Hogwarts Live Blog

Hi Everyone,

If you're new to the game, you can create an account and select your personal pronouns. If you want to change your current personal pronouns, you can click on your character name on the top right of the blog and then click Edit Profile.

There is now a section called "What are your pronouns?" that will let you set custom personal pronouns if you don't like to be referred to as he, her, or they as well as let you change your existing personal pronouns.

These changes are new, so they might cause some unexpected issues. Please let us know if you find any bugs.

Why did I add personal pronouns to HL?

I wholeheartedly believe in the power of role-playing games to bring people together from different walks of life and we are taking this step to ensure that everyone can feel accepted and seen for who they are in our online community.

Historically, the world of gaming has been recognized as a space of escapism and self-expression. Many players create characters that mirror their real-world identities, while others use it as a platform to explore aspects of their identity in a safe and supportive environment. As I understand the profound significance of personal pronouns in gender identity, I felt it necessary to provide our users with the option to customize their pronouns according to their individual preferences.

From now on, Hogwarts Live players can set their custom pronouns in their blog profile settings. Whether it's he/him, she/her, they/them, or any other pronoun that a player feels best represents their identity, we're giving them the platform to express it. It is a small but significant change that we hope will reflect our ethos of respect, acceptance, and recognition of everyone's unique identity.

This new feature is more than just an upgrade to our game--it's a reflection of our core beliefs. At Hogwarts Live, we champion diversity and inclusivity, recognizing the vast array of identities, experiences, and perspectives within our player community. We strive to create an environment that celebrates these differences and offers a welcoming space for everyone to enjoy the magical world we've created.

I understand that with change comes a learning curve, and the Hogwarts Live staff is here to support our community throughout this process. Besides the pronoun update, we want everyone to understand the importance of correct pronoun usage and respect for everyone's chosen identifiers. Imagine if you changed your name and people kept calling you by your old name or worse, they called you by a name you find offensive? Many of us had childhood nicknames, for example, we wished people didn't use. Please check player's in-game bios or blog profiles and use their personal pronouns when referring to them in chat or elsewhere.

I also want to remind everyone that misgendering--intentionally or unintentionally using the wrong pronouns--can feel hurtful and disrespectful. I hope this new feature will encourage all players to practice consideration and understanding in their interactions with others, ensuring that Hogwarts Live remains a fun, friendly, and accepting platform for all fans of the magical world.

I thank you all for your continued support and look forward to seeing our magical community continue to evolve and grow in a spirit of understanding and respect. Remember, the strength of HL comes from the diversity and unity of its players. We are proud of our community and will continue to strive towards making Hogwarts Live the most welcoming and inclusive wizarding world out there.

Whether you're a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, or still awaiting your Hogwarts letter, remember this: You are valid. You are seen. You are accepted, exactly as you are. Welcome to Hogwarts Live, the magical world where everyone is welcome, and everyone belongs.

We have a few rules here on HL that are there to protect our younger players from being preyed upon by our older ones. However, it really is up to YOU as a player to ensure that you stay safe and free from harm.

Personal Info. PLEASE do not give out your personal info such as home address, home OR cell phone number, email address or even a messenger contact info(AIM, YIM, MSN) UNLESS you really, truly know the person. Even giving out your real name can be dangerous, so please limit that to ONLY your first name if you feel the need to share that information. Ask Danilo about how even just a name can lead to someone finding out where you live, if you don't believe me.

Online Relationships. I realize that meeting new people and making new friends is what attracts most people to the net. I too think it's great that we are able to meet so many different people from all around the world. But with that said, not everyone has the same intentions and/or feelings. There are many people out there who, to put it bluntly, just like to rack up the score with how many people they can...er..score with.

It is VERY easy to lie online and to be lied to. Finding love online is not as easy as some may think. Although it IS possible to find that love of your life (Edmund and Serenity ;)), not everyone is actually looking. As I said, it is up to YOU to protect yourself. Someone claiming that they love you after chatting a few times, or telling you that you are the only one, is probably really not true. Please don't get caught up too much in the fantasy part of many sites.

The LAW.Anyone 18 years old and older is considered an adult and it is illegal for them to "be with" anyone under the age of 18. Even though nothing sexual is supposed to be happening on the site anyway, we realize that we really have no way to stop it when it's done in private, i.e. OWLS. HOWEVER, we CAN and DO monitor owls so be warned.

ANYONE over the age of 18 that is caught doing ANYTHING inappropriate with a minor WILL be permanently banned. Not only that, but Danilo can and will contact your ISP to let them know what you do online so they can alert the proper authorities. Even using this site as a fishing hole and taking it off-site can be cause for a ban if we hear about it.

Again, please use common sense when forming online relationships and in your interactions with other people. Not just here but any site you visit.

Thank you.

Happy Holidays!
It's that time of the year again, the Tree competition is up, and will be running through next week.
The winner will have the House Cup Buff for the month of January.

Best wishes to all!

P.S. It seems like the site issues as the new day is a result of the job module, so it has been deactivated indefinitely.

I'm proud to say that we raised $498 for the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) last month!

I know many of you are reeling from the killing of George Floyd and the coronavirus pandemic. Many innocent people have died in recent months and many of you may have friends or family affected by these tragedies whether it's economically, physically, or emotionally.

In honor of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and many others I will donate all Hogwarts Live donations made during June 2020 to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI).

I've made the month of June a triple donation month to further reward people who donate to this cause.

For those of you who don't know the EJI is a 4 star charity on Charity Navigator with 91.2% of its expenses going to the programs and services it delivers.

EJI is working towards ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, by challenging racial and economic injustice, and protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.

Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer and bestselling author of Just Mercy, EJI provides legal representation to people who were illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons.

EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment. They are committed to changing the narrative about race in America.

If you wish to donate directly to the EJI you can do so here. If you forward your donation receipt to along with your HL username I will make sure you receive donation points for your donation.

Don't worry if you can't donate, you can sign the petition Justice for Big Floyd.

It's that time of year... the most wonderful time of the year! We know that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but we'd like to wish you all Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Joyous Kwanzaa and/or whatever else you may celebrate. If you don't celebrate anything, we hope this winter is your best one yet :)

We've opened the seasonal village for your enjoyment- Polareia Borealis. Here you will find most of our holiday modules, from the Ice Hotel to the Dreidel game at the peanut stall. You can also try to build the best snowman in all the wizarding world! Or maybe you'd just like to visit the Ice Castle while dressed up in your cool new costume! Also, if you fancy buying a reindeer, they are now available in the pet shop.

We also have opened a Holiday Gift shop which can be found in each village. This is the place to go to buy your family, friends, and even rivals presents for the holidays. The gifts can be opened starting on Christmas Day (December 25) at the fireplace in your Common Room. You will have until December 31 to open them all. In the meantime, you can visit the Fireplace inside your Common Room to check to see how many presents are waiting for you! Everyone will receive at least one present so be sure to open yours on Christmas Day! (NOTE: Some of you may see references to Valentine's Day at the Fireplace. Just ignore it and pretend it says Christmas. xD It's just a typo and doesn't affect your presents.)

In the past we have had a few problems with players being nasty to each other with the Holiday Gifts Anonymous Sender feature. This year, we have in place a security measure to ensure that no one is truly anonymous. Although the recipient of a not-so-nice gift will not know who the gift is from, the Staff will know. Those that send nasty messages through the Holiday Gifts will be dealt with in the same way as if it was said in chat. Offensive messages on gifts can be reported by petition, just like offensive owls, through a link in each gift.

For a little friendly House competition, each House has been given a Holiday Tree to decorate. Players can go to their Common Room and help decorate it by using forest fights, gold and/or gems. The House with the best tree at the end of the year will earn the House buff for the entire month of January.

We hope you enjoy these new features and once again, Happy Holidays!

To all witches and wizards:

October 31st (Halloween) is now officially Staff Appreciation Day. Show your support to the HL staff in any way you can. Even if that means listening to them for a bit (I'm looking at you truant students out there =P).

Just please try and be extra nice to our staff on that special day otherwise I will smite you with a mighty thunderbolt.

Happy Almost Spring! At least to those in the Northern Hemisphere. xD

As the temperatures start to rise and the snowstorms venture forth with their last hurrah of the season, our servers have migrated to more illustrious surroundings to continue the circle of life known as HogwartsLive.

Unlike the the long and arduous trek for thousands upon thousands of birds, ocean creatures, and them animals in Africa who are forced to migrate to find water, the process of migrating servers is usually pretty quick and painless. This time however, it seems that some of you may have gotten lost in the Upside Down, as Poly puts it.

Maybe you log in to find a chat that is hours old with only one or two other people? Which is kinda normal tbh, so scratch that one. But maybe posts have disappeared? Or maybe you find yourself all alone in some parallel universe version of Hogwarts? MaYbE yOu CaN't EvEn LoG iN!?

Unfortunately, we can't magically fix it for you even though we're supposed to be all like Witches and Wizards and stuff. But DON'T PANIC!! YOU, yes YOU, can perform all the magic needed to fix this for yourself! So grab your towel, click the link at the end of this post and prepare to be amazed! Mobile instructions included, for a limited time! (not really limited, that's just a sales pitch) If however, you do not want to attempt this yourself, the problem will correct itself soon.

For those who appreciate a more technical explanation, there's something called DNS. This is like GPS for browsers so they know where to go when you type in a website name. So what happens during migration is, the virtual address of the website gets all mixed and muddled up and sometimes it takes longer for some people's internets to find it again. (Or that might be something I made up entirely because it sounds good and I have no idea what I'm talking about.) (Except that DNS does really exist and it does have something to do with finding and accessing websites.)

tl;dr If HL is all weird, it will fix itself soon or you can clear your DNS cache. Instructions here:

https://buffered.com/tutorials/how-to-flush-dns-cache/

Thanks for playing!

In accordance with the latest blog that has been reposted, if you see something inappropriate or disruptive in chat then please petition for help. Even if there is a staff member online, we are players too and can't monitor the site or chats every minute. We would appreciate it if you can help us help you.

Look over the rules in the FAQs again carefully and don't be afraid to send a detailed petition about the problem. We want to establish and keep and friendly environment for all ages to interact with.

Thanks and enjoy your time on HogwartsLive.

You see Hagrid carrying Holiday Trees to the Common Rooms.

The biggest, sparkliest, twinkliest tree belongs to the Hufflepuff clan!
Many of the other halls also sport beautifully decorated trees in their windows.

Congratulations, Hufflepuff! You keep the House buff until the end of January!