In one of the polls in the Sidebar, I asked about a month ago: Will the Pottermore site be ready for October launch?
Here are the results:
Of course – It’s a Beta test! Glitches are to be expected! 29.17% (84 votes)
No way – The site is waaaaay too far behind. 17.01% (49 votes)
I’m not inside, so how should I know? 37.85% (109 votes)
I’m inside, and I still have no idea! 15.97% (46 votes)
The correct answer is now officially “No way – The site is waaaaay too far behind.” Or at least, it’s way too far behind for a massive general public launch.
This morning the Pottermore Insider revealed that everybody in the Beta will have about another month to play around with the site. Towards the end of October, the site will open for registration, but activation will be phased in order to maintain site stability – just as it has been phased in the Beta. Here are the salient points from the Pottermore Insider:
Since the launch of the Beta, we’ve seen really high levels of activity, and interaction with the site has been phenomenal. This affects how quickly we can give everyone access. As a result, we’ve decided to extend the Beta period beyond September and take a different approach to the way new users are brought onto the site.
From the end of October, registration will be opened to everyone and we’ll be giving access to registered users in phases. Access may be granted quickly, but please note it could also take some weeks or months, depending on demand.
We are also making a number of enhancements and simplifications to Pottermore, in order to make the site smoother and more enjoyable – so existing Beta users will likely experience some changes when new users begin to join.
Finally, the Pottermore Shop, which will sell the Harry Potter eBooks and digital audio books, will now open in the first half of 2012, in order to allow us to focus on our first priority: opening Pottermore to as many people as possible and making the experience as good as it can be.
Feel free to express your thoughts – and frustrations – below.
I think this is a positive thing. To me it shows they are trying to make everything work for us. There are some companies at this point that would just go ahead and open up in October, regardless of the technical flaws, and make the users suffer through it. They are interested in making this a great experience, not just getting a higher number of users.
Of course, people are going to complain like crazy that it’s not finished.. however, if it were me working on the inside, I’d much rather have a small group of people complaining then have the masses come in and complain because it’s still buggy and possibly lose my audience due to technical issues. They will still lose some people over this, but not nearly as many in my opinion.
I think they can make this work if they communicate very clearly and repeatedly with the public that it may take weeks or months after registration to gain access.
I agree that it’s best to make the site ready for a large influx. But it is still somewhat shocking that they were caught by surprise at the high level of interaction users wanted.
At the same time, I’m hoping that they can learn and improve and add the content for future books more seamlessly. I’m hoping that this will be a pretty amazing user experience by the time they get to PoA.
Heh, I’m happy. Things may settle down in October enough for me to have a chance to play around in there without the site constantly going away due to heavy volume!
Works for me! I’m glad they’re letting everyone know ahead of time, and I’m glad it gives the Beta Testers who were added this week about a month to enjoy the site.
I was surprised that everyone else will also have to wait for their Welcome Email, but it makes sense. I’d much rather the site be available, and I have potions to brew!
Pottermore is run by Sony. I’m not suggesting that Sony does wrongly by its customers – there’s no need. Look at other Sony products, from the hacking scandals in April this year, to the shutdown of Star Wars Galaxies. Pottermore is free, correct? What incentive does Sony have to ensure it releases on time, and with the level of interaction befitting a fandom comprised of millions?
It’s disappointing that they’re delaying – and that they delayed telling us they were doing this until today. I was looking forward to getting into Pottermore tomorrow. It’s also my understanding that, rather than take control of those users with multiple accounts, the policy is just to loudly disapprove of them.
What about those of us who would be happy with any house, just for the chance to play? No policy in place to “recycle” the account info, or allow for giveaways that Sony actually knows about?
So I’m afraid I can’t say that I’m happy with the delay. To me – a longtime Sony customer, in spite of its best efforts to push me away – this just smacks of typical Sony behaviour towards end-users, fans, and customers alike.
Actually, it’s not run by Sony. It’s sponsored by Sony. It’s developed (and apparently run) by TH_NK. As far as I can tell, Sony’s participation is pretty much limited to money and branding. I’m not even sure that they’re using Sony server space! LOL.
That’s not to say that the delay is not disappointing. But I’m just not sure how much of a role Sony is playing in the delay.
i’m finally in the site and i luv it. it will take me forever to get to everything. lots to do, and learn about.i still can’t make a potion wish they will give more time. i luved being sorted got in Gy. and my wand is so funky looking. the only problem i have is i keep getting knocked off every few minutes. does any one else have this problem or could it be my computer?
I’m actually a little bewildered by the underestimation of this fandom that seems to have taken place during the whole process! Surely a little research would show how dedicated the fans are to Harry, there have been countless articles and books written on the subject.
Don’t get me wrong I love the site, the extra information is wonderful and has actually made me a bit teary in places. I just think the planning and execution of the project could have been so much better with just a little research!
That’s the part that boggles me as well. Market research, people? Ever heard of it? How could they not get that the fandom is huge and that the fandom wants to interact and that the fandom wants to play games? This is 2011… not 1999.
I am with Beth83 in being bewildered, no make that totally baffled, by the complete under estimation of fandom and how it interacts. Even JKR herself was almost blank with shock when she realised the impact her books were having with fans on the net.
Excuse me? Did no one involved with this take even the smallest look at the multitude of well hosted fan sites in dozens of different countries that adore the books and JKR herself? They love interacting with each other! Although the time for discussion about ‘what happens next’ is long gone it has been replaced by something just as special; being Sorted and what I think of as House Loyalty.
THIS is what will keep people returning to the site. As a Hufflepuff myself I have seen students ‘arrive’ devastated they didn’t make Gryffindor or Ravenclaw but, once they see the friendliness of their fellow House members they begin to love their House. It is just massively unfortunate that interaction is like wading through treacle. it is impossible to interact fluently as comments are moderated when they have numbers in or a spelling mistake of any kind. It is impossible to communicate with one person, even using their Pottermore name and number gets you moderated.
At the moment all you can do is make a limited number of potions, you cannot duel, spell casting is not fun, and fans have already begun to make their own more interactive ‘common rooms’ offsite on Ning and their own web pages (depending on the web skills and finances available). This is what the site builders should be concerned about. People are leaving the site to chat more readily.
They have taken a few wrong turns, like Harry on the Goblet of Fire maze. I expected a buggy site that needed work, crashed sometimes but was worth the effort no mater what; a site with small but exciting bits of interaction, clicking to get from room to room and finding things in hidden corners with a chance to chat with fellow House members. What we have is a site with rigidly limited interaction that looks absolutely beautiful but not one I return to as often as I should.
Here’s the Insider’s update “So Pottermore will not be opening to new users just yet. For all of you who are waiting to enter Pottermore, we want to thank you for being so patient – we’re working very hard to make some exciting improvements, and we’re really looking forward to welcoming you to the site when it’s ready.”
Full post is here http://insider.pottermore.com/2011/10/making-pottermore-even-better.html
So we were right to think the site won’t be ready…
I’ve had about enough of waiting for this site. Anybody with half a brain should have known it would be used by millions of fans and would need to handle massive traffic loads. Not being part of the Beta test group I still have no access and am sick of checking it out to see if we have any progress whatsoever. (NO) Think I will just stick with the fantastic array of fan sites that have been established for years and who do a great job without the likes of Sony being involved.