As of April 19, 2008, Operation Redo is now closed.
1. Is it just me or does this game sound really familiar? It may sound familiar because it's been around for nearly three years. The original verson of Operation Redo (operation_redo on GJ) opened in March 2004. The game restarted in May of 2005 (op_redo on GJ) and had a partial restart in January of 2006 (redo_op on GJ). Unfortunately, due to RL problems and intimidating backstory, the most recent restart never really got off the ground. The current version is a continuation of the previous communities. Since we finally have a complete canon now, and we know exactly what we want to change, we decided to clean house and restart. In the process of restarting, we also decided to move to IJ, since GJ seems to have developed several problems lately. 2. Oh... So, this is a boring game. We wouldn't say that. The game had been going for over two years and was, in our opinion, still interesting. We just decided it was time for a change. 3. Do I need to know what happened in the previous game to be a part of this one? No. We have decided to clear the backstories of the all characters and start from scratch, although we are saving some of our old plot lines for re-posting. If you end up playing a character who was active in the game before, the mods may tell you some information about the character's previous actions/relationships/rivalries, but you'll be allowed to decide how you want to play the character. 4. So, I don't really need to know anything about the previous game? Again, no. This game is going to pick up in the middle of the Marauders' fifth year. When the game starts, the Future Students will have just appeared on the Hogwarts grounds and discovered by Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey. Most of them are badly injured; several are still unconscious. Apart from that, all you really have to know is that the war with Voldemort is in the early stages. 5. How is this going to be played? Each character has a private journal. The thoughts that are written in the journals are just that – private. The journals are not connected, so students can't comment in each other's journals. In addition to having a journal, most students at Hogwarts in the late 1970s owned a "Legens." These notebooks were connected so that everyone who owned one could read what the others had written and respond, if they wanted. The communities are where most of the character interactions should take place. There's one community for each common room, the great hall, and general ones for everywhere else. There's also an OOC community and a community for chat logs. 6. You said chat logs. Do I have to have AIM to play this game? AIM or some other chat program is not necessary to join this game, but it is one possible way for scenes to be played out. Scenes that have been acted out via a chat program are not considered official, however, until they have been posted in the chat communitiy (chat_or). Only after having been posted will the chat log scenes become part of the game history -- because we mods really have no way of knowing what scene our players have stored on their hard drives. ;-) 7. How do you tell the difference between a journal entry and an entry in the Legens? Whenever you post an entry in your character's journal, the subject line and/or cut tag should say what kind of an entry it is. Owls should also be sent through the personal journals. Just put "Owl to ___" in the text for the cut tag. (You may also put "Owl Post" in the subject, if you want to be thorough, but that is not required.) 8. Is there anything else I should know about the Legens books? Here's a little bit of background info that Callie (our founding mod) wrote up: The Legens books were invented in Italy in the early 1970s. They became very popular there and the trend began to spread throughout the wizarding world. They finally reached Britain in 1976 and have become a "must have" item for many teenagers and young adults. At first, the demand was so great that the price was too high for most people to get them. Now, in June 1976, the price is more reasonable, so many students may pick a Legens up while they're in Hogsmeade this weekend. The books are so popular that they're being sold in just about every shop in Hogsmeade.
The Future Students probably wouldn't know about the books unless they like modern history or are interested in trends from the 1970s. If they have heard about them, they would know that the books remained popular until the late '70s/early '80s before dying out as the war grew more intense and the young people began to distrust each other. There have also been some rumors that the books were a potential conduit for Dark magic (specifically, the Imperius Curse) that circumvented the protections on Hogwarts grounds, but that has never been definitively proven (and is probably the kind of thing only Hermione would know). 9. There are twelve communities?! What's each one for? Well, we have two basic types of communities: Out of Character and In Character.
Out of Character Communities:
The main community (operation_redo) is for game-related announcements and information. The mods will be the only ones who post there.
The Applications community (applications_or) is an open community where prospective players can post their applications. The only requirement is that you have a registered IJ account. (If you don't have an account, and don't want to make one just for posting your application, you may also e-mail us your application.)
The Archive community (archive_or) is designed to house old posts that we've backed-up or otherwise salvaged from GJ. We're not really sure how stable the site it now, and we didn't want to lose our old scenes from previous versions of the game. These scenes are not (yet) considered an official part of the game's history.
The OOC community (ooc_or) is, surprisingly, for anything you want to say out of character. For example, if you know you're going away for awhile, this would be the place to let everyone know.
The Plot community (plots_or) is for people to work on plotting. If you have an idea concerning your character (or the game in general), this is the place to toss out ideas and get the other players' reactions. In addition, the mods will have a standing plot schedule posted in this community, so that everyone will know what plots are going on at any given time. Players may comment with plot ideas to get their plots added to the schedule, and the post will also double as a place for players to ask mod permission to do anything drastic to their characters (see Rule #11).
In Character Communities:
The Chat community (chat_or) is where you should post any AIM or other chat logs you have. When posting a log, it should be in third-person, past tense, narrative style. Actions should not have stars around them, and screen names should not appear in front of what each person said or did. (If you're still not sure what this means, ask the mods and we'll give you some examples.)
The Houses (gryffindor_or, hufflepuff_or, ravenclaw_or, and slytherin_or) are just what they sound like. Each student has a House, so they will each be a member of one of these groups. This is where you should post any open, 3rd person threads that take place in the common room or dormitories. Heads of Houses, as they are cast, will also be added to these communities, so that the students cannot completely run amok in their common rooms.
The Great Hall (great_hall_or) is where you post open, third person threads about eating. Also, any balls or other major events will most likely take place here.
The General Hogwarts community (hogwarts_or) is for everywhere else at Hogwarts. You can post about your character practicing Quidditch, studying in the library, or roaming the corridors here.
The Outside Hogwarts community (world_or) is for everywhere else in the wizarding world. If your character goes on a trip to Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, or home for a school holiday, then post that thread here. This is also where adult, non-staff characters will post most of their threads, unless they are visiting Hogwarts.
10. Do you have to be a certain age to join this game? And, what about experience? Is that necessary to have? There isn't an age limit because we know a person's age doesn't always reflect their maturity. However, we must emphasize that this game is starting out with a PG-13 rating (just look at the bloody battle from the prologue), so there will be some mature themes being handled. We'll leave it up to you to decide if you're OK with that, though. As for experience, it isn't necessary. Everyone has to start somewhere, so it doesn't bother us if this is the first RPG you've joined. As long as you're a capable writer and willing to have fun with this, then lack of experience shouldn't be a problem. 11. Are there are any rules about who we can use for our PBs? There aren't any official ones, but there are some people (Paris Hilton, Tyra Banks, etc) that we don't think belong in the Harry Potter universe. Basically, you might want to think twice before choosing a PB who is really famous or who appears in the tabloids every week. If you choose someone the mods consider inappropriate, for the game as a whole or for one character specifically, we may ask if you'd be willing to make a change. 12. Um, I feel stupid, but what's a PB? Don't feel stupid! This is one of the questions here that we actually get asked a lot. Unless we're mistaken, PB stands for "played by." Basically, it refers to the person (usually an actor, an actress, or a musician) whose picture you're going to use in your character's icons. 13. Why do all of the members here have "_or" after their character's name? That's the way we're forming our usernames. Once you've been accepted into the game, you will be assigned a journal following that pattern. For example, if you were playing Harry Potter, you might have the username harry_or, potter_or, or h_potter_or. Or you might have a nickname before the "_or" (like scarhead_or) or, for the Future Students, you might get their new last name (see question 38 below, if you're confused). 14. If I decide to leave the game, what should I do with my journal? Original characters will become NPCs if their players leave the game. If you are playing a canon character (including canon in name only), we ask that you send the mods the password to your journal so that we can pass the journal along to the next player. (We don't want you to send us a personal password that you use online a lot, though, so change the password to something less security sensitive first (such as the journal's username, if you can't think of anything else). 15. What kind of a name is "Operation Redo?" Why couldn't you have come up with a cool-sounding one? The original idea was to call the game "Back to the Beginning." That used up too many characters, so Operation Redo it was. It's not the most sophisticated name, but, oh well. It works. 16. I want my character to be a sixth year. When should his/her birthday be? The game is starting in the 1975-1976 school year, so the birthdays for each year's students are as follows:
Seventh years: September 1, 1957 - August 31, 1958 Sixth years: September 1, 1958 - August 31, 1959 Fifth years: September 1, 1959 - August 31, 1960 Fourth years: September 1, 1960 - August 31, 1961 Third years: September 1, 1961 - August 31, 1962 Second years: September 1, 1962 - August 31, 1963 First years: September 1, 1963 - August 31, 1964
If you're math skills are on par with Rowling's, though, don't hesitate to ask for help. With the exception of Luna, all of the Future Students should have been born between September 1, 1979 and August 31, 1980. Luna is a year younger than the others, so she would have been born between September 1, 1980 and August 31, 1981. 17. When does this game take place? The prologue takes place near the end of Harry's sixth year. There was a battle. It didn't go well. Dumbledore wished for things to be better, so twelve students from 1997 were sent back twenty-two years (give or take a few months), in hopes that they'll change history. 18. No, really. I mean, when does it take place? What month is it in the game? What year are the students in, exactly? Game play takes place in real time. We're starting in November, so it'll be November in the game -- only November of 1975. The game will pick up during the autumn term of the Marauders' fifth year. Most of the Future Students are all going to be fifth years as well. They could have been fourth, sixth, or even seventh years if they wanted. Dumbledore let them decide what year they wanted to be in, for two reasons: 1) so that they have more time to work with the current students, if they wanted, and 2) because it would look less suspicious if they were not all the same apparent age. Some of them will probably be slacking off as far as work goes, since they've already learned most of it. [If they are fifth years, they won't have to re-take their OWLs unless they want to. Repeating their OWLs would be to their advantage, however, if they want to undertake any sort of official career (such as an Auror), since an official record of their scores does not exist in 1975.] 19. Why did the Future Students show up on Halloween? Because something significant almost always happens on Halloween in the Harry Potter books (or at least the first four). First, there was Voldemort's attack in Godric's Hollow. Second, there was Quirrell's first attempt to steal the Stone. Third, Nearly-Headless Nick had his Deathday Party (so he died that night, as well) and Mrs. Norris was petrified. Then Sirius Black broke into Gryffindor Tower, and the next year, the Tri-Wizard Champions were chosen. So, when we decided to restart the game in late October, Halloween was the most obvious choice. 20. You said this game's taking place after Harry's sixth year, right? I know it's been awhile since I read HBP, but I don't remember seeing anything about a battle like the one you described in the prologue... This is an AU (alternative universe) game that originally started before HBP was released. After much discussion, the mods decided we wanted to include Harry's hunt for Voldemort's Horcruxes in the game, so at this point, we basically pick up from the end of chapter 26 of HBP and replace the canon battle in chapter 27 of HBP with our battle in the prologue. If you're still not clear, we also have a canon-specific FAQ to address other questions. 21. Wait -- AU after chapter 26 of HBP? What about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? We're including only selective canon from DH, which is addressed in more detail in our canon-specific FAQ. 22. So, what exactly happened in the battle? The details of the battle are outlined elsewhere. We left out some of what happened, so that it can be added in by individual players later. One other important thing we should mention is that the Order members were trying hard not to kill the Death Eaters. They used stunning spells and other means to try and halt the attack, with one notable exception: Remus Lupin did use the Killing Curse on Peter Pettigrew to avenge James and Lily's deaths, as he intended to do three years earlier. Some of the other Death Eaters did end up being killed though. 23. Are there any deaths we should know about? This is a partial death list for the 1997 war: Lavender Brown – killed by Millicent Bulstrode (Avada Kedavra) Millicent Bulstrode – ran into Hermione Granger's sword (the Sword of Gryffindor) Justin Finch-Fletchley – killed by Amycus Carrow (Avada Kedavra) Gregory Goyle – stunned by Hestia Jones, but he then fell to his death from the Astronomy Tower Parvati Patil – strangled by Crabbe, Sr. Peter Pettigrew – killed by Remus Lupin (Avada Kedavra) Severus Snape – killed by Voldemort (Avada Kedavra) Arthur Weasley – killed by Bellatrix Lestrange (Avada Kedavra) Fred Weasley – killed by Bellatrix Lestrange (Avada Kedavra) 24. Why were only students sent back? Shouldn't some Death Eaters (and Voldemort, for that matter) have gone too? Dumbledore's wish was that things would be made better, so the spell sent a group of people with the potential to help the situation back in time. Voldemort and the Death Eaters were already on very definite paths and would not have helped Dumbledore's wish come true. Also, all of the students who were sent back had very personal reasons to want to change the past, and therefore, the future. 25. So, wait ... is this a time turner-like effect? Are Harry and all still in the future, while they're in the past? Or, did they just suddenly disappear? Or ... You're confusing me! When Dumbledore cast the spell, the twelve students (physically) closest to him hung in limbo for a moment while the times changed. For roughly a minute, the students didn't exist anywhere. While this happened, the times were changing so that the last twenty-two years had never happened. When the year was 1975, the students reappeared, still in the states they had been at the end of the 1997 war (i.e., injured, unconscious, and/or otherwise tramautized and exhausted). 26. Why twelve students? Why not sixteen or two? Or, why not just the trio? Wouldn't that make the most sense from Dumbledore's perspective? It's a nice, even dozen. Not to mention, changing the future would be a lot of work for just the Trio to do. Plus, this game will be more interesting with twelve Future Students. In addition, the students sent back all have something very personal that they themselves want to see changed (Harry wants to see his parents live, Neville wants to see his parents not be tortured into insanity, Hermione wants not to have killed Millicent Bulstrode, Draco wants not to have been ordered to kill Dumbledore, etc., etc.). 27. What on earth was Dumbledore thinking? You can't change the past like this! It's... I can't even decide where to start! Oh, the humanity... There are so many ways this could go wrong! Well, first of all, let us remind you that this is very much an AU game. Secondly, at the moment that the war was drawing to a close, Dumbledore couldn't see how it could be any worse. From his perspective, things could only get better by sending the students back in time. 28. If Dumbledore had the power to change the past all along, why didn't he do it before? Dumbledore used to have hope that the future would get better on its own. Changing time is a very drastic action. As long as he saw ways for the future to improve, then he kept working with what he had. 29. So, he turned back the clock because he was about to die? That's so lame.. Not exactly. While that might have affected his decision a tiny bit, Dumbledore also knew that Voldemort was going to win the war. Most of his allies were dead, or at the very least, severely injured. Therefore it made sense for him to wish for a chance to change what had happened. 30. What about all the things that could change? I mean, what if someone does something to keep Lily and James from getting together. Then, there wouldn't be a Harry! That would be worse! That'll just make the game more interesting and complicated. Since this is an AU, anything (up to a certain point) goes. 31. Why would Dumbledore send the students back to the '70s anyway? Wouldn't it be easier to send them back to another time? Like, how about when Voldemort was growing up? They could change something there. Or they could even go way back to when Hogwarts was being founded. Then, they could just tell the founders to keep Slytherin out. Voldemort's a tricky character. Who knows how much he would have changed? As far as the founders go, keeping Slytherin out would probably just make things worse. He could have then formed his own exclusive school, and, well, things would have just become more complicated from there. Besides, the '70s just seemed like a good time to stick the characters in. Things are just starting to get bad in the wizarding world, so the Future Students can still have a huge impact on what happened. Not to mention, we know now that most of the things with the biggest impact on the first war happened when the Marauders and Snape were in school or within a few years after they left. 32. Are the Future Students stuck in the past? The Future Students will be in the past until Dumbledore's wish has been fullfilled. That could be a few months or a few years. When their work is done, their future selves will disappear, and they will go back to their own time. 33. What happens if they're still in the past when they're supposed to be born? It won't be that important. They might think it's weird to see or hear about themselves as infants, but it won't cause any lasting harm. They probably won't still be around when their younger selves mature to the point that their parents will notice the resemblance. Their parents, however, will probably scratch their heads later on and say, "Doesn't s/he look like so-and-so from school?" 34. Where are the Future Students staying while they're in the past? The future students will be staying in the normal dormitory rooms for people in their year, which have been magically expanded to fit extra beds. For example, Harry, Ron, and Neville will be rooming with the Marauders; Draco and Crabbe are in with Snape; etc. 35. What about during the summer and the holidays? The students are given the option of remaining at school or staying with a host family, such as the Weasleys or the Malfoys or the Boneses, but probably not the Snapes, since they have barely enough money to feed their own son. 36. How much do the current students know about what's going on? Not much. The current students, naturally, can't know where the Future Students came from. If they did, it could cause more than a few problems, not to mention possibly put people in grave danger if word gets back to Voldemort. They have been told that the Future Students are a group of young people from a small village. According to the story, they went to a private school, and their families were all wiped out by a plague while the pupils were on a trip. The current students might find this a little suspicious, but that is all Dumbledore will tell them. 37. How much does Dumbledore know? All of it. The group explained to him what happened, and he believed it -- after some convincing, anyway. When the Dumbledore of the future was dying, he told Harry to tell his past self a secret that only he would know. What was that secret, you ask? Well, that's between Dumbledore and Harry. Perhaps it was that his favorite flavor of jam was raspberry? Who knows? All that really matters is that Dumbledore is the only one besides the Future Students who knows what really happened. 38. Wait, won't people wonder why there is suddenly another Weasley? And another Potter? And another Malfoy? And... To help keep their identities secret, each of the Future Students will be given new last names to use when around the current students and staff members. Their new names are as follows:
Hermione Granger – Hermione Puckle Harry Potter – Harry Emerson Neville Longbottom – Neville Linton Ron Weasley – Ron Reed Hannah Abbott – Hannah Ashford Susan Bones – Susan Emmor Luna Lovegood – Luna Lamb Padma Patil – Padma Pawar Vincent Crabbe – Vincent Cragwitch Draco Malfoy – Draco Maltian Theodore Nott – Theodore Newcastle Pansy Parkinson – Pansy Sheldon 39. Can the Future Students tell the current students what's going on? They aren't supposed to, but some might, depending on what they wish to accomplish, and whom they have access to in order to tell them. For instance, Draco or Pansy might wish to tell Lucius or Bellatrix, if they're trying to help Voldemort. Harry probably wouldn't want to tell his parents, because that might make them feel a little weird. And, it would put pressure on them to... well, you know. ;-) 40. This doesn't make any sense! That's why it takes place in an alternative universe. 41. What kind of drugs are you on? It's called being bored in class... 42. Hey, wait! My character wants to play Quidditch, but I don't have a clue what kind of broom s/he should use. Any suggestions? Well, obviously, not a Nimbus 2000 or 2001 or a Firebolt, since those were the newest models in Harry's time. But thankfully the HP Lexicon has researched all this for us. We're going to say any of the following models are available as of November, 1975.
Cleansweep: One, Two, Three, and Four Comet: 140, 180, and 200* Moontrimmer Nimbus: 1000, 1001, 1500, and 1600* Oakshaft 79 Shooting Star Silver Arrow Swiftstick Tinderblast
*Not strictly canon brooms, but the large gaps in both years and model numbers allows us to extrapolate a bit. 43. My character is a known Death Eater, and I want him/her to have received his/her Dark Mark during his 7th year. Is that OK? Unfortunately, no. The mods have decided not to allow any students to become Death Eaters. (We believe Draco was a special case, since his Dark Mark was punishment for Lucius' mistakes.) The reason is, at this point, Voldemort is still trying to keep a low profile, and a large number of his followers gripping their forearms and yelping in pain during lessons is a little conspicuous. He doesn't want to tip Dumbledore off to his gathering followers any sooner than necessary. That said, students who are planning to become Death Eaters can still aid Voldemort and the other Death Eaters while they are in school. Basically, for Voldemort, this is a case of having plausible deniability. If the students set out to help him and succeed, that's great. If they fail spectacularly, he had nothing to do with it. 44. I want to join! How do I apply? The application and the instructions that go with it can be found here. 45. It takes me forever to fill out applications. Can I put a character on hold? Leave a comment here and we'll put the character on hold for one week. Note: Holds can be contested for exceptionally popular characters, and the mods will accept the best application, not necessarily the first submitted. 46. What if I just want to follow the game? You can either friend the individual game journals, bookmark the Game History page, or watch the game through one of our filters. 47. What's the deal with Theodore Nott? It was very important to the founding mod to send back at least one Slytherin who wasn't a Death Eater sympathizer, so our Theodore Nott got elected to be anti-Voldemort. He wasn't really vocal about it and kept his loyalties hidden right up until the fighting started at Hogwarts. He did not want Voldemort to win, however, and he joined the Order in battle, taking on the Death Eaters including his father. This, we believe, also jives with what Rowling has said about Nott on her website: Theodore is a clever loner who does not feel the need to join gangs, including Malfoy's.
The mods took that to mean that Nott didn't feel the need to join the Death Eaters, either. Now, he is a pureblood, and he can be as much of a pureblood supremacist as you, the potential player, want him to be. After all, according to Sirius in GoF, there were lots of people who thought Voldemort had the right idea but weren't happy with the lengths he would go to gain power. Therefore, Nott can be anywhere from a full-on blood traitor/Muggle-lover to someone who hates Muggles and Muggle-borns/Mudbloods but still thinks Voldemort is bad news. 48. You deleted my comment! Why? Probably, but it's really nothing personal. ;-) If the comment was on our held characters entry, we deleted it once your application was processed. Reason being, that page can grow very quickly, and we really don't need a record of your hold after your application has been submitted. If the comment was on our Mod Contact Information page, it was most likely to preserve your privacy (if you left personal information in your comment to us), or because your question was added to this page (the FAQ). 49. You didn't answer my question! Then e-mail us at operation_redo@yahoo.com or send a PM to mods_or. We answered the questions we could think of, but most of these weren't "real" questions, so we're sure there are some things that aren't completely clear.