On my RPG we have four forums (The four Hogwarts common room) which are not password protected. I use to have the password protected but decided against it.
One member thinks we should have them PP but I don't think so. I mean, as long as a Slytherin doesn't directly quote something from the Gryffindor common room then everything's alright, right?

What are your views on password protected forums and what do you think I should do in this situation?

I'd say to poll your members and see how they feel. And, yes, it definitely should be made clear that if your character wasn't there in a thread, or heard about the incident from another character IC, then their character should have no knowledge of what happened. I've never had an issue with it on my forum though.

The only real benefit of having the common rooms being password protected is that it's closer to the books. =/

Some members might be interested to know what's being played out in the other common rooms. I'd say go with whatever the majority of your members want.

For passwords unless the board has something that should be hidden ( like members of a secrect society) I think its up to the players responsiblity to take it on themselves to not have their characters think about what they are reading. I wouldn't put a password on a forum unless there is a better reason then its a common room for a HP RPG.
Normally I will make anything that is for admins or mods just for their eyes and just incase of hackers I put a password on them and once agian for groups that have secrects like a who did it thread, you don't want people to be able to see the posts of the person really doing it, that way once the plots done you can remove the password and everyone sees but during the actual plot no one but you and that person has access :D

Thats my two cents. It comes down to you and your staff. I mean if half your board wants it I would say maybe but I normally would go with the poll and have to have at least 75% of people wanting it either wise you run the risk of having a few very angry people as its a nother password to remember and well that can suck.

I don't even think about that. It can be fun for a board to have password protected forums, but generally such boards are all into the quite structured systems (thinking HP here) so if you're pretty loose with most things and you have password-protected common rooms just because it doesn't fit and there doesn't seem to be a point. I think if someone's going to quote threads they shouldn't know about (ICly, because I don't have a problem with someone breaking the fourth wall) then you've got a bigger problem than whether to use PP forums or not - you've got someone who doesn't understand RPing.

From a technology standpoint, password protection is outdated. Permissions can accomplish this in a much better way.

Having said that, I feel that making a forum accessible only to one group is much up to your prerogative. What's I've usually done is given read permissions in those forums to other membergroups, but give post permissions only to the membergroup that needs it. That way, people can enjoy each other's posts and still not be able to participate like normal.

In that situation, I wouldn't. I mean, it's always find to find out what's going on in a place that your character can't go. I would just have to trust that my members wouldn't Meta game if they do go in a nd read it.

But ya, I'd poll the memers and see what they think. Ultimately, it's your decision, but if there's a strong arguement for something yo udon't agree with, I'd go with the members. Because, after all, you're doing this for them, right? Or am I the only nut that gives the members what they want? :lol:

Hm, on the HP forum I used to own, we had our common rooms password protected. It was always fun to change them to silly things (uganda, diddlywump, glub [the sound a fish makes]) and it was fun to see the house members' reactions to the silly passwords we came up with!

I used to be on a Hogwarts site and the common room passwords were fun. Added the the experience. In the book/movies the commons had passwords. Poor Longbottom. But to put them in the rpg site adds to the fun.

Just my opinion.

I've done a fair bit of thinking about this, and my main concern is you're promoting exclusivity that might seem pretty fun, but people miss out on more than they're privy to. You password protect the House common-rooms and suddenly only the Ravenclaws can read threads within that common-room, but Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Gryffindor and Misc characters cannot read it.

So what happens when character development goes on, or someone has an interesting plot twist, or someone has one of those super awesome threads that everyone would appreciate?

No one else can read it and you run the risk of forcing people to miss out on the writing of others and it doesn't do much to encourage board-wide interest, does it?

I would just be sure to rip the rug out from under someone who used information that took place in any thread where they weren't present/told about, and make sure they understood what the problem was. That way you can just reaffirm in the rules that what goes on in the common rooms stays in the common-rooms unless it was agreed between players that it becomes public knowledge.

I would hate to join a forum where the RPG forums were password protected. It's not fun, it's a book with a chapter ripped out.

You can overcome that by making the passwords easy to guess if you want to. My members are more than welcome to "break in" to the prefect's bathroom, for example, but they're aware their character can get caught (or will be - must expand rules).

I'm still torn on whether I should extend that to the common rooms, though. Right now I'm using permissions.

I ran a Harry Potter board at one point. There's no reason to password protect the forums because half the enjoyment of RPing is being able to show other people your work and read other people's. Canon dictates these rooms are passworded but that doesn't have anything to do with the style or fuction of a board. I suggest listing a 'password' in the forum description and changing it, but not actually passwording it.

Gryffindor
Password: Tempus Fugit
Head of House: Minerva McGonagall

Hufflepuff
Password: Pesky Pixies
Head of House: Pomona Sprout

Ravenclaw
Password: Merlin's Beard
Head of House: Filius Flitwick

Slytherin
Password: Virtuous Vexation
Head of House: Horace Slughorn


Or a description inside the forum: Down the corridor from the kitchen sits the entrance to the Hufflepuff commons. The entrance is located behind a unicorn tapestry, without the password a solid stone wall behind it prevents entrance. The Hufflepuff commonroom is a cozy atrium with a window-domed ceiling, leaving a bright sunny feel in the daytime and a gorgeous open view to the skies at night. The Hufflepuffs opt for a large, friendly ring of comfortable canary chairs and couches. Their fireplace is smaller than those of the other houses since the kitchens are close by and keep the place perfectly warm. A portrait of Helga Hufflepuff hangs on the fall beside a large pegboard, where announcements can be freely posted by members of the house. Deep beneath ground, the Hufflepuff dormitories are entered through two ornately carved stone arches. You must travel through long winding hallways, passing by the years beneath you to find your room. Beware, boys who might want to enter into the girls' side. The founders trusted girls more than boys, so while girls may come and go as they please, but a boy who tries to pass through the arch of the girls' side will find himself firmly rejected by a sliding stone wall, the wall will seal and an alarm sounds. Password: Pesky Pixies

Personally, I don't like password protecting at all. It seems rather exclusive, like you aren't cool enough to have this thread. I prefer playing with the permissions, so that no one else can see the forums and you don't have to worry about people feeling excluded from the action.

I understand the necessity in password protecting some forums, but it's still a little odd to me when there are much better ways of hiding what you don't want people to see.

But with a Harry Potter RP, I don't think password protections are really all that necessary. But like everyone else suggested, I think you should poll your members. Let them have a voice in the decision that way they don't feel even slightly alienated from the staff.

I agree - what ever makes the members happy.
I know that, personally, passwording and all that is really just a bother. It makes people feel left out, gives admins more to do when they're welcoming new members and I tend to forget whatever the word is and simply avoid RPing there. Which isn't good at all at a HP site, because the commons are kind of central to the school.

When it comes to RPing mature things, however, I think it's good to have a board to do so and have the description say what the password is, and by entering that particular part of the site that you know what you're getting yourself into and all that good stuff.

Well, on the forum that I co-admin (it's a Pokemon RPG), there are different teams that members can join. If you've played the games or wtached the anime, you'll recall Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua, etc. We have teams like that. Each of the teams has an HQ forum that's password protected. A fun and vexating activity that the members often do is to try and ugess the rival team's password, so they can find out what they're planning on doing and etc.

I've never actually been on a Harry Potter RPG, so I can't say if the same principle has the ptoential to apply. So, I'll just say this: have a poll and see what the members would prefer. The happier you make your members, the less likely they'll leave :)

But if the password is easy enough for people to guess, then why have one in the first place if you're still making reading the forum an 'option'?

In my experience of roleplaying, every forum needs at least one password protected forum. However, there are both pro's and con's to having password protected forums.

Pro's
-Keeps unwanted user groups out.
-Keeps a bit of peace around the site.
-Somewhat easier management of the board.

Con's
-Having to give out a password to everyone who applies to view a particular forum.
-Having to re-give out passwords if people forget & don't write it down.

So were I you, I would go with a password protection of each of the four common rooms, that way you ensure nobody from another house peeks in and reads what is happening.

It gives the user a sense of satisfaction when they overcome the system. I'm also not just making reading the forum an option. If they can come up with a plausable in character explanation for knowing the password, they can also RP there. This often means they're forced to get other members to co-operate with their plot.

I agree completely.
Like with the Room of Requirement, for instance. It helps give members a goal to work toward. They already know about the Room from the series, but they'll still have to work to figure it out and get in; the same way their character would have to.