Hi everyone!

Since there hasn’t been much interest in the Isolation Plot recently, we’ve moved to discussing how we’re going to bring the clans back together.

To tie together a few different suggestions together, DawnClan is currently sending a patrol to SunClan to tip them off that NightClan has been crossing through their territory. SunClan will begin more heavily patrolling the NightClan border, where we could have some skirmishes. Kingfish will then take a small band of NightClan’s best fighters to SunClan’s camp and kill a few cats, possibly kits and queens. SunClan, having already started considering an alliance with MoonClan, could then go to Sneakstar and ask for support in attacking NightClan. MoonClan, who’ve had their own problems with NightClan recently, will agree to the alliance.

Meanwhile, NightClan doesn’t know that it is DawnClan that originally tipped off SunClan to the invaders and will turn to them for support. DawnClan, who have reason to fear MoonClan and are desperate to regain their lost territory, will accept the alliance with NightClan and possibly attack MoonClan.

If you haven’t already, please look over the previous Plot Planning Blog Entry for all the details of these individual plots, I’ve only presented one way we can string them together and have left out some of the intricacies.

As well, we need to decide what we’re going to do with the spies and whether we’re going to stick with SunClan’s strict culture –which has not been particularly enforced- and DawnClan’s civil war.

Update: The original date provided for the conversion (October 10th) was not accurate. I spoke to Webs today (October 11th) and was told they do not know which wave of conversion this website belongs to.  Unfortunately, this means we will not have any warning for when the conversion will happen. 

Hey guys, it looks like Webs will be going ahead with the migration to Site Builder 3. This website is scheduled to be converted on the 10th, but Webs has assured me that the live website won’t be changed until I publish the new, converted version.

I’ll begin the conversion on the evening of Thursday the 13th, starting first on making the website functional and then fixing its more superficial aspects. The forums will remain open throughout the conversion, so everyone can keep roleplaying and using the site as they normally would. However, the pages may be disorganized for a few hours and features may be shifting around over the next few days as I figure out what works best for the flow of the new website. I’ve backed up all of the pages, so even if something does go wrong in the conversion process, there’s no need to save your characters.

I know some members were concerned about the loss of the shoutboxes and, considering how difficult the website may be to navigate those first few days, I’ve decided to go ahead and use a third party chatbox. If any of you have had good experiences with chatbox hosts, please message me.

I’m going to prioritize getting this website on its feet over the routine updates, so the Friday updates may end up being as much as few days later than usual.

If you have any questions about the conversion, please message me or comment on Webs’ conversion help thread.

Hi everyone!

This October we will continue our tradition of opening StarClan and Dark Forest threads to celebrate Halloween. The threads will be opened the week preceding Halloween (October 24th through November 1st). Other than the exceptions listed below, all other rules of the website apply to these threads.

1. StarClan and Dark Forest cats cannot interact with living cats; events in the StarClan and Dark Forest threads cannot affect the living cats in any way.
2. StarClan and Dark Forest cats can be fully aware of events in the living world and cannot be injured or killed, but cannot have other powers. There can be no prophecies given in StarClan or Dark Forest threads.
3. Members who do not have any StarClan or Dark Forest cats may create one character to play in these threads. Do not post these StarClan or Dark Forest characters to the Character Updates Page.
4. Characters must have belonged to their owner at their time of death, i.e. if a character that originally belonged to you was posted as up for adoption and never claimed, you did not have ownership of them at the time of their removal from the pages and therefore cannot play the character in the StarClan and Dark Forest threads.
5. StarClan and Dark Forest cats remain the rank they were at the time of their death.

In addition to continuing this tradition, Spicy will be organizing an art exchange! This event will be run like a Secret Santa with the theme of paranormal/Halloween. All participants will be randomly assigned to each other and keep their giftee secret until Halloween, when everyone will post their drawings.

Spicy will be posting a picture for sign-ups on the Art Pages later this evening or tomorrow morning. All registrations must be sent in before the 10th. Anyone registering after that is not guaranteed to be matched with a gift-ee, but will be put on a waiting list in case anyone drops out or other members sign up late. On the 10th you will receive your giftee assignment, all drawings must be posted before midnight on Halloween.

Please only sign up if you’re certain you will be able to complete your drawing on time, we don’t want anyone to feel left out when they don’t receive a drawing.

If you have any questions, post them below, Spicy and I will answer them as soon as we get the chance. Happy haunting!

This past August has been pretty big for the site. Our host announced that on October 10th we will be moved to Site Builder 3. While the migration isn’t ideal, our roleplaying shouldn’t be interrupted. For more information, see the Site Builder Update blog entry.

In game, we’ve seen shifts in leadership in each of the clans as Aspenstar died, Chugaistar left the clans, Oriolestar was assassinated, and Icestar took responsibility for SunClan during Darkstar’s imprisonment. DawnClan has hit their lowest point as a significant chunk of their territory was lost to MoonClan, straining their warriors to find already scarce prey. In the coming month, we plan on extending the spy plots. In the last few days there’s been some talk about ending the isolation, so be sure to check out the Isolation Plot Planning III blog entry to weigh in on the debate!

Thank you to Shadecloud for suggesting this month’s Monthly Meow way back in July. We’re going to be doing another question game! I’ve gathered 25 odd little questions for y’all to answer in the comments below and look forward to seeing your answers!

1. Something about you that most people don't know?
2. Are you listening to music right now? If so, what?
3. Do you sing in the shower?
4. When I dance, I look like…
5. What is your biggest pet peeve?
6. What movie deserves a sequel?
7. Strangest childhood injury?
8. What is the funniest prank ever played on you, or played by you?
9. Have any weird fears?
10. One word to describe yourself?
11. Any weird or hidden talents?
12. Are you a leftie or a rightie? Both? Bonus points if you know your dominant eye!
13. Funniest YouTube video (or anything else) you’ve seen recently?
14. What would you consider to be the scariest children’s movie you ever seen?
15. Favorite type of sandwich?
16. One word to describe your computer ability?
17. What supply in your house always runs low, and no one ever remembers to buy? (paper towels, batteries, lightbulbs, whatever)
18. Any weird fears?
19. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
20. Harry Potter house, Divergent faction, Warriors clan, and such?
21. If you had to eat a raccoon, how would you cook it?
22. How long do you think you’d last in a zombie apocalypse?
23. Do you like your handwriting? Describe it!
24. Are there some words you always have trouble pronouncing?
25. What are you supposed to be doing right now?

MoonClan

Apprentices:

Smallkit: Early October

Breezykit, Adderkit, Splatterkit, Tigerkit: Mid October

Swirlingkit, Tornadokit, Ivorykit, Dragonkit, Coyotekit, Batkit: Late October

Warriors:

Lavenderpaw, Rosepaw, Solarpaw, Iciclepaw, Dancingpaw, Russetpaw, Lionpaw: Early October

Honeypaw, Wolfpaw: Mid October

Mulberrypaw, Lilypaw, Inkeri: Late October

Elders: Sneakstar, Mallowfoot, Nightmist

NightClan

Apprentices:

Daisykit, Ebonykit, Izzakit, Waterkit: Early October

Raidkit, Kingkit, Sugarkit, Agusta A, Cleopatra S, Sleeping Fawn, Halfkit, Masonki: Mid October

Threekit, Fishkit, Singingkit, Fast Running Cheetah, Prussia, Georgian, Walking Bear, Jadekit, Belarus, Sleeping Badger, Hummingbird Wings, Little Running Wolf: Late October

Warriors:

Thistlepaw, Starkpaw, Zephyranthpaw, Blazingpaw, Rainingpaw, Lilacpaw, Sergalpaw, Murderpaw, Ravenpaw: Early October

Deaths: Deep-pond, Risinglily

DawnClan

Apprentices:

Shrikekit, Flamekit, Fightingkit, Lochnesskit, Quietkit, Shiningkit, Lakekit, Summerkit, Finalkit, Coloredkit, Gazingkit, Taintedkit, Nightkit, Cloudkit, Visionkit: Early October

Reedkit, Snowkit: Mid October

Briar Rose: Late October

Warriors:

Covepaw, Muninn, Silverpaw, Springpaw, Palepaw: Early October

Temptingpaw, Hyenapaw, Frostpaw, Ashpaw, Apricotpaw, Pebblepaw, Talonpaw: Late October

Elders: Flamestar, Sageburn

Deaths: Winterstorm

SunClan

Apprentices:

Buzzardkit, Featherkit, Tallkit, Socks, Sootkit, Sedgekit, Shadowkit, Bramblekit: Early October

Mountainkit, Mothkit, Honeykit, Nightkit: Mid October

Sparrowkit, Mintkit, Cinderkit, Palacekit: Late October

Warriors:

Cottonpaw, Ask, Frozenpaw, Blankpaw, Lavenderpaw: Early October

Foxpaw, Medianpaw, Arachnidpaw, Grandpaw, Snakepaw: Mid October

Willow, Potatopaw, Warpaw, Ivypaw, Tungstenpaw: Late October

Deaths: Blackclaw

Hi guys,

Webs, our host, recently announced that all websites on Site Builder 2 will be converted to Site Builder 3 on October 10th.

The shift to the new site builder will bring a few unfortunate changes with it. We are going to have to abandon the current layout of the website. I hope to keep the general theme and color scheme together, however my biggest goals will be to simply make an attractive, easy to navigate website, so the design may change more dramatically. We will not have a sidebar on several of our application pages, such as the forums and art page. Unfortunately, this may cause a jump in bandwidth use as members will have to go to other pages to find recent forum posts. Among smaller changes, the members page will be more difficult to access and we will have to abandon the home page chatboxes or move to third party hosts for them. Updates will take significantly longer, as the editing features themselves are unwieldy and bug-ridden.

While Webs has stated that website owners cannot move back their migration date or withdraw entirely, several other site owners and I are hoping to convince them to return to voluntary Site Builder transfers.

The owner of Warrior Cats Online has created a petition outlining Site Builder 3’s weaknesses and urging Webs to allow websites to remain on Site Builder 2. The petition can be found here.

Additionally, you can contact Webs directly through the email [email protected], their help forums, the customer service line 877-611-3285, or their various social media accounts (Facebook, twitter). If Webs does decide to push the migration forward, we may be able to convince them to introduce the missing features from Site Builder 2, such as the shoutboxes and universal sidebars. To suggest these changes, you can contact Webs directly, or use the request features portion of their help pages.

Please keep all interactions with Webs civil and err on the side of formal. They’re most likely to respond positively if you clearly outline what you want changed, are polite, and use your best grammar.

-Ember

Hi everyone! If you haven’t already, please review the Planned Events portion of the History Page.

In our last plot planning entry, we decided to have the MoonClan/DawnClan battle take place this coming weekend (September 2nd-4th). However, we need to plan how we are going to escalate a skirmish between rogue DawnClaners and a MoonClan patrol to a large battle including the majority of both clans.

There are some more plot ideas that have been floating around for a while but need to be fleshed out, such as when the MoonClan spies are discovered in DawnClan, what will the chain of events be that lead DawnClan to send out spies of their own, and then the other clans to follow suit? As well, what are we doing with the prisoners NightClan has taken? My assumption would be that the other clans will take NightClan prisoners and attempt to trade hostages. However, we could have the other clans attack NightClan if the kidnapping continues, or if NightClan refuses to give up their prisoners in return for the captured NightClanners.

There have been a few plot elements that have been neglected lately, so I’d like to remind everyone that NightClan should be shifting into a violent, eager-to-prove-themselves mindset, while SunClan becomes very strict and single-minded in the pursuit of building up their clan’s strength. Incorporating these ideas into your cats’ day-to-day interactions will help push things forward much more than individual “larger” plot points will.

Aspenstar and Poppystar will both be retiring this month, how do we want to handle that?  Spicy, Lilywish, would you like them to retire, be killed, or...?

Hello everyone! It’s been a pretty dramatic August around the site, with tensions building in DawnClan, growing suspicions in MoonClan, and SunClan having to confront their own inability to rescue their own leader. MoonClan spies have just been sent to DawnClan and soon will be discovered, prompting the other clans to build a net of spying and suspicion.

For this Monthly Meow, I’ll be updating Monthly Meow XXXV to include all of our current leaders. However, before we jumps straight into the leader descriptions, I’d like to remind everyone that characters are not their roleplayers and a bad note about a leader says nothing about their roleplayer’s abilities. There is no such thing as a “perfect” leader, and if there were I wouldn’t want them in power. For the plot to work, we need leaders to make bad choices, who are unable to effectively control their clan, who have things not go the way they planned, who may not be suited for the leadership position and are unable to handle what was handed to them. It makes them more interesting and realistic characters, and progresses the plot. Amazing role-players can write fantastic characters, who also happened to be terrible leaders. Thank you so much to the fantastic team of moderators who edited this!

While many MoonClanners were relieved by the prospect of the kind and predictable Jaybird as their leader after Toxicstar’s occasionally tumultuous rule, the clan’s perception of her steadily declined. Her lack of experience lead to a number of disastrous decisions and as their war with NightClan dragged onward and she became pregnant, the clan lost what what remained of their respect for her. When she was killed by a NightClan patrol, Eclipsestar came into power. She was an uncontroversial, if generally unremarkable, cat. As Weepingtiger’s influence over the clan had blossomed over the latter parts of Jaystar’s rule, Eclipsestar had little actual power over the clan and functioned mainly as the administrative head of the clan, organizing patrols and overseeing other day to day tasks. What little power she initially had only waned as time went on and Weepingtiger eventually demoted her and made himself leader. Weepingstar was easily one of the most ambitious and driven cats ever played on this website. He was uncompromising and charismatic, two traits that gave him the support of his desperate clan and allowed him to drastically change the clan’s structure. Steadfast and self righteous, he was certain that his authority was StarClan given and that, mixed with his fixation on the far future, caused him to believe that any action he took, no matter how horrid, was justified. However, his devotion to his ideals lead to his downfall as he made a series of increasingly drastic and controversial decisions, such as capturing kits and apprentices from enemy clans in an effort to convert them to belief in StarClan and assassinating his most vocal opponents. Geckospots lead the resistance against Weepingstar’s regime and was eventually successful in destroying his hold over the clan. While she was something of a renowned grouch, she earned respect for her compassion and steadfast nature. The transition into a traditional leadership structure was not easy for MoonClan and Geckostar was criticized by both sides for banishing Weepingstar and his most radical supporters and allowing “guards” from the other clan to aid in MoonClan’s recovery. As MoonClan slowly healed, Geckostar stepped down and power shifted to Rosestar, a strong-willed and moderate leader. Her leadership was marked by small successes and failures, a departure from the more dramatic events of previous leaderships. She maintained an uneasy peace with NightClan and held their clan together following the flood. Aspenstar’s initial leadership style reflected Rosestar’s, with his first major decision involving moving his clan into isolation in order to avoid a war. He proved to be a level-headed and honest cat, if prone to bouts of stubbornness. However, as time passed and what little information MoonClan had about the condition of other clans grew increasingly dire, he made the decision to send spies into the other clans. His clan began to doubt him and in turn, he began to distrust his own deputy.

NightClan had thrived under Frozenstar’s rule, defeating MoonClan and DawnClan again and again, even after the enemy clans found a cure to a plague affecting all of the clans. While Lynxstar was instrumental to Frozenstar’s rule by organizing much of the clan’s day to day operations and even leading the clan to battle without Frozenstar, many NightClanners worried that she did have the insight and decisiveness to be an effective leader. She seemed to confirm these fears when she named Coldstar, an outspoken and active cat, as her deputy, and many cats assumed that he would be making all major decisions. However, rather than ceding power to her deputy, she cowed to MoonClan’s demands by mandating all cats believe in StarClan and follow the Warrior Code, and delivering kits and young apprentices to be trained in MoonClan. When Lynxstar retired, Coldstar revoked these rules and promised to fight for the return of their kits and warriors. Noteworthy for his unforgiving, volatile, and arrogant nature, he was an unconventional leader, doing things such as welcoming gang connections into the clan to bulk up their numbers, but remained relatively popular throughout his rule. Lionstar is somewhat unique among NightClan leaders in that his strength did not lie in his ferocity and cruelty, but rather inhis cunning and charisma. He was ambitious and involved in the politics of the clans from a young age, which allowed him to gain the respect of cats both within and outside of NightClan and eventually lead to him being named NightClan’s deputy. As the leader, he continued to use his superb perception and negotiation skills to maneuver his clan out of danger, however he made little lasting impact on the clan as a whole because he was more involved in his own personal life than the day to day activities of his clan mates, and made only miniscule changes to NightClan’s longstanding structure.. Poppystar’s transition to power was fated to be turbulent from the start, as even less than a moon of her rule during Lionstar’s absence had pushed the clan onto the edge of revolt. She was a volatile and brutal cat, her one saving grace that she took little personal involvement in the day to day affairs of the clan and thus gave them no reason to resent her rule. Slowly the clan adjusted to her violent ideals and with her encouragement, became more gang-like. By announcing a new code that promoted a gang-like lifestyle, the clan became rabid in their attempts to prove their strength and ferocity.

Burntstar’s rule of DawnClan was characterized by practicality and the same could be said of Willowstar, who ruled for only a short, relatively quiet period of time during a plague. She made few instrumental decisions, which, while it didn’t save her clan from the catastrophes to come, few of them put her clan in a significantly worse position either. Lotus-star followed this trend of largely unremarkable leaders. Despite starting her rule as a bold, assertive warrior, she was pushed aside by Dawnswallow, but even before then she took little interest in the day to day activities of her clan. Locuststar, however, broke free of this mold and has been DawnClan’s most unusual leader. While Hawkstar and other defining leaders had a nurturing, peaceful disposition, Locuststar was stern, bigoted, and occasionally even ruthless. While the clan flocked toward him following Dawnswallow’s fall, his unusual traits turned them against him and in his place Echostar, nearly his exact opposite, was put into power. Echostar was soft-hearted and well-intentioned, but her naivety and inexperience meant that she was in far over her head. Her popularity, like Locuststar’s, declined throughout her rule and she was eventually chased out just as he was. Oriolestar was placed next on the increasingly precarious highrock, and enjoyed no initial burst of popularity. Her kindness was used against her, as decisions to allow new cats into a clan that could not support itself with it’s territory’s meager prey, began to accuse her of being disloyal to her clanmates and easily cowed into avoiding hard choices.

Not wanting to follow Goldenstar’s relaxed leadership style, Quickstar attempted throughout his rule to show his strength and actively participate in clan life. However, his inexperience and occasionally childish attitude caused him to have difficulty controlling his clan from the start. As his leadership style developed, he went back and forth from bullying the clan, to being cowed by their demands and criticism. While Quickstar’s heart what in the right place and many of his ideas were sound, the pressure from within even his most trusted advisors, including his own deputy, made his attempt a failure. Epochstar took to Quickstar’s activity in the clan, but made a more graceful transition into the leadership position and remained respected by his clan for the duration of his rule, even through trying times such as The Flood. He was a largely uncontroversial leader and earned a degree of admiration from Geckostar and other cats of enemy clans. Darkstar’s leadership style was similar to Epochstar’s: he was intensely devoted to his clan and involved in their day to day activities, but less bound by tradition. He found the decline in the clan’s commitment to the code and their customs disturbing and enacted more harsh policies to bring the clan back to their roots.

MoonClan:

Apprentices:

Cottonkit, Slenderkit, Copperkit, Sleepingkit, Tinykit, Leaf, Moon: Early September

Bonekit, Charkit, Somberkit, Pinekit, Viperkit, Nightkit, Dawnkit, Alderkit, Tortoisekit, Rowankit, Mousekit, Lucidkit, Deathkit, Dreamkit, Dark-kit, Dusk-kit, Stormkit, Wrenkit, Twistedkit, Lunakit, Russetkit: Mid September

Aspenkit, Woodenkit, Winterkit, Baritonekit, Wanderingkit, Silentkit: Late September

Warriors:

Leviathanpaw: Late September

Elders: Aspenstar, Enchantingsong

Deaths: Cricketchaser

NightClan:

Apprentices:

Dagrun, Hildr, Hall, Foresti, Kirk, Rania, Scar, Talon: Early September

Redkit: Mid September

Waterkit, Goldenkit: Late September

Warriors:

Driedpaw, Hickorypaw, Irispaw: Early September

Opossumpaw, Mothpaw: Late September

Elders: Poppystar, Deep-pond, Strongsoul, Sunwhispers, Mintvenom, Risinglily

DawnClan:

Apprentices:

Lochkit, Arctickit, Rushingkit, Coalkit, Cinderkit, Lakekit: Mid September

Warblerkit, Vireokit, Kingletkit, Wrenkit, Starlingkit, Pipitkit, Smokekit, Sootkit, Cypresskit, Sunkit, Morningkit, Waterkit, Thiefkit, Angelkit: Late September

Warriors:

Deathpaw, Darkpaw, Faminepaw, Twistedpaw, Deathpaw, Blossompaw, Tsunamipaw, Halopaw, Alienpaw, Marshpaw, Krakenpaw, Crabpaw, Floodpaw, Hurricanepaw, Lakepaw: Early September

Pumapaw, Tornadopaw, Fishpaw: Mid September

Elders: Skeletonfury, Molasses-strike, Winterstorm

Death: Seraphgaze

SunClan:

Apprentices:

Dragonfly, Canoot, Butterfly: Early September

Aspenkit, Chipmunk: Mid September

Warriors:

Set, Osiris, Warpaw, Horus, Cinderpaw, Blurrypaw, Aerialpaw, Thoth, Anubis, Ingmar: Early September

Cottonpaw: Mid September

Ask, Sagepaw, Frozenpaw: Late September

Medicine Cat Apprentice: Riverpaw (Mid September Ceremonies)

Elders: Blackclaw, Nocturnalsight

Deaths: Bluegaze, Piketooth

Hi y’all! It’s been a pretty exciting July, with the plot suddenly jumping into action in DawnClan and the stricter style of leadership beginning to ruffle feathers in SunClan. In order to help this along, a Planned Events section was added to the history page to save members from wading through often confusing pages of the Plot Planning Page and trying to figure out what is going on if they get behind. MoonClan’s spies to NightClan and SunClan are beginning to settle in and the NightClan patrol that will be aiding a cigarette-caused fire in DawnClan has been started.

As I’ll be starting college this August, if you have any suggestions for how to improve the website, don’t hesitate to send them in now. I don’t know what my schedule will turn out to be, so these next few weeks might be the last chance I have to create any new features for a while. Keeping with that theme, expect a lot of page cleaning and other updates over the next three weeks.

Thank you to Riversoul for suggesting this month’s topic: the history of the website. Of course, I couldn’t even begin to cover all of the changes this website has undergone in the past seven years in one short blog entry, so if you’re interested in something I skipped over, I can answer any questions in the comments below.

Silverwing introduced me to the warrior novels and while I didn’t care for them at first, before long I couldn’t get enough. I started roleplaying in the summer of 2008 and quickly dragged her in with me. We spent that summer and fall roleplaying on the same website, which, as far as I knew, was one of the only five or six interconnected roleplays that made up the entirety of warrior cats roleplaying. Around the winter of 2008-2009, the owner of that first roleplay left and the website quickly fell into disrepair. Silverwing and I grew frustrated with the lack of updating and rule enforcement and decided, on a whim, to make a website of our own.

On Jan 16th, 2009 we published Warrior Cats of the Forests with only one original clan, MoonClan, and showed it to our friend Wolfshadow. She brought in another friend and for the first few weeks, it was just us four. Over time a few other members joined, but rarely were active or stayed for long. At this point, the website was still very simple: a few threads, one clan page, the art and video pages, member’s page, and the Character Updates Page (just called the guestbook at that time), and, of course, the forums. There was no planned plot, all of our roleplaying was devoted to the day to day lives of MoonClan’s ten to twenty cats.

By 2010, a whole new wave of members joined and the plot was suddenly jump-started with BoneClan making their first clear appearance. We added pages for loners and BoneClan/RiverClan, and changed the look of the website to something similar to its current appearance, just with a blue color scheme instead of a brown one.

Around the time of Sharkstar’s death, Silverwing made the decision to leave the website to put her increasingly scarce free time toward other interests and I took over ownership of the website on my own. A few months after she left I took on my first team of administrators, including Waterdrop and Sunken. The website grew steadily for another two years, with members coming and going. Hawkstar’s War was fought during this time, ending in the creation of NightClan. StormClan was merged into MoonClan, returning the website to having only two clans.

During the winter of 2012-2013 the number of members had begun to drop as those first two waves of primarily real-life friends began to move on to other hobbies. As my schedule grew busier, I began to have trouble keeping up with the website and decided to change up how things were organized. In order to keep the pages up to date, I instituted an aging system that is very similar to the one we use today, expanded the types of updates included on the Character Updates Page, created the month-long seasons that we use today, and started including ceremony lists in the Monthly Meows. In order to compensate for the lack of members, the number of allowed characters was raised and DawnClan was created.

By early spring, roleplaying was noticeably slowing down and Sunken and I began to advertise on other roleplaying sites for the first time. Progress was frustratingly slow; it seemed that for each member we were recruiting, two old members were leaving the site. For the first time in its history, the possibility of the site simply dying of inactivity began to loom.

Just when we were beginning to accept that the WCF’s best days were behind us, we were slammed by a sudden wave of members in June 2013. However thankful I initially was, I quickly began to feel overwhelmed by the growth. While in the past I’d been easily able to read every post and knew every character pretty well, the forums and Character Updates Page were flooded with new entries and for the first time, I felt like I wasn’t able to keep up with everything. The rules were expanded and at the end of that summer, our first team of moderators was built to help Sunken, Waterstar, and I manage the website. An information and history page were added, with much of the same content that they still hold today. By this point, the website had settled into its current look, only changing the color scheme for a brief time around the winter holidays.

To cope with the sudden influx of cats into the three clans that existed at this time, SunClan was created. While registrations slowed after a while, at the end of that summer I decided to close registrations for the first time. While that August registrations were only closed for short periods of time, as time passed registrations were opened less frequently.

At the beginning of 2014, the dedicated chat and advertisement boxes were created, the maps were expanded to include many of the landmarks we have today, and the adoption system was smoothed over and became actually useful for the first time. Plot planning became a more inclusive affair, with different blog entries created solely for the purpose of putting the plot together. In March, we had our first clan demographics overview.

While the plot moved more rapidly than it ever had in the past, 2014-2015 proved to be a relatively stable period for the website. A few small organizational changes were made, largely behind the scenes, and the guides became a much more prominent part of the website. By 2016, the website’s growth had slowed until the number of members was held fairly constant. The History and Information Pages were reorganized and a Help Page was added, alongside a number of small changes surrounding the appearance of the website.

MoonClan

Medicine Cat Apprentice: Angelpaw (Early August)

Apprentices:

Palekit, Rosekit, Radiantkit, Ivorykit, Pitchkit, Solarkit, Whitekit, Melonkit, Iciclekit, Demonkit, Dancingkit, Russetkit, Lionkit, Shatteredkit, Hollowkit: Early August

Honeykit, Wolfkit: Mid August

Inkeri, Vali, Hoth: Late August

Warriors:

Pandapaw, Turtlepaw, Warriorpaw, Jackalpaw, Embla, Leif, Brand, Geri: Early August

Sharp-paw, Sunpaw: Mid-August

Spottedpaw: Late August

Elders: Cricketchaser

Deaths: Melodychant

NightClan

Medicine Cat Apprentice: Iciclepaw (Early August)

Apprentices:

Peregrinekit, Wrenkit, Iciclekit, Wildkit, Pinekit, Lavenderkit, Thistlekit, Stark-kit, Zephyranthkit, Blazingkit, Rainingkit, Lilackit, Sergalkit, Murderkit, Ravenkit: Early August

Torn: Mid August

Freki, Tove, Dagrun, Bryndis, Jerrik, Hildr, Jari, Sylvi, Eira, Hall, Foresti, Kirk, Rania: Late August

Warriors:

Myvarr, Sunpaw, Thayvarr, Lostpaw, Wolfpaw, Weaselpaw, Masonpaw, Heatherpaw: Mid August

Driedpaw, Jaggedpaw: Late August

Deaths: Ebonyclaw

DawnClan

Medicine Cat Apprentice: Cloudpaw (Early August)

Apprentices:

Warmkit, Covekit, Ylva, Tyra, Sven, Dag, Cobaltkit, Muninn, Silverkit, Springkit, Palekit, Emptykit: Early August

Ashkit, Apricotkit: Late August

Warriors:

Maskedpaw, Koipaw, Dancingpaw, Survivingpaw: Mid August

Fluffypaw: Late August

Elders: Seraphgaze, Eveningrose

Deaths: Badgersplash

SunClan

Apprentices:

Bubblekit, Claykit, Blank-kit: Early August

Violetkit, Mediankit, Arachnidkit, Grandkit, Scrape, Snakekit, Fox-kit: Mid August

Warkit, Ivykit, Tungestenkit: Late August

Warriors:

Pearlpaw, Lionpaw, Amethystpaw, Burntpaw, Jaguarpaw, Aurorapaw, Mustangpaw, Eveningpaw, Littlepaw, Morningpaw, Desertpaw, Lambpaw, Agatepaw, Jadepaw, Hurricanepaw, Viperpaw, Reedpaw, Ravenpaw: Early August

Brindlepaw, Oceanpaw, Tundrapaw, Stonepaw: Mid August

Tigerpaw, Qilinpaw, Wendigopaw: Late August

Elders: Bluegaze, Piketooth

Deaths: Running-grain, Sorrelspot, Yuccathorn

Hello! This past June has been spent setting up the isolation arc and getting to know a handful of new members. Memberships are still open but registrations have slowed, so it would be a great help if y’all would invite your friends to the site or help me advertise.

The isolation plot has gotten off to a slow start, but hopefully we’ll be able to move things along this coming July. MoonClan will face few problems of their own initially, however when rumors spread about what is happening in the other clans they will start sending spies. These actions will be justified as promoting stability, however will ultimately prompt the other clans to send in spies to cripple the other clans. In NightClan, Poppystar will be adopting a cruel, tyrannical leadership style and encourage her warriors to be fiercer to promote NightClan as the strongest clan. To prove that they’re the strongest, NightClan will be sabotaging the other clans. DawnClan will have their loyalties split between Echostar and Seraphgaze, who will focus on acceptance and loyalty, respectively. They will face food shortages caused by NightClan’s tampering that will be exacerbated by a growth in their clan population caused by accepting new members who have fled from the other clans. SunClan will become far stricter and creat a new rank of “Head Warriors” to assist the leader and deputy in keeping the clan in line, in response to the various issues caused by a general lack of discipline among their ranks. The Plot Planning Page has more details; if you haven’t already I highly suggest that you read it over.

While reviewing the survey responses in May, I discovered that there are a few features of the website that many members don’t know about, on top of resources that new members usually have to be told about, rather than discovering them on their own. With this Monthly Meow I’ll hopefully be able to clear up some confusion or tell you about a feature you didn’t know existed.

First off are the guides (found at the top of the Help Page). While almost everyone knows that we do have guides, I often find that members don’t make use of them. If you haven’t already, be certain to skim over them, even if you think you don’t need to. All of these guides were created in response to a member request or to answer commonly asked questions, so there is bound to be something you didn’t know before

The Update Log is a fairly recent addition to the website, created in December, and is exactly what it sounds like: a log of every update including basic clan, information, and help page updates, clan list updates, full mentor-apprentice updates, history page, calendar, art page, new members removed, page cleaning— if you ever want to know when a resource was last updated or touched up this is the place to go. Links to the Update Log can be found on the Character Updates Page and under the Guides section of the Help Page.

The Helpful Links section of the Help Page is another easily overlooked resource. Here, I put links to outside websites with useful information about the Warriors universe and roleplaying that aren’t specific to this website. Here you’ll find everything from guides to the different herbs that medicine cats use, to pelt color and pattern guides, to warrior name generators. It’s certainly worth a look over! As well, if you ever find a website that you think would be helpful to other members, you can send the link to me and I’ll add it to that section.

The mentor-apprentice list is a somewhat hard to find feature, tucked in at the bottom of the information page and is occasionally referred to the somewhat confusing name of “mentor-apprentice page” despite not being its own separate page. This is another fairly self-explanatory feature, where every apprentice is listed with their mentor.

When new members join the site, they’re often confused about what season the website is, as unlike many other roleplays we don’t have a section of the sidebar detailing the season and weather. However, we do have the seasons listed on the Help Page. The seasons rotate each month, with the current month and season bolded on the seasons list.

As well as these lesser known features, I have a handful of tips for navigating the website.

Firstly, and possibly the most life changing, is just a keyboard shortcut. CTRL+F (CMD+F if you’re on a mac) will allow you to type in and search a specific word or phrase on the page that you’re on. This is immensely helpful if you’re looking for a specific character on the clan or history pages, and is a life-saver if you’re trying to track down a specific post on the Character Updates Page.

You can organize artwork on the art page not just by album, but by how recently the art has been posted. Click “Recent Art” on the side bar, then between the albums themselves and the top paragraph explaining the art rules there is a lighter-colored bar. To the far right of this bar, there are two buttons that allow you to either sort art by how recent it is or how many comments it has. Hit “Recently Added” and you’ll be brought to a page showing all of the artwork on the site from most to least recent. This is very helpful if you’re a member who likes to comment on most work, as you don’t have to wait for new work to show up on the sidebar or look through individual albums to find new pieces to comment on.

You might have noticed that about a year ago, the News Page shifted from showing the entirety of all blog entries, to only showing the first paragraph of so of each. This change was intended to make it easier to scroll through and find a specific news entry, but can be annoying if you’re, say, looking for a specific ceremony listing and don’t want to click through every Monthly Meow. You can open the blogs back up fully by going to the News Page (either by clicking the News link on the navigation bar or the Recent News link on the side bar), then locating the search bar at the top of the page. To the right of the search bar, you will find a small button that gives you viewing options. Hit “full”, which will revert the page back to showing the entirety of all the entries, then you can scroll or CTRL+F your way to whatever you needed to find.

One feature that I get a lot of complaints about is email notifications. If you’re still getting pesky emails whenever someone comments on your page or sends you a private message, you can go to “Edit Profile” under the Members Area of the side bar, click “notification preferences”, then uncheck the box and hit submit. Ta-da! Spam free email.

Lastly, there have been some occasions where members who want to leave the site can’t figure out how to do it. If you find yourself in this situation, go to “Edit Profile” under the Members Area of the side bar, click “edit account”, then click the red minus button beside this website’s URL.

Hopefully this Monthly Meow has helped you navigate the website or informed you of some features you didn’t know about before! If you have any tips that I didn’t cover here, or had difficulty finding a feature that I didn’t mention, please comment below. Maybe y’all can show me something new!

MoonClan

Apprentices:

Leviathankit: Late July

Warriors:

Duskpaw, Hephaestus, Firstpaw, Eveningpaw, Armada, Honeypaw: Early July

Arrowpaw, Cragpaw, Tayen’lou: Mid July

Peachpaw: Late July

Elders: Melodychant

NightClan

Apprentices:

Gildedkit, Majestickit, Charmingkit, Iriskit, Lionesskit, Islekit, Asterkit, Cinderkit, Blurrykit, Aerialkit: Early July

Cottonkit: Mid July

Opossumkit , Mothkit , Kara: Late July

Warriors:

Surjeon, Tidalpaw, Scarletpaw, Shadowpaw, Hades, Lakepaw, Ares, Toxicpaw, Quickpaw, Lionpaw, Coldpaw, Goldenpaw, Phantompaw, Crimsonpaw: Early July

Rippledpaw: Mid July

Halfpaw, Gandalf, Helheim, Vanaheim, Sunstone, Sundew, Dogpaw, Sunbird, Jotunheim, Goldenpaw, Toxicpaw, Fallenpaw, Nightpaw, Cherrypaw, Violentpaw, Frostpaw, Panther, Bloodypaw, Ravenpaw: Late July

Elders: Ebonyclaw

Deaths: Blackpine

DawnClan

Apprentices:

Deathkit, Dark-kit, Twistedkit, Blossomkit, Tsunamikit, Avalanchekit, Halokit, Moonkit, Alienkit, Marshkit, Krakenkit, Crabkit, Floodkit, Hurricanekit, Rainykit, Troutkit, Salmonkit, Lakekit, Oceankit: Early July

Pumakit, Fishkit, Tornadokit, Bjorn, Uffe , Magnus, Lagertha: Mid July

Warriors:

Skeletonpaw, Spookypaw, Blitzpaw, Mammothpaw, Whitepaw, Noblepaw, Oathpaw, Angelicpaw, Brightpaw, Divinepaw, Sacredpaw, Scarypaw: Early July

Purepaw, Alphapaw, Kingdompaw, Bravepaw, Justpaw, Shadepaw, Ladybugpaw: Mid July

Pinepaw, Oddpaw, Captivatingpaw, Twopaw, Luminouspaw, Seventhpaw: Late July

Elders: Badgersplash

Deaths: Nightshadetalon

SunClan

Apprentices:

Osiris, Set, Warkit, Horus, Faminekit, Ra, Deathkit, Apophis, Ptah: Early July

Gala, Valen, Ingmar, Arnthor, Ivar, Ask, Garm: Mid July

Warriors:

Berrypaw: Mid July

Pigpaw, Crowpaw, Thymepaw, Streampaw: Late July

Medicine Cat: Swanpaw (Mid July)

Elders: Running-grain, Yuccathorn, Sorrelspot

Deaths: Hallowroar

Hey guys! In the last two Plot Planning Pages we’ve discussed a lot of good ideas, however we haven’t decided how these ideas will fit together into a one story line:

Two-legs may begin poisoning prey, which the clans mistake for planned attacks by enemy clans.

Blackpine will be killed by Seraphgaze, prompting Lionstar to seek revenge. However, he does not want to be seen openly attacking and orders his warriors to stalk along the border and look for discreet ways to undermine DawnClan’s security. While walking along the border, the NightClan patrol discovers a small fire caused by a cigarettes thrown from a car and help fuel the fire before returning to their territory.

The fire plot is related to potentially polluting the river, but he ash itself wouldn't be the main polluter, as the fire would stay relatively small and not burn down whole trees, mainly lower-growing plants and leaf litter. We can just use it to cause an algal bloom, then the resulting fallout from that. We can exaggerate the following fish kill, which NightClan could use to their advantage, even if it’s a consequence they didn't originally expect. As well, ideas have been thrown about involving NightClan polluting the water in other ways, possibly with two-leg trash or even with the bodies of other dead cats and prey.

Riversoul and Alienfish brought up the possibility of clans bringing in spies, possibly beginning with apprentices in meetings and later escalating to clans sending in cats pretending to be changing clans. As these spies are found, a witch-hunt may begin among the clans as they attempt to root out other potential spies among cats who had recently joined the camp.

Toxic and I have also been tossing back and forth a few ideas of where to carry this plot, focusing on SunClan:

SunClan can become a scapegoat for the apprentices meeting up and the other problems that have been occurring between the clans, a sentiment that will be particularly strong in NightClan. Today, Lightningdance and Leopard-dance took their kits to the Gathering Clearing to show them to their friend, Nightfall. Hel, a SunClanner, caused accidentally caused their three kits to die. A fight broke out, witnessed by Darkstar and a SunClan patrol originally sent to bring back Aloepaw. Lionstar hears of the kits’ death and decides to pin some additional murders on SunClan and may try and convince MoonClan and DawnClan to put SunClan “back in its place”. This acts as a departure from total isolation, however we can approach the alliance as only temporary.

The three clans can attack SunClan, which will force their leadership to crack down on their members to ensure the other clans can’t pin any more trouble on the SunClan. At the most dramatic, this could entail both Darkstar and Zenithrose being killed and a tyrannical cat taking control, or we can take a more moderate approach by having the existing leadership begin to very strictly enforce rules to keep their cats in line. Halo, Command, would you be willing to have your characters removed from their positions or dramatically change their leadership style?

So, we need to decide how to stitch this all into a coherent plot and build a rough time-line for everything. As summer has started and most of our members will be on vacation, I expect a jump in activity over the next few months, so we should be keeping the plot moving fairly quickly to keep everything interesting, but still slowly enough to allow room for side plots.

I’d like to thank everyone again who filled out May’s member survey, the results have been invaluable in helping me determine which features members find most helpful and what around the roleplay needs to be improved. A whole bunch of changes and additions are in store based on member responses!

Firstly, a handful of small changes have been made. A hyperlink to the update log was added to the Character Updates Page, the Information Page has been reorganized and the Helpful Links section has been expanded, the forums were reorganized, and the rule regarding grammar and roleplaying formatting was split into two separate rules for the sake of clarity.

The mentor-apprentice lists (found on the Information Page) will be updated more regularly. Leaders, please remember to assign mentors to mentor-less apprentices with each batch of ceremonies you post.

Also, thank you to everyone who filled out the name change survey, I hadn’t realized how much demand there was for a change in the current system. Starting today, names that have not been in use for over a year and are not listed on the history page may be reused.

For our second big change, the adoption system is being extended to include character transfers directly from one roleplayer to another. When two members have discussed transferring a character, the character’s current owner will post “___ of ___Clan is being transferred to [new owner]” to the Character Updates Page and the new owner will confirm the transfer by posting “I am claiming ___ of ___Clan”. Adoption rules will apply, so leaders and deputies cannot be transferred. As well, a character’s original owner may reclaim a character at any time before they are claimed by their new owner. After a character is claimed by its new owner, the original owner cannot reclaim them unless the new owner agrees to return the character.

Lastly, maps and reference pictures of all landmarks (drawn by Spicy and me) will be added to the Information Page. These will be published in waves, beginning tonight with Spicy’s map of SunClan’s Camp.

Of course, if you have any criticisms or suggestions, you don’t have to wait for another survey to be published to speak up. I love hearing members’ opinions on how the website can be improved, so message me whenever!

Hi y’all! It’s been a fairly quiet May around site. In character, the clans responded to increased interclan violence by announcing a policy of isolation. Moving between clans will be restricted, border patrols increased, and tensions are expected to rise to start a full battle. We haven’t discussed much on the Plot Planning Page what exactly this potential battle and the smaller skirmishes should be leading to, so if you have any ideas we can discuss them on the Plot Planning Page. Out of character, registrations were opened for a few days and a bunch of new members were accepted into the roleplay. Welcome, guys!

Thank you so much to everyone who filled out the survey! If you haven’t gotten the chance to fill it out yet and will like to, the survey is still open and I’ll be checking or responses over the next couple of days.

The results have been very helpful in determining which features should be prioritized in updates, providing ideas for new features, and figuring out what features are working and which need to be changed. There are a few quick fixes that have already been applied, such as a hyperlink to the update log posted on the Character Updates Page and the splitting the rule requiring members to put effort into correct grammar and spelling and specifying the format for roleplaying posts into two separate rules. However, I don’t want to give away too much of what will be changed quite yet, as the moderators and I are figuring out exactly how these changes will work and when they will be rolled out. A blog entry explaining these changes will be published as soon as all of the plans are finalized.

There is one subject, whether or not names should be allowed to be reused, that I would to hear more member opinions on before a change is seriously considered. I’ve created a very brief survey you can fill out HERE on how you believe reused names should be handled.

Before we jump into the main topic of this Monthly Meow, I do have a few reminders. Firstly, leaders should be assigning new mentors to mentorless apprentices every time they do ceremonies. Secondly, please remember that metagaming (a type of powerplaying in which a character makes use of knowledge that the player knows but character does not have the means to be aware of) is against the rules. Over the last month, I’ve noticed an increase in the number of times characters are referencing events that they have no reasonable way of knowing about. This can become a serious problem as our current plot is centered around the clans being isolated from each other and for that isolation to exist, the clans can’t know what’s going on in other clans. Lastly, while using posts like “the wind blew” to avoid rules requiring all posts to contain some roleplaying is alright every once and a while, it should be avoided as much as possible. Instead, use the private message system or the home page chat box to talk to other members out of character or put some actual roleplaying in your post whenever possible.

As requested by a handful of members over the past two months, for this Monthly Meow I’ve created another clan demographics overview. This is the fifth Monthly Meow exploring this topic, the others can be found HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

The clan population is only slightly larger than it was in December, as controlled registrations have slowed the huge growth in characters seen in earlier demographic overviews. NightClan is the largest clan, while SunClan is the smallest, with a much larger difference in size than is ordinary.

The overall female majority can be explained as a result of most of our members being female and more comfortable playing characters of their own gender, while the differences in individual clans can be explained by the clans’ traits: the clans associated with traditionally masculine traits (NightClan and MoonClan) have fairly balanced gender ratios, while those with traditionally feminine traits (DawnClan and SunClan) are far more skewed in favor of she-cats.

However, SunClan is far more skewed toward female characters than is usual. To balance out the clans both in population and gender, it would be a great help for members to focus on creating male SunClanners in the coming weeks.

The average age is lower than it was in December and is most similar to last August or March 2014. I’m not certain as to why, as since this data was taken May 13th before the wave of new members. As well, the percentage of working/nonworking cats doesn’t particularly stand out either, if anything the average age would theoretically be higher, as there are proportionally fewer kits than usual.

In last December’s Monthly Meow, I discussed the unusual dip in character populations over the summer, our most active time of year. I suspect this had something to do with how much attention the medicine cat arc was given. Unlike most arcs, where the majority of roleplaying remains about individual cats and their minor plots, the medicine cat arc was the center of most posts. This meant that less time was devoted to mates and kits, so fewer cats were born. Coupled with the violence of the plot, the clans’ population dramatically dropped.

Since September, the overall population has remained relatively consistent. The changes seem to be caused by registrations opening and closing and the general tendency for characters to be created in waves.

The changes in individual clan populations are not particularly surprising. MoonClan and NightClan have been battling it out to see who would be the largest clan for the most part, while DawnClan and SunClan have been switching between third and fourth largest. From December to January, MoonClan was the smallest clan, possibly because so much attention had been put on them in previous months that members were more interested in roleplaying in other areas when MoonClan stopped being the center of the plot.

For this Monthly Meow, I’ve plotted the number of cats of each age group differently from last the last demographics overview, but the results are largely the same— with each month, fewer and fewer cats are alive. While this trend appears to break at for cats of zero months, this data was taken on May 16th, so the number of cats in that age category will be roughly twice as large at the end of the month.

The sudden spike at four months includes characters born in January, the most likely reason for this spike being that members are more active around the winter holidays and are therefore more likely to make new characters.

I’m not seeing anything particularly noteworthy in the individual clan graphs, they follow the same general trend that fewer and fewer characters exist at each age category with spikes reflecting the tendency for litters and other characters to be created in waves.

As always, if you’ve noticed anything interesting that I haven’t pointed out or might have an explanation for any changes or trends, please comment below!

MoonClan

Apprentices:

Scorpionkit, Angelkit, Pandakit, Turtlekit, Warriorkit, Palekit, Jackalkit, Embla, Leif, Brand, Geri, Fell: Early June

Sharpkit, Sunkit, Yarrowkit, Tigerkit, Lionkit: Mid June

Dawnkit, Spottedkit: Late June

Warriors:

Honeypaw, Dreampaw, Morningpaw, Mousepaw, Hemlockpaw, Treepaw: Early June

Immortalpaw, Robinpaw, Seraphpaw, Victorypaw, Cobrapaw, Mambapaw, Boapaw, Viperpaw, Aconitepaw, Twistedpaw: Mid June

Cherubpaw, Aphrodite, Sacredpaw, Brokenpaw, Softpaw, Oakpaw, Sprucepaw, , Rosepaw, Shadowpaw, Emberpaw, Kaori: Late June

Medicine cat: Surjeon (Late June)

Elders: Sunchaser

Deaths: Redstone

NightClan

Apprentices:

Brokenkit, Puppykit, Myvarr, Kaierr, Sunkit, Ryagarr, Thayarr, Lostkit, Brightkit, Wolfkit, Littlekit, Waselkit, Masonkit: Mid June

Pipkit, Duck-kit, Driedkit: Late June

Warriors:

Devilpaw, Vidar, Skuld, Baldur, Nidhug, Freyr, Odin, Ibispaw, Hyenapaw: Early June

Leopardpaw, Whitepaw, Tildalpaw, Scarletpaw, Cherrypaw, Shadowpaw, Dazzlingpaw: Late June

Elders: Lionstar, Blackpine

DawnClan

Apprentices:

Whimperingkit, Maskedkit, Koikit, Dancingkit, Survivingkit: Early June

Fluffykit: Late June

Warriors:

Maplepaw, Cottonpaw, Dahliapaw: Early June

Angelpaw, Sutcliff: Mid June

Athena: Late June

Elders: Nightshadetalon, Glowingnight

Deaths: Locust-strike

SunClan

Apprentices:

Yarrowkit, Pearlkit, Lionkit, Amethystkit, Ravenkit, Burntkit, Jaguarkit, Aurorakit, Mustangkit, Eveningkit, Littlekit, Morningkit, Desertkit, Lambkit, Agatekit, Jadekit, Rattlesnakekit, Thistlekit, Hurricanekit, Viperkit, Havenkit, Reedkit, Fallowkit: Early June

Oceankit, Tundrakit, Stonekit: Mid June

Pinekit, Mothkit, Tigerkit, Qilinkit, Kitsunekit, Wendigokit: Late June

Warriors:

Aloepaw, Agavepaw, Summitpaw: Early June

Floatingpaw, Mousepaw, Vaultpaw Fadingpaw, Rustypaw, Swiftpaw: Mid June

Scaredpaw, Fawnpaw: Late June

Medicine Cat: Dodopaw (Mid June)

Elder: Hallowroar

Hello everyone!

I’ve created a quick survey, similar to last November’s, to help me understand which areas of the roleplay can be improved and which features members find helpful. Don’t worry, everything is completely anonymous and you can skip any questions you’re uncomfortable with answering.

The survey can be found here.

Thank you!

The May gathering will take place from the 13th to the 15th. 40 cats should attend the gathering from each clan. Leaders, make sure that each member with an eligible character in your clan has at least one character attending and that you choose the most trouble-making eligible character that you can from each member. The clans will travel to Hawk’s Tree on Friday, the gathering will officially begin Saturday, and the clans should return to their camps by Sunday evening.

During this gathering, we need to have the tension that we’ve been building between the clans over the last several weeks reach a boiling point and result in the leaders declaring that the clans are to have no contact with each other. In order to reach this point, the leaders should be bickering, but the clans themselves should be arguing as well. In order to get the ball rolling, leaders, please focus on putting trouble-making cats on your gathering lists.

As this gathering will be used to push the clans into declaring a policy of isolation, there will be no medicine cat meeting the following weekend.

We can continue the Plot Planning discussion here.

If you haven’t already, be certain to read over the last few pages of the old plot planning thread. As a very brief summary, some plots points being discussed are a potential fire in DawnClan and/or NightClanners contaminating the river, two-legs poisoning rats and causing sickness in NightClan, and how we should use the coming gathering (May 13-15th) to move the clan more towards isolation.

It’s been a pretty slow April on the site, as we’ve been pushing the clans toward isolation. Lionstar has gone missing from NightClan, leaving his clan under the leadership his tyrannical deputy, Poppydeath. This coming month we should see at least one large-scale battle as well as many border skirmishes. Feel free to begin your own border skirmishes and cross-clan conflicts and, as always, try to stay up to date on the Plot Planning Page, lots of exciting things are being exited on the Plot Planning Page right now. All of your input really is appreciated and the plot runs much more smoothly when everyone is on the same page about what should be occurring.

Out of character, we’ve slowly received a handful of members following the registrations opening, including several former members. Welcome, guys! On a more personal note, I may not be around the site much until Mid-May. If you have any questions, please direct to them to the moderators if possible as they’ll be more able to give you a timely response.

Just a few reminders before we jump into the meat of this Monthly Meow. Firstly, please remember to use the exact format provided when using the Character Updates Page. All descriptions and history sections should be in one paragraph (ideally 100-300 words in length) and all redos should be listed separately. If you’re uncertain about formatting or which type of update should be used, most questions can be answered through the Character Updates Guide. Secondly, please don’t change your username more than once every three or four months. As well, the clan populations have become very skewed in the last few weeks. MoonClan has 125 characters, NightClan has 153, DawnClan has 115, and SunClan has 83, so please focus on making new characters in SunClan.

Last Monthly Meow I discussed changes in rules and site procedures over time, so this time I figured I would explore how these changes have affected the plot. However, as I wrote an outline for that subject, I realized that it was much too broad to fit into just one Monthly Meow. This Monthly Meow, the first in a potential series, will be covering different plot elements that are often successful, unsuccessful, or likely to not be approved, in the roleplay presently.

First up are the “automatic rejects”, or plots that aren’t likely to be seriously considered. The biggest one is plots involving the formation of new clans. With the current number of members, which is likely to remain fairly consistent for the foreseeable future, having another clan isn’t necessary and would be a considerable addition to the amount of time spent maintaining the website each week. As well, the formation of a new clan would distort our ability to make balanced alliances and possibly force us to reorganize the map.

While plots inevitably lean on certain characters and members more than others and an perfectly balanced plot wouldn’t be possible, large plot arcs that hinge on one cat, particularly a cat who has not been active in the plot so far, have a very low chance of being approved. Plots of this nature are risky, as the member who owns the character unexpectedly leave, or even just be offline at the wrong moment, and the plot will grind to a halt.

Prophecy plots are rejected for similar reasons, as they require that the plot move in a certain direction and allow for little flexibility. Plots that involve StarClan intervention are also avoided, as this brings up the question of why StarClan hasn’t intervened in the past, as well making them a possible solution for every issue that the clans will face in the future.

Large scale fox or badger attacks (or wolves, or dogs, or squirrels, or what-have-you) are also not something that would work in this roleplay, due to the restrictions placed on interactions with other animals, and the understanding in this roleplay that cats are the only animals (besides humans, who are rarely mentioned) capable of organizing themselves into fairly advanced hierarchies.

Lastly, just plots that don’t make sense with current events don’t get accepted. For instance, if we’re in the middle of an arc involving a blizzard, a forest fire isn’t the direction we’re likely to want to go in in the near future.

What exactly makes a plot successful or unsuccessful are harder to pin down. Plots are generally collections of spontaneous events, such as a certain member being on at just the right moment to have just the right cat say, or say just the right thing—or opportunities like that being missed, guided by planning. Plots can be over planned (such as in the case of some alliances) and come across as too scripted, or under planned (such as the flood arc) and simply have nothing happen.

Members choosing to take initiative in plots is also vital, particularly plots that involve series of small-scale conflicts, but I have difficulty gauging how invested members will or won’t be in plots and so it’s hard to anticipate how much member involvement in these plots we can count on.

One general rule, I find, for plots being unsuccessful is that they include volunteers that don’t specifically have to volunteer. For instance, sickness arcs. Even if members agree to a wide-spread sickness arc, it’s rare for more than a handful of cats in any given clan to be roleplayed as having the sickness and, often, many characters will go about their business as if nothing were happening. This is not a hard and fast rule, though, as the sickness element of the flood arc, when it did get moving, was acknowledged by most cats and many kits did fall ill. Arcs that require volunteers to sign up, such as Weepingstar’s enforcers and victims, tend to be more successful as members have agreed to take the initiative to go through with the plot and thus feel more obligated to actively contribute.

Disagreements within clans, such as the recent overthrow of Locuststar, are also often very successful. This may be because it’s difficult to have cats not notice what is going on and not take sides. By forcing cats to take sides, disagreements between family members and friends is inevitable, so the plot easily gathers attention.

There are some plot elements that work very well at times and just don’t work at other times. For instance, wide spread assassin arcs have been utilized very successfully at several points in the roleplay, from Hawk and Siver’s assassination of Moonstar to Weepingstar’s enforces. However, due to the difficulty in organizing some of these plots or simply because they don’t add to a larger arc very directly, they fall apart.

What plot elements do you guys enjoy? Do you disagree with anything I’ve counted above as typically successful or unsuccessful? Do you think certain plot arcs should be considered more, or can think of anything we haven’t done yet, or have done too much? I know that I tend to enjoy plots centered on gatherings with many characters verbally fighting, especially if there are some more complicated clan politics going on. On the flip side, I don’t tend to be a big fan of large battles, especially if we have several in a role.

MoonClan

Apprentices:

Dusk-kit, Hephaestus, Firstkit, Guardiankit, Eveningkit, Stainedkit, Olivekit, Whisperingkit, Armada, Honeykit: Early May

Tayen’lou, Opalkit: Mid May

Warriors:

Actaeapaw, Vervainpaw, Arumpaw, Trilliumpaw, Sennapaw, Ruepaw, Leechpaw, Tallowpaw, Mochapaw: Early May

Icepaw, Leo, Pisces, Scorpio, Gemini, Sagittarius, Cancer, Virgo, Taurus, Libra, Rabbitpaw, Sestra: Mid May

Hemlockpaw, Callowpaw: Late May

Elders: Redstone, Cinderstep

Deaths: Bramblelight

NightClan

Apprentices:

Hades, Spiritkit, Lakekit, Ares, Bravekit, Riverkit, Wolfkit, Quick-kit, Toxickit, Fallenkit, Lionkit, Coldkit, Goldenkit, Phantomkit, Crimsonkit, Wolf, Cleopatra, Casius, Tibia: Early May

Redkit, Rippedkit: Mid May

Ase, Helheim, Vanaheim, Bloodykit, Owlkit, Snowykit, Sunstone, Sundew, Dogkit, Sunbird, Jotunheim, Goldenkit, Toxickit, Fallenkit, Nightkit, Cherrykit, Violentkit: Late May

Warriors:

Woodpaw, Reaperpaw, Ducklingpaw, Winterpaw, Sinfulpaw, Wolfpaw: Early May

Erepaw, Nectarpaw, Ghoul, Roscia, Sabina, Quietpaw, Spiderpaw: Late May

Elders: Thunderflash, Koga, Raggedshade, Risingsilence, Blackstallion, Wasp, Rivendragon

Deaths: Roxie, Widow, Tawnyfur

DawnClan

Apprentices:

Skeletonkit, Spookykit, Blitzkit, Immortalkit, Mammothkit, Saberkit, Whitekit, Noblekit, Oathkit, Honoredkit, Angelickit, Brightkit, Empirekit, Divinekit, Sacredkit, Scarykit: Early May

Purekit, Hallowedkit, Alphakit, Kingdomkit, Bravekit, Foxkit, Cherishedkit, Holykit, Quailkit, Justkit, Shadekit: Mid May

Pinekit, Oddkit, Captivatingkit, Twokit, Luminouskit, Seventhkit, Scorpionkit: Late May

Warriors and Medicine Cat:

Blitzingpaw, Glowingpaw, Goldenpaw, Zaffrepaw, Ran’yo: Early May

Cobaltpaw, Tenorpaw: Mid May

Elders: Blizzardpelt, Locust-strike

Deaths: Clawtail, Blossomsong

SunClan

Apprentices:

Silokit, Erakit: Mid May

Warriors:

Aspenpaw, Bluepaw: Early May

Coyotepaw, Longpaw: Mid May

Willowpaw: Late May

Deaths: Rushfeather, Gorseflower

The April gathering will take place from the 8th to the 10th. 40 cats should attend the gathering from each clan. Leaders, make sure that each member with an eligible character in your clan has at least one character attending and that you choose the most trouble-making eligible character that you can from each member. The clans will travel to Hawk’s Tree on Friday, the gathering will officially begin Saturday, and the clans should return to their camps by Sunday evening.

The medicine cat meeting will take place on the following weekend (April 15th-17th). During this meeting, to add injury to insult, we should have even the medicine cats bickering. The meeting can possibly end quickly, when cats begin to unsheathe their claws and threaten violence.

Be sure to keep up to date with the Plot Planning Page! This coming month we should be focusing on having apprentices and young warriors meet up in the Gathering Clearing or crossing borders to visit different clans and, whenever possible, have these meetings end poorly. No large battles are scheduled currently, but we should have at least one in the coming weeks as a result of an attack on a young warrior or apprentices. We can work out the details on the Plot Planning Page, but what matters the most right now is getting apprentices and young warriors out there and looking for opportunities to cause trouble between the clans.

Howdy! This past month has been filled with transitions the clans rebuilt their camps and returned to living as four separate groups with the end of the flood and many new leaders came into power. In a unique turn of events, DawnClan peacefully voted to demote Locuststar, but allowed him to remain in their clan as a warrior. MoonClan, NightClan, and SunClan came to an agreement in which their borders were opened to allow apprentices to visit any of the clans and join whichever group they felt they belonged in.

Everyone, please remember that metagaming (a type of powerplaying in which a character makes use of knowledge that the player knows, but character does not have the means to be aware of) is against the rules. In the past few weeks, particularly as a result of Locuststar’s demotion, we’ve had a few characters spreading information that they have no way of having been exposed to.

Thank you to everyone who suggested topics to me for this Monthly Meow, I hope to get to a whole bunch of them in the coming months. For this Monthly Meow, I’ll be touching on how and why rules have changed over time. Thanks you, Toxic, for suggesting this topic!

The first change, is the function of the Character Updates Page. Originally called just the “guestbook”, it was used for character creation and nothing else. All deaths, pregnancies, changes in clans, etc. did not have to be recorded outside of the roleplay itself. As so few members were on the website at this stage, simply remembering what changes needed to be made in our infrequent updates was feasible. However, as more people joined and the character limits rose, this system of just remembering what needed to be done became impossible. I first started keeping written records of necessary page updates as they were roleplayed, then moved to having blog entries in which members would list all of their characters in each clan. This system was difficult from the start, as many members ignored the blog entries, and we quickly changed to a more inclusive Character Updates Page where, eventually, all required page updates were recorded. In addition, formatting became stricter as I began to streamline the updating process and to take detailed records.

The character limit has increased over time to accommodate for the addition of more clans. The limit began as seven characters, but with the creation of NightClan, members complained that having only seven characters spread between three clans (MoonClan, StormClan, and NightClan) was interfering with their roleplaying. The character limit was then raised to 15, where it remained for quite some time. Later, staff members were given additional character slots as a reward for keeping the website running smoothly. Unlike today, where all staff members have an additional four characters, moderators received 18 characters, administrators 20, and website owners 22. Finally, the character limit was moved to where it is today, with members having 20 characters (five cats per clan, if split evenly) and staff members having 24 (six cats per clan, if split evenly).

While we’ve had a rule limiting “throw-away characters” that includes all cats outside of the clans for quite some time now, loners were allowed in the first few years of the roleplay. However, it was unusual for us to have more than a small handful of inactive loner characters at a time and as the website grew and the structure of the clans proved helpful in delegating responsibilities and ensuring some degree of order, it was decided that loners would not be claimed characters anymore.

Several different systems of adoption had been attempted for short periods of time before our current one. Often these systems involved characters remaining up for adoption for unlimited periods of time and were very unpopular, usually only having one or two characters put up for adoption in the months they were open before eventually the system was done away with. Our present system was introduced two or three years ago and has been a greater success, largely because of the specified adoption period. While originally the time span was a month, as most characters who are adopted are taken within only a day or two of being posted, the time span was later halved to the two-week limit we have today.

Aging systems have also changed substantially over time. Initially, no aging system existed, so characters could be promoted or die whenever members felt was appropriate. This caused some confusion, as all of the characters were getting older at different rates, so it was decided we’d just stick with real-time aging. This fit along with the idea that, as most of the members knew each other offline and lived in a relatively close geographic area, the in-game weather was whatever was outside your window. But no one wants to play a kit for six months. A rough aging system was created, which was later changed to the system we use today but with two major differences: queens were pregnant for one month, instead of two weeks, and leaders would have an additional year added to their lifespans.

The additional year leaders had was created as since the roleplay moved rather slowly, by the time a character earned that rank, they’d often not have any time left to accomplish anything substantial. As the roleplay grew and became faster-paced, this rule was both no longer needed and limited the number of members given an opportunity to have a high-ranking character.

Who is applicable for a high-ranking position has also changed over time, particularly for medicine cats. Medicine cat positions were assigned just like leader positions are today, with any openings being handed to owner-chosen members. However, the website was so small whoever stepped up with a willing character was very likely to receive an open position. We moved away from this system toward allowing members to just ask for a position when it opened, but as in the entire time this rule was in place I never denied anyone a position, the rule was adjusted and members no longer had to ask permission for a medicine cat position.

Leader and deputy selection has also changed. At the beginning of the roleplay, only a few members were active and most had one specific character they were championing for a leader positions. No limits existed on character age, so a character could remain in a leadership position almost indefinitely. Waterstar, for example, spent two years in her deputy and then leader position. This resulted in leadership positions being hard to come by, even for rule-following, active members who had been on the website for over a year. As the website grew and time limits were placed on character creation, leaders changed more often. Over time, focus has shifted from characters to members, as having a reliable roleplayer in the position proved to be more effective in the long term than a member who was sporadically active, even if their character made more sense for the current leader to name as deputy.

Members were originally allowed as many high ranking positions as they wanted, but as more members joined we moved to allowing each member one high ranking position. This was later reversed in a rules simplification, but then reinstated recently to accommodate for the roughly 30 active members we have at any given time and ensure that every member who wants a high ranking character will have a fair shot at having one granted they stay active and follow the rules.

The art page began with only one rule: it has to be your work. This system worked well for some time, but eventually rules regarding relevancy were added to conserve bandwidth. The rules remained very consistent for several years until last March, when concerns over whether doll-maker created images were turning the attention of the art pages away from member-created drawings, whether doll-maker created images fit into the rule requiring all images posted there to be original, and bandwidth pressures. While banning doll-maker created images all together was discussed, it was eventually decided that only a limit would be put in place for the sake of adoptables and character design reference sheets used by non-artist members.

Plot planning is arguably the biggest and most important place changes have occurred over time and like many of the other changes, has been shaped by the size and nature of our member group. Initially the roleplay had a small number of members, the vast majority of which knew each other in real life. This had the result of plot planning being carried out largely face-to-face, with plans often being only shared with members who had characters directly tied into whatever plot was being discussed. Later, as members from all around the world began to join, the planning shifted from offline to online, with the bulk of planning occurring through private messages. This system held for several years, at first very unorganized, later being built into the structure of the website through a planned events box on the information page that displayed what plots were being planned through private messages at that time, so everyone knew what to expect.

Currently, plot planning is more accessible and organized than ever. Blog entries are regularly made where members can all discuss events, with only minor details or the very beginnings of ideas often tossed back in forth through private messages. With the addition of plot planning pages, the planned event box was done away with as members could see planned events on the blog entries, and as more members were contributing to ideas, plans have a tendency to change up until the moment they happen, which makes keeping such a box up to date an almost impossible task.

In the future I hope to discuss how these changes, particularly changes in plot planning procedures, may have altered the events and success of various plots. In the meantime, I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading this Monthly Meow as much as I liked writing it! If you have any questions or would like to know how features not covered here have changed, feel free to ask in the comments below.

Ceremony Lists

MoonClan

Apprentices:

Buzzardkit, Treekit: Early April

Robinkit, Phalanxkit, Seraphkit, Victorykit, Cobrakit, Pythonkit, Mambakit, Angelkit, Boagale, Viperkit: Mid April

Cherubkit, Riverkit, Aphrodite, Lastkit, Sacredkit, Brokenkit, Softkit, Dawnkit: Late April

Warriors:

Vixenpaw, Murmuringpaw, Foxpaw, Halfpaw: Early April

Nightpaw, Chivalry, Snakepaw, Jaypaw, Sphinxpaw , Snowypaw: Mid April

Pride, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, Darkpaw, Mantispaw, Northernpaw: Late April

Elders: Plumefur, Bramblelight

Deaths: Endlesshorizon

NightClan

Apprentices:

Devilkit, Vidar, Skuld, Baldur, Nidhug, Freyr, Odin: Early April

Whitekit, Tidalkit, Scarletkit, Penguinkkit, Halfkit, Sirenkit, Cherrykit, Hecate: Late April

Warriors:

Silentpaw, Nightpaw, Thunderpaw, Berserker, Asmund, Skoll, Saga, Stormpaw, Snowflakepaw, Damselflypaw, Coldpaw, Applepaw, Lilypaw, Tatteredpaw, Nightmarepaw, Toothpaw, Sparkpaw: Early April

Frozenpaw, Trialpaw, Dragonpaw, Nightpaw, Eveningpaw, Pegasuspaw: Mid April

Nightpaw, Silentpaw, Skypaw, Duskpaw, Harrowingpaw, Leopardpaw, Splatteredpaw, Burningpaw, Phantompaw, Ghostpaw, Smudgedpaw, Halfpaw, Lightningpaw: Late April

Elders: Roxie, Widow, Gladys, Tawnyfur

DawnClan

Apprentices:

Maplekit, Cottonkit, Dhaliakit, Bearkit: Early April

Athena: Late April

Warriors:

Bearpaw, Rippedpaw, Purepaw, Murkypaw, Lambpaw, Harrierpaw, Stormpaw, Cloudpaw, Citruspaw, Rowanpaw, Endlesspaw, Topazpaw, Otterpaw, Meadowpaw, Heronpaw, Infernopaw, Sugarpaw, Mudpaw: Early April

Sweetpaw, Wolfpaw, Petalpaw: Mid April

Ghostpaw, Warpaw: Late April

Elders: Clawtail, Blossomsong

SunClan

Apprentices:

Knightkit, Aloekit, Agavekit, Crackedkit, Summitkit: Early April

Fadingkit, Serenitykit, Rustykit, Swiftkit: Mid April

Scaredkit: Late April

Warriors:

Aspenpaw, Cryingpaw, Coyotepaw, Hushedpaw, Cosmicpaw, Horizonpaw, Tigerpaw, Blazingpaw, Screamingpaw, Nautiluspaw, Moonpaw: Early April

Oceanpaw, Kohaku, Borealispaw, Phoenixpaw, Kronospaw, Cthulhupaw, Seraphpaw, Griffinpaw, Fabledpaw, Hydrapaw, Sleepingpaw, Chiliadpaw, Quietpaw: Mid April

Dragonpaw: Late April

Elders: Epochstar, Rushfeather, Gorseflower

The March gathering will take place from the 11th to the 13th. 45 cats should attend the gathering from each clan. Leaders, make sure that each member with an eligible character in your clan has at least one character attending. The clans will travel to Hawk’s Tree on Friday, the gathering will officially begin Saturday, and the clans should return to their camps by Sunday evening. This gathering is largely unplanned, however, we should be playing some conflicting emotions as cats reunite with the cats they became close with during their time at the barn and clan loyalties should be even more questioned or, for some cats, fiercely defended.

The medicine cat meeting will take place on the following weekend (March 18th-20th). There isn’t currently a major plot point set for this meeting, however, we can follow the same major thread of the gathering in having cats question the clan divisions, or defend them.

Be sure to keep up to date with the Plot Planning Page

Now that the flooding arc has drawn to a close, it’s time to start considering where we want to carry the war from here. MoonClan and NightClan are loosely allied, as are SunClan and DawnClan, but where do we want the source of their next battle to come from?

We can continue to feed off of the assassin plot, possibly, if cats continue to go missing from border patrols and such, or we can start something new, possibly escalated border skirmishes, drama at a gathering, etc.

In the last plot planning page, we considered having apprentices continue meeting at the gathering clearing and eventually being found out by their leaders.

What do y’all think should happen?