This forum is only for members of the Duelling Club and thus is not open to regular posting the way the rest of the forums are.

The reason for this is fairly simple - a suggestion was put forward to the staff team that debates are sorely lacking on VTM. We used to have some brilliant debates here about many different things from HP to real life, but unfortunately, a lot of them had to be closed down because certain members simply could not abide by the rules, the threads became an absolute nightmare to moderate, things became nasty and personal and so the decision was taken to cut them all off.

This was a great pity because it punished everyone - even the ones who were behaving themselves and enjoyed entering into debates with fellow HP fans. This wasn't exactly very fair so the solution that we came up with was this - a restricted access forum.

That does not mean, however, that this forum is only for a select few - it isn't. Potentially, it can be for everyone but not everyone is going to be interested in serious debates and will be perfectly happy posting in the regular sections of the forum. Likewise, due to its slightly more mature feel, this forum will not be suitable for everyone who would like to take part in it.

Therefore due to the nature of some of the threads that will be opened in here, anyone who wishes to become a member of the Duelling Club must apply for membership. It's not a complicated application - all you need to do is prove to the I.S that you have read and understood the rules. If you are given membership and you then need to be warned by a member of the I.S, then eventually, you will be evicted from the Great Hall.

There are no real restrictions to entry, but you are more likely to be accepted if you have been a member here for at least a month or so and have contributed to several conversations throughout different threads.

Post counts and length of membership are far from the only considerations though - 1000 posts that consist of one liners or only fanfic reviews are not going to be as valued as someone who's got a post count of 20, all 20 of which are good, thoughtful and rule-abiding.

This is an area for reasoned debates only. This is not a place for one-liners or short posts. Netspeak is not allowed on the forums anyway, but it is extremely prohibited in here. You must construct posts properly and they must be polite. Anything else is simply not acceptable in the Duelling Club.

No doubt that the threads will soon grow beyond a few pages making it difficult for newcomers to keep up. However, it is also a condition of membership here that you must read the preceeding few posts and at the very least, a summary of the arguments presented thus far if a debate has grown beyond one thread (i.e is headed 'Thread 2, Thread 3 etc). It is not acceptable in the Great Hall to post without considering what has been said before - it is quite simply rude to ignore what other people have said. If you're only interested in posting your opinion and not in what anyone else has to say, then there are appropriate threads for you outside the Great Hall.

So, if you like what you see here and would like to become a member, please send an e-mail INCLUDING YOUR VTM SCREEN NAME, to:-

vtm_duelling_club@yahoo.com

Please do not PM myself, any other mods or prefects - the I.S run this section and the only way to apply is via that e-mail address. Don't forget to mention your username on the forums otherwise the IS won't know who you are just from your e-mail address.

In the e-mail, you should make it clear that you have read and understood the rules for the Great Hall, that you agree to abide by them and understand that if you don't, you will be asked to leave. You should also include a very brief response to one of the following debate topics -

Real life
Should some drugs be legalised?
How do you feel about homosexuality?
What is your opinion on the war in Iraq?

HP-Related
Harry is a Horcrux
Dumbledore isn't dead
Snape is innocent

or any other major issue from either real life or the HP series that you feel appropriate.

A member of the I.S will let you know via PM whether or not you have been granted access. If not, they will explain the reasons to you and it certainly doesn't mean that you can never come in here - all it means is that you may need to look at how you're expressing yourself or perhaps need to consider something you're posting a little more carefully.

Good luck with your applications and we hope that you enjoy the Duelling Club!

EDIT : Just to let everyone know, the IS have decided that because applications need to be approved by consensus and because we're all very busy people with lives outside the forums, it is likely to take up to seven days for approved applications to be granted access into the Great Hall. Please be patient with us. Thanks

OK, well, I've just got my emaill that I have entry now! Yeah! So now, I thought maybe I would start a debate topic? If you dont like it, dont mind me and change it, I'm more of a debate talker than a starter! So, there are many controversial things that go on in Half-Blood Prince. However, one thing that has been driving me nuts is the very beginning, at Spinners End. Why would Snape have done something like make an unbreakable vow if he was on our side? sure, most likely to try and prove his loyalness. But then at the end he murders Dumbledore (that is, assuming he is really dead, but I'm not going to go into that here ). So, here comes forth one of the biggest questions in Harry Potter history: What side is Snape really on?

-I personally believe that Snape is truly for Voldemort. I just cant see how any pieces fit together for Snape to really be supporting Dumbledore and then killing him.

And, well, that's my two knuts worth!

Happy Debate!


Edit: OOPS sorry! forget about me! I'm not exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch and i thought this is wehre we post! oopsies! shutting up!

Ummm...yeah

This thread is just a notice on how to gain entry into the Great Hall...as per the topic title All HP-related debates go to The Library, mate Best be more careful next time yeah?

I'm posting here to bump this topic to try to bring it to people's attention a bit more because I'm getting a lot of PM's lately asking why members can't post in certain threads in this section.

You need to be a member of the Duelling Club in order to post in the Great Hall. If you try to post without applying, you will get an error message telling you that you don't have permission to post in this section.

Please read through the first post here thoroughly - you need to apply first. Then, if accepted, you will be given permission to post here.

Thanks.