exceptions to this rule (Example: you flood a shop you own. This would obviously affect characters not participating as suddenly they can't use your shop. But it's your shop so you can do what you want with it).


We look forward to many new adventures at Alohomora as we start this new journey!