JK Rowling's Pottermore

Discussion in 'Off The Beaten Track' started by FigureSpins, Aug 6, 2011.

  1. FigureSpins

    FigureSpins New Member

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    The Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Pt 2 topic aged off the front pages, so I figured I could safely start a new thread for Pottermore. I know it was discussed earlier, but it was buried by the movie's release discussions. (Rightly so!)

    Pottermore is supposed to be an online exploration site with challenges and puzzles that reward you with tidbits of backstory from Jo Rowling's Harry Potter preparation. Things like Mrs. Weasley's heritage and such. The rewards are all going to be reading-focused. Best of all it's supposed to be free and well-moderated, so it's safe for people of all ages to interact.

    To me, it sounds like a version of Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom. The previews of Pottermore that I've seen are great.

    Press site previews: http://www.pottermore.com/en/press

    A quick glimpse of the introduction to Chapter 6: 'The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters'
    Sneak Peek 1: http://bit.ly/kD1fEG
    Sneak Peek 2: http://press.pottermore.com/preview/preview2.jpg
    Sneak Peek 3: http://press.pottermore.com/preview/preview3.jpg

    The site will also offer the only authorized e-books for the Harry Potter series.

    I managed to find the Magic Quill and set up an ID for the beta test that starts later this summer. I fully expect to find lots of glitches and server issues since the announcements have been plagued with problems and errors. (Some are due to publishing differences among the different editions of the books around the world.)

    The production launch takes place in October 2011 when the doors open to anyone.

    Main Pottermore webpage: http://www.pottermore.com/

    Twitter site: http://twitter.com/#!/pottermore

    Pottermore Blog site: http://insider.pottermore.com/2011/08/early-access-to-pottermore-is-now.html

    Just thought the Harry Potter fans here might be interested in this new venture.
     
  2. ChelleC

    ChelleC Well-Known Member

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    I managed to find the Magic Quill tonight, so looks like I'll be seeing you there. :)
     
  3. Satellitegirl

    Satellitegirl New Member

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    I didn't even know where to look for the quill. I had checked the site a couple of times, but no clues were ever posted when I checked. I imagine they were found and then the clues taken down because so many people were trying.
     
  4. Lara

    Lara Well-Known Member

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    You're lucky, I went about an hour ago and the early access is over. Oh well, October it shall be and I'm more excited for the ebooks anyway. :lol:
     
  5. icewalker08

    icewalker08 New Member

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    I found Magic Quill too. :) Not interested in games but I like to read the new stories.
     
  6. IceAlisa

    IceAlisa Épaulement!!!

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    Can you guys please post spoilers to the puzzles? I am too lazy...and my brain is fried from the work week. Pretty please? :shuffle:

    Then again may be I should wait until they get all the bugs out.
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2011
  7. Jenna

    Jenna Well-Known Member

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    I wanted to find the magic quill but every time I checked the site, nothing came up! Oh well, I will be waiting with bated breath until October. The screen shots look very promising indeed!
     
  8. FigureSpins

    FigureSpins New Member

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    They had seven days of competition for the quills / early access. The directions were listed on the right-hand side and on their blog.

    Each day, they gave a time frame as to when the next puzzle would be online at pottermore.com, like waiting for an appliance delivery.
    You had to check the blog or Twitter (#pottermore) to find out the next day's time frame. When they hit their quota of registrations for that day, they closed up shop.

    Each day's puzzle was based on one of the seven books, in order. Because of the time difference, the US had TWO days in one on Friday. There was a morning period for Day 6 and an evening period for Day 7.

    It was always a math question, like "How many chapters are in Book 6? Multiple by 21"
    Then you had to type in a different URL and add the answer to the end. The website would redirect you to another page.

    When I registered, it just took me to the registration page, but my niece and sister were redirected to Scholastic or Warner Bros. Parseltongue Translator page. On those pages, the magic quill was in the banner ad at the top. Once you clicked on it, it took you to the registration page. Entering the birthdate was a PITA, esp. on a cell phone. I had my sister stop scrolling down the list in the 1960's because it was painful. She thanked me for making her 10 years younger. (It's just to separate the kiddies from the adults, internet-security wise.)

    Given the rough starts and stops the entire Pottermore experience has had so far, you'll probably encounter problems and outages during the beta period anyway. If you don't have patience, you're better off waiting for October. (Nothing like an Aesop's Fable answer, right?)

    I can't wait for them to get started. I think they'll start with only a few people, like the mugglenet/leaky cauldron crew, so they can get the word out, then allow people to access the site in groups. That way, they don't have to go live with fulll bandwidth from the start.
     
  9. michiruwater

    michiruwater Well-Known Member

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    I never was there when it was actually up, either. It always seemed to be in the AM. For the last night I set my alarm to get up at 5 AM and see if it was there and then it happened at like 10 PM while I was still up. Meh.
     
  10. CynicElle

    CynicElle Well-Known Member

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    I found the quill and was able to register, but I'm still waiting for my turn to test the site. (They're not letting us all in at once, darn it! :lol:) I'm VineNox187 -- you had to choose from a list of usernames they offered you.
     
  11. FigureSpins

    FigureSpins New Member

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    I'm waiting impatiently, too.
     
  12. ChelleC

    ChelleC Well-Known Member

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    I'm definitely impatient.

    My user name is AsphodelMugwump61.
     
  13. FigureSpins

    FigureSpins New Member

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    Ah! I was wondering if you were one of my nieces.
     
  14. KatieC

    KatieC Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the updates. Am wondering when we might expect to see the last movie released. Pottermore looks like it will fill in some blanks.
     
  15. centerstage01

    centerstage01 Well-Known Member

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    I had a friend on another board who got in and had a few spots left, so I'm now able to get in on the fun. I can't wait to see this thing!
     
  16. Hannahclear

    Hannahclear Well-Known Member

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    I don't really have time to look around for an early spot, but I'm looking forward to joining this October when it opens to all. I didn't realize you needed a username. I'm going to have to think up something cool.
     
  17. ChelleC

    ChelleC Well-Known Member

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    Don't worry about thinking up a cool name, the system gives it to you.
     
  18. Theatregirl1122

    Theatregirl1122 Well-Known Member

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    This is kind of off topic, but I couldn't think of a better place to ask.

    Has anyone seen the Harry Potter exhibition in NYC and, if so, how long did it take you to see it?
     
  19. FigureSpins

    FigureSpins New Member

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    I don't know, but I hope they take the show on the road. Our local IMAX/Children's Museum went all out, decorating their lobby for HP. Even the restrooms received new signage. I'd love to see them bring the exhibit here.

    The girls and I received our "please stand by" messages from Pottermore. They're opening the doors for the beta testers in batches between mid-August and the end of September. Twitter users are counting down the hours, assuming they're in the first batch, because the 15th=mid-august.
     
  20. star_gazer11

    star_gazer11 practising choreo

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    Yes. They recommend you allow two hours. Since I got there about two hours before closing, I'd say that was fairly accurate, including gift shop time. The souvenir photos are :bribe::eek: but since I won't be getting to Florida anytime soon, I got one. You can choose between you photoshopped into the Great Hall or with Hogwarts grounds behind you; or both for double the price.
     
  21. Marge_Simpson

    Marge_Simpson Well-Known Member

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    Eys! I saw it a few months ago and it is fantastic. I was in there for about an hour and a half.
    I was lucky, I went on a Friday afternoon and there was no line. I was at the Discovery Center earlier today, however, because I wanted to see the Pompeii exhibit. The line was out the door and the staff said there was about an hour wait to get in. I don't know if that was because everyone wanted to do something indoors today because it was pouring out, or because the show is closing soon. I would buy tickets online so you can walk right in.
    I should not admit this but I will anyway: I was one of the few people that were on line for the Pompeii thing, and I was miffed that they didn't have separate lines. I went downstairs where the cafe and gift shops are located, and walked into the Pompeii exhibit through the shop. Without paying. There's no staff over on the Pompeii side of the shop. That won't work for the HP exhibit, though, there's a whole slew of staff on that side.
     
  22. skatemomaz

    skatemomaz 4 More Years

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    My daughter and I saw it about two weeks ago, I would say we spent about an hour in the actual exhibit and maybe 20 minutes in line. It was expensive but well worth it.

    We have both received our standby messages for early entry. I am HawthorneMoonstone129
     
  23. FigureSpins

    FigureSpins New Member

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  24. kwanatic

    kwanatic Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the update!
     
  25. victoriaheidi

    victoriaheidi New Member

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    Anyone feel like sharing Pottermore usernames? We could all friend each other!
     
  26. Marge_Simpson

    Marge_Simpson Well-Known Member

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    I would if I had managed to find the quill. :mad:
     
  27. CynicElle

    CynicElle Well-Known Member

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    I'm VineNox187, but I have yet to be granted my "early" access, so I'm not in there yet.
     
  28. FigureSpins

    FigureSpins New Member

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    We haven't gotten the early access yet, either. I'm ScarletFlight22. I set up my oldest DD's account on the last day of the challenge, but she later got a "oops something went wrong" email from Pottermore, so her ID wasn't created. (Their "forgot my ID/password" features don't work, although it recognizes her ID.)

    The teasers on their twitter and blog are really ticking me off. They regularly say "We're sending out more invitations." but they don't say what their sampling is based on and I don't know anyone in real life who has gotten access.

    It seems to be random since people from all 7 days of challenges say they're still waiting, but given the screwup with the Yahoo! congrats emails, I have to wonder if most of the "still waiting" crew have Yahoo! IDs. Perhaps whatever that problem was is still ongoing and they're not bothering to check on it?

    I can't really tell who's legit and who's a poser on the various chat boards, but it sounds there have been a number of bugs in Pottermore.com. The Potions Brewing runs slow and stalls. They took down wizard dueling temporarily - sounded like it was too popular for its own good and kept crashing. There have been a few reports of site lockups and server crashes. Various browsers encounter different issues in terms of response time and accuracy. (Could be based on other factors, too, like traffic, ISP, workstation.)

    Allegedly, they accepted 1m early access registrants but less than 300k have been granted access. I can only assume that their beta servers are straining or they're trying to fix the problems before admitting more people, so they can get fresh samplings of the beta results from different populations.

    I really haven't been impressed with the technical workings of Pottermore.com - it seems like they're always scrambling to fix something and the system is always overwhelmed. It's been that way since the first hints came out. They underestimate the traffic and under-support the backbone. I guess it saves money.


    Oh, and the electronic books use Sony's eReader. Haven't heard yet whether other readers are supported.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2011
  29. victoriaheidi

    victoriaheidi New Member

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    I just got my invite on Monday night, and my sister got hers on Tuesday morning. We were of the impression that people like Evanna Lynch were the only ones on...until we got our invites, that is. :p

    I stink at potions and spells. I'm now wondering if it's not my problem, but the system's.
     
  30. FigureSpins

    FigureSpins New Member

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    I've read a few reviews that said it was easier on Google Chrome than Firefox, etc. so it's possible.
     
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