Big Changes!

[Admin Yols]

"SERIOUSLY?!"

Sorry guys - I never miss an opportunity to show a pic of Damon shirtless lol.

There are a lot of changes to the site that we're working on/still working on and I want to give you a heads up on all of them here. Some of them you will see today and through out the week. I'm just going to plow right through them, so heeeere....weeee...go!

• BIG MOD TEAM
  We've read your ideas on the survey about a plotting committee. And truth is, I've had a vision of making a plotting committee for a while now, but they'd be on staff as a mod team - a mod representing and advocating each fandom and helping to facilitate plots for them, as well as helping us keep an eye on forum activities. The following people we've chosen to be on the team have already been immensely helpful to staff, have proven themselves to be excellent RPers, have proven to work well with the admins on getting stuff done for the site out of simply volunteering their time, and are invested in NI. We are happy to have them on the team. They are:
  
  Chess - for Being Human
  Sarah - for TVD/SPN (with Lian helping with SPN)
  Marie (Jessica/Stefan) - For True Blood, leading the Authority committee
  
  We also of course have Mandy, who will be mod for Buffy/Angel.
  
  What does that mean for you guys?
  
  Don't think that this mod team will be controlling all aspects of plotting for the fandom. We've listened tot your feedback and we definitely don't want this "plotting committee" to determine where your characters go without your input. They will be facilitating plotting efforts for each fandom, advocating that the fandom has a place in everything the site and helping you guys get direction for the fandom. In a sense, they're representatives and 'go-to' people of the fandom. In addition, they'll help staff develop and implement site plots as well as hold all the duties a regular moderator would.
  
  But with this support system in place we want ALL MEMBERS to try to have an active role in plotting. The Major Planning board is still there for anyone to just throw up a plot and go for it. If you have an idea that you think would be cool, don't wait around for someone else to do it - let people know about it. That's what that board is there for. If you're afraid that it will conflict with the site plot, you can always ask staff beforehand to double check. The plotting committee/mod team is there to help moderate stuff like this. In a nutshell, the entire board should be involved in plotting - not just the committee and we'll make sure that happens. Don't be afraid to throw ideas out there and help the mods give direction to the fandoms.
  
  
• BUFFY/ANGEL INVOLVEMENT
  Clearly we have an issue with keeping an active Buffy Summers or Angel, and both are essential to getting things moving with the Buffy/Angel fandom. So we decided on a temporary solution in the spirit of the entire board having a hand in plotting. We will allow both major canons to be NPCed until they are taken - only for major site plots, or major Buffy/Angel-centric plots. But unlike all the other NPCs, the entire board will have a hand in determining each canon's role in these plots. Mandy (Buffy/Angel canon mod) will be "in charge" of these discussions with help of the Admins to settle any disagreements and come to final decisions about plot points and who will NPC the characters.
  
  PLEASE NOTE - this is only a temporary fix. We are going to actively and vigorously advertise for a Buffy. If we get both characters before we implement this system - great! We'll save that system in case we need it next time we have time 'in between' buffys or angels lol
  
  Look out for a thread on this in Major Planning soon.
  
  
• INTRODUCING MORTUUS VAMPIRES & ALMUS WERES
  ...of the SPN canon. Check the wiki for more info on them. They are now officially a part of the site. We've also added Leviathans as a monster that can possibly be NPCed.
  
  
• NPC SYSTEM SWITCHEROO
  We're going to allow for fandoms to have further direction by opening the door to more canons being NPCed and putting focus on the NPC system, as we have noticed many people don't use it. The NPC system is there primarily for fandom specific subplots. If you find your fandom is lacking in plots, this is an option to create a big bad to defeat, use a big bad canon that's NPCable, etc. With SPN, monsters are always around to defeat - so its awesome to use the NPC account to play out a "series" of threads with a villain/monster. Same thing for Buffy/Angel. Not to mention, if you feel that you don't have many threads, feel like you're having a muse dry spell, or if you're one of those people that can handle more than 4-5 characters, RPing NPCs can be a great way to "switch it up" - when it comes to RPing on NI.
  
  In a nutshell, the NPC section has been revamped. Check it out! Pick out the characters you're interested in NPCing so people know you're up for threads with that character in the future.
  
  
• CANON COMIC CHARACTERS
  Both comic characters from Buffy/Angel that we have on the canon list will be NPCable, as well as a few other canons from all the fandoms.
  
  
• BIG YEAR LONG PLOT: THE HELLMOUTH
  Just so you guys know, our staff team has planned out site plots for the entire year! Look for an announcement in the Major Planning board soon! Hint, it involves an apocalypse, Croatoan viruses, The Gentlemen, and a hell of a lot of fun stuff for each fandom. Thanks to the collective minds of the board and staff for helping with and developing this plot.
  
  
• NI CLASSIFIEDS
  This is basically a new experiment that we're going to try. We hope to diminish the urge to get too 'cliquey,' to mix fandoms a bit, to get fandom characters to RP with other fandom characters too, to give new members a no pressure/casual way to get acclimated with the site, to give an easier/alternative way for people to look for "open" or "anyone can join" threads, and to give people another way to pimp their plots.
  
  Check it out! Be mindful, this "system" is a work in progress - bare with us if things are confusing!
  
  
• WEREWOLF PACKS AND VAMPIRE FACTIONS
  We will be implementing an official system where werewolves can form packs and vampires can form covens/factions. Thanks sarah for helping with this.
  
  
• TVD FOUNDER'S COUNCIL FOR NI
  We will be implementing a "Founder's Council" storyline just for NI, just because its fun and gives Washington High School a lot of plotting opportunities. Check the wiki and the Washington High School section soon for info on who's running that school;) Thanks again to Sarah for working on this.
  
  
• WATCHER'S COUNCIL TRAINING ACADEMY (WCTA)
  Guess what Rupert Giles? You have an academy of Watchers in NYC to oversee! Check the wiki. The board itself will be up soon.
  
  
• INFO THREADS FOR EACH BOARD
  Just to help clear as much confusion about different organizations and locations as possible (and how they relate to the rest of the board), we're creating fun info threads for each place. We encourage people who have characters with their own boards and establishments to do so as well.
  
  
• MATHIAS -> MIKAELSON
  Minor announcement for TVD folks, the last names of the originals will be changed to Mikaelson as per canon.
  
  
• SLAYERS: "YOU CAN'T COMPEL ME!"
  Staff has decided to make slayers immune to compulsion/glamour without the use of vervain. Exception to the rule? Daeva Originals can still compel slayers unless they have vervain on them as well as Ugenta vampires older than 3,000 years.
  
  
• THE AUTHORITY
  Those who have been picked to be on Team Authority (the authority committee) will be notified by PM soon.

Phew!

[Admin Yols]

Oh forgot to mention:

WE HAVE A ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARTY UNDERWAY!

Click Here To check it out!