A game idea...maybe
This past weekend, I was considering the concept of a game that I have no idea if it is really something that would work out without being a headache and/or confusing.

I think I'd kind of like to take a look at HP characters from one of the eras, each having their own pros and cons, and play out their years in Hogwarts.

No RP would ever last that long, granted.. So I was thinking about it.. what if it was set up to follow one "graduating class" and characters in grades above/below are all NPC'd if/when needed... but starting out at some point early on at Hogwarts, ideally 1st year.

The game would have 3 months dedicated to each "year" which is where it would get tricky. Instead of an expedited and confusing timeline, certain events from each year are chosen for that year to focus on (5th years would include 0WLS for example) and there'd be fade out transitions to get the time moving from one point in another.

Game starts out, for example, a few days before the kids start 1st year. The pacing is one day REAL TIME = one day GAME TIME.

There would be time for their first trip to Diagon Alley, the first ride on Hogwarts express... the SORTING CEREMONY. (what would be really cool is to actually kind of have a community thread for this, including some characters getting SORTED during this, in which the player didn't know ahead of time which house they'd be placed in... obvs not canon characters who have houses.

After the first few weeks of school, kids getting used to the castle/classmates... it would jump to later in the year... perhaps for holiday festivities, or some other event. If following the trio era, here's where it's easiest -- we've got the books already laying out canon events to jump too. However, it wouldn't give freedom for surprise sorting IN game.. and less freedom of plot and where things are going.. (pros & cons)

At any rate, I imagine the game spending at most 3 months on a year, but following the transition from the wide eyed students who first enter the school, their transitions into adolescents, the tough decisions between good and bad, and what the lines really are, the first crushes/relationships/kisses... etc.. but taking the kids and write them out the game concluding when they finish Hogwarts.

What it would take though, is a group of players who are interested and want this exercise in character development. Ones that wouldn't mind fading out of one point in time, to the next, to keep the calender going (think of the books, not EVERY day is written in the books, just the important events). I think it would work best, ideally, if there was a full class of students ready to go before the game opened, especially in the case where there will be some spontaneous sorting during the game. The game would definitely have community wide threads put up -- not that the tags have to be on the "epic scale of awesome" but even small, quick responses that focus more on actions/words than the thought process to get them there. (Because, again, reading books, you hardly ever get every characters thoughts every time they make ANY move...)

Personally, there are more than a few characters I'd love to either grow them up, or watch them grow up. The MWPP era could prove to be more interesting, simply because less is known about them... but even the trio-era focusing on a year that's NOT the trio's year - because a lot of their events are already told (we know why draco and harry hate each other, etc..) True, there are minor characters from that era that could be fun in this setting... but their seventh year is a horrible dark place and the point of this game isn't really to be dark, which is why I think Fred/George/Angelina/Lee's year would be a better pick for the trio-era.)

I would not attempt it with the next-gen, because those games struggle even when they're straight forward and not complicated.

This post has been long, probably tldr; but... if you did read it, any/all feedback is appreciated. Even if you hated the idea, or don't think it's possible. Because, again, I'm not even sure a concept like this would work out.. I just think that it would provide a lot of satisfaction to actually... you know... take a character and grow them up like that.

This entry will remain public, because even if the game idea is stolen, and kuddos to anyone who thinks they can do this and get interest in it, all I ask is that I am linked to the game so I can play in it ;)