# Pottermore



## Kelise (Jun 23, 2011)

So, what do we all think of Pottermore? Pottermore: Register your interest

It's been revealed to be vaguely: 





> an interactive new Web site and reading experience with more than 18,000 new words from J.K. Rowling: Much more to come. Pottermore will feature infromation J.K. Rowling has been "hoarding" for years about Harry Potter. Pottermore will be the exclusive place to purchase the digital audio books and, at last, eBooks of the Harry Potter series.



There's photos up on the site linked under Press Room.

Basically, you get sorted, you get a want (one of 33,000 possibilites as created by Jo), we get McGonagall's backstory (also known as McGoogles to Shoebox Project fans), and so on. In the photos you can see a Gringotts section and everything.

Currently you can sign up. On the 31st July (Harry and Jo's birthday) they'll pick one million beta testers and they'll get to go nuts until October when the site is launched for everyone else.



But basically... what do we all think of this?


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## Amanita (Jun 23, 2011)

What do we think? I'm going to write what I'm thinking.  I used to be a great Harry Potter fan in the past but was very disappointed with the last two books and don't like it that much anymore. 
I'm surely not going to "run" into this website but I might take a look at the information when it's getting available. Besides that I believe that this is a marketing thing to keep people interested now after the release of the last film and I'm not sure as to how I feel about this. I think that even an author as popular a JKR should move on to something else at some time and start "letting her fans go" rather than trying to keep them involved long after the story has ended. If they stay that way it's fine but activele trying to achieve this? I don't know.


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## Digital_Fey (Jun 23, 2011)

I tend to agree with Amanita. It's fine for die-hard fans, but one can have too much Potter. (Although I never would have believed that at age ten, when I ate, slept and breathed Harry Potter ). I think that if, as an author, you find a goldmine like the HP series then it's just too tempting to stick with the characters and environment you know, instead of moving on to something new. The books *were* pretty good, but as for this new site, I can take it or leave it.


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## Ophiucha (Jun 23, 2011)

From the announcements and early photos, it seems to me that this is going to be quarter-social network (there are friends and presumably forums of some sort), half-encyclopedia, and quarter-miscellany entertainment (sorting, etc.). There seems to be a house points system, which may have something to do with the ebooks that are being released to correspond with this (like, finish book one for X house points sort of thing), or just the usual "posting on forums +10" sort of deal. I have enough HP-lovers as friends for anything social network'y to be useful, and I'd skim the encyclopedia if it had information on the houses, wandlore (which I've heard it will, definitely), or some of my favourite characters. And I've got enough free time to waste on another forum arguing about the minutiae of dementors with strangers, so sure, sounds fun. Not sure what it will offer that other sites won't, though, but if the ebooks are a big part of it, then there you go.


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## myrddin173 (Jun 23, 2011)

Thank you for posting this, I hadn't heard of it.  It looks really interesting.  Then again I am very much a "potterhead" which may be because of my uncanny resemblance to Harry Potter.  Seriously, small children have walked by me, pointed at me, and said "look its Harry Potter."  I had known that Jo was planning an encyclopedia containing all of the worldbuilding she did but didn't make it into the books, I did not expect it being released in this manner though!

Edit: I just watched the intro video on the main page and the animation with the books was really cool.


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## J. Rosemary Moss (Jun 23, 2011)

To me, the big news about Pottermore is that J.K. Rowling is finally selling her Harry Potter series as e-books (that will, thankfully, be compatible with Kindle)--and that she's doing it on her own and has therefore "sidelined the publishing industry" as one agent's blog post puts it. We'll see what effect this has on the industry . . .

Meanwhile, I'm thrilled that I'll finally be able to purchase the Potter books in e-book format!


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## Kate (Jun 23, 2011)

Love it.  
I can't imagine that I'll be a die hard user of all of the added bits and pieces, games etc, but I am definitely looking forward to reading the back story material and such.
It might seem like JKR is milking the Potterverse for all (some may think more) than it is worth, but I don't really see it as such. It's creating a subtext for the core novels, heightening the possibility for enjoyment and interest for a lot of people.  It reminds me a lot of Tolkien's work in that his "life work" was Middle Earth, The Hobbit and LOTR became the core novels of that but there are millions of pages of additional content, backstory and the like.  It's all just another facet of the creation.


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## myrddin173 (Aug 3, 2011)

I have just validated my account, so I will be one of the lucky million.  Access to the beta site will be restricted for a couple weeks so I won't be able to actually explore it.  When I do I plan on writing a review of it to show the rest of you what it is like.


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## Amanita (Aug 3, 2011)

> When I do I plan on writing a review of it to show the rest of you what it is like.


Ah, that's nice. 
On "my" German fantasy forum people keep going on about this as well, but I don't really want to spend all the time to get. I'm not such a big fan after all, but big enough for a bit of curiosity.


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## Kaellpae (Aug 3, 2011)

I live in a world where the bad guys died and all the good guys live.

The last book seemed to have a lot of unnecessary deaths.


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## myrddin173 (Aug 3, 2011)

Kaellpae said:


> I live in a world where the bad guys died and all the good guys live.
> 
> The last book seemed to have a lot of unnecessary deaths.



You do realize the book is called _Harry Potter and the _Death_ly Hallows_ right?  Anyways the first stage of grief is denial.  Though I have to say four/five years is an awful long time not to have gone though all the stages


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## Kaellpae (Aug 4, 2011)

I could've sworn it was Harry Potter and the Plot Device That Kills All The Bad Guys While Sparing The Good.

Maybe that was just my copy though.


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## Kelise (Aug 7, 2011)

I got into the beta testing as well - on the first day in the first five minutes! Which I was thankful for, when I saw how much trouble people were having trying to get in during the week after.

Should be mildly interesting when it opens though.


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## Angharad (Aug 16, 2011)

I am intrigued by it, although I haven't signed up yet. I'll probably wait until October when the unwashed masses are allowed in.  I am a die-hard Potterhead.  I have read the books and seen the movies numerous times, and I admit I can never get enough of the Potter universe.  I thought the books just got better and better, and I was amazed at how she tied so many complicated plot details together.  Yes, there were a lot of deaths at the end, but how could that be avoided, considering the intensity of the battle?  It would have been unrealistic if all of the secondary characters survived.  The only thing I wish she hadn't done was kill off both Lupin and Tonks, leaving their child an orphan.


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## Kaellpae (Aug 16, 2011)

I don't mind some of the deaths, but. If she'd spared Lupin or Tonks.
Sirius I hated that he died, but hated how he died even more.


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## Urethule111 (Aug 16, 2011)

For my part, I have loved the Potter Universe ever since I was introduced to it. Naturally there were things I liked, and things I disliked throughout the series, but I don't believe that she did anything unjustifiable with her plot lines or characters. Having read a great many series, some ongoing, some now finished, I feel that the ending to Harry Potter was the best ending I have come across in a multiple book series thus far. Of course, Deathly Hallows was my favorite book of the series, and I found some of the deaths painful, but not entirely unexpected. From the first book she has been gradually been increasing the adult themes. Experiencing and more importantly Dealing with death is a huge theme of becoming an adult. Several of the deaths still bring me to the point of tears, particularly Lupin, Tonks, and Fred. Their deaths hurt, but I cannot imagine The Deathly Hallows without them. By the end I actually felt lucky that more of the protagonists were not lying dead. It may have been unbearable for either of Ron or Hermione to have died. All in all, I personally feel that J.K. Rowlings use of death in her books always serves a purpose, and is well done. A sharp plot device wielded like a scalpel. Much preferable to other authors such as George R. R. Martin, who uses the same tool less like a scalpel, and more like a dull rusted machete.


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## Kelise (Aug 25, 2011)

I just got my welcome email into Pottermore! Sorted into Ravenclaw which is a bit of a surprise. My want is unicorn hair which - well, I'd prefer Dragon heart string. Other than that, it's really quite interesting! 

Out of the million who earned beta places, 34,976 students have begun. Currently Gryffindor and Slytherin are neck and neck for the House Cup with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff trailing behind.

The site is still very shaky though. It's beta testing after all.


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## Kaellpae (Aug 27, 2011)

Either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw hopefully for me. As for wands... I don't think I would care much as I don't know Rowling's wandlore at all.


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## Angharad (Aug 27, 2011)

I'd hate to be sorted into Slytherin.


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## Kelise (Aug 27, 2011)

So far I don't know anyone who's been sorted to where they want to be, or where they thought they'd be. It's all a bit odd. The sorting quiz is very... well, the questions are kind of like 'There is a path to a forest, and a path to the ocean, which do you take?'


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## Ophiucha (Aug 31, 2011)

I wanted to be in Slytherin, and I ended up in Slytherin - I would have felt rather weird if I had ended up anywhere else, to be quite honest. I love the questions. They aren't _easy_. You can't look at the choices and say, "If I answer with that, it'll give me a point towards Ravenclaw", and that's why it is spectacular - but admittedly, as a Potterhead, a bit terrifying. Those moments while it was loading my house, I was worried I was going to end up in Ravenclaw because I answered a lot of the questions with Merlin-based answers (but, it turns out, [mild spoilers!] Merlin was a Slytherin!). I also love that there's a bit more information on wandlore in Ollivander's Shop - that's always been a topic that has fascinated me, so I'm glad to have read some of it. I can't recall my wand off the top of my head, but I know it was unicorn hair.

As for the Pottermore experience, obviously it is in beta, but I think it's alright. Not going to spend a lot of time on it, but I'll definitely go through all of the books and read the extra information, at least on the characters and places I really loved. I hope we get some more information on some of the Death Eaters, personally. Some of the little games are annoying, though. Casting a spell requires that you sort of type it out, but timed, and twice, and skipping certain letters. Rather weird. The potions is a bit finicky, as well, though again, beta. It's fun, might be more fun once there is something to do with other people, but for now I'm done until Chamber of Secrets is available.

Oh, and anyone who is in, let me know your Pottermore name. I'm SeerWalnut24!


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## myrddin173 (Sep 1, 2011)

I'm still waiting for my welcome email but I really hope I get into ravenclaw!


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## myrddin173 (Sep 12, 2011)

Just got sorted!  I wonder if anyone can guess which house I am in.


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## Kaellpae (Sep 13, 2011)

Sluvendor!


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