Harry Potter Fans Want More From Pottermore

BY BLUE KAUFMAN

Ever since the release of the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Potter fans have been desperately searching for some way to cling onto their favorite wizard hero. To mend the hearts of wounded Potterheads, JK Rowling and Sony Digital Agency announced they would be creating a new online interactive website called PotterMore. After hearing this news, Potter fans felt like they had just won the Triwizard Tournament. However, this anticipated site isn’t living up to expectations, and PotterMore has left fans feeling tricked, outraged, and disappointed.

PotterMore was first announced by JK Rowling in a brief two minute video which touted that it was going to be a unique interactive experience unlike any other. Rowling also added that the site would contain never before seen information about the series that she has been hiding. This had fans on the edge of their seats. What was PotterMore going to be? New books? Exclusive scenes? The possibilities were endless.

Basically, PotterMore takes its users through each and every Harry Potter chapter starting with book one. As Harry discovers magic in the wizarding world so do PotterMore members. In chapter 5, when Harry purchases his wand at Olivanders want shop, users can also collect galleons, brew potions, and cast spells. As promised, never before seen background information can also be seen on the website. New content on beloved characters such as Minerva McGonagall has finally been unraveled.

Although the website doesn’t open to the public until October, the first one million fans to complete the “Magic Quill Challenge” on the website in August were allowed to access the website in its early beta stage. Welcome emails were sent out to the lucky few fans, and once confirmed, they would be allowed to access PotterMore.

Now that PotterMore has been released, Potter fans feel like they’ve been stunned with a stupefy spell. PotterMore is not a good website for fans that have already read and re-read the novels, because that’s exactly all that this mysterious PotterMore is: E-books and the equivalent of a Harry Potter encyclopedia. Why would anyone who’s already read the books want to visit the website? The interactive moments do give the website a little variation; however after a while these feeble attempts to immerse users into the wizarding world just feel like scrolling through pictures.

Whereas some interactive moments have left Potterheads displeased, others have infuriated them. When Harry gets sorted by the sorting hat into his house, users take a quiz to get sorted into one of the four houses as well.  The interactive sorting hat has been especially aggravating. Those dedicated fans who have “known” that they’re supposed to be in Gryffindor for the last 10 years are outraged and confused at being placed in a Slytherin common room. Some fans believe that the sorting hat quiz is just placing members into random houses just to keep the number of users in each house even.

The new information on PotterMore is easily the most compelling part of the website. After all the depth of character development is one of the reasons that Harry Potter fans love the series so much. However, even this new content titled “News from JK Rowling” has been somewhat of a letdown. The stories are being placed on the site erratically so you never know when new information will be up. And while the stories are beautifully written, PotterMore is keeping them frustratingly limited.

Adding fuel to the fire, it’s now October and the PotterMore crew has chosen to extend the beta period.  Now, not only is PotterMore a disappointment, it is also breaking promises. Why are they treating fans this way? Truth be told, although one million testers officially have access, a large portion of beta members have yet to experience the site yet. A lot of them didn’t even receive there welcome emails until a few weeks ago.  On top of that the website is constantly crashing and is “unavailable”. What will PotterMore do when the website is officially open to the public when they can’t even sustain the current one million beta testers?

PotterMore is pleading with fans to just be patient. Current beta testers have already complained about the interactivity, the sorting hat, the lack of new information, and the crashing website. Fans just keep expecting more and more from PotterMore. Are they being too greedy? No. According to The Hogs Head (a popular Harry Potter blog) that an official Harry Potter site has been one of the most anticipated of the last 10 years and unlike other websites, Harry Potter already has a popular fan base. With so many dedicated fans there is no room for failure.

For the last decade, the Harry Potter franchise has been extremely impressive. They have given 7 books, 8 movies and even a Harry Potter themed amusement park. Fans expected a lot from PotterMore and the website has failed to deliver. While PotterMore holds temporary excitement, in the end, PotterMore does not live up to the hype.