And all it cost you was either your firstborn or cutest child!

/me selflessly gave up her third account.

 

I forgot.

Thank you Ashaya for kicking a spare Pottermore account at me.

 

SpiritCastle144
Hufflepuff
Ash with phoenix feather core, 14 and a half inches, unyielding.

Really happy to get in.

 

Depending on what you want the child for, a very wise or very strange condition...

 

HexSun53

Cypress with Phoenix feather core, 14 1/2 inches and slightly springy.

HUFFLEPUFF

 

A couple of random comments now that I've finished the chapters and played with most stuff (yeah, I was slow as heck getting though them):

1. The comments for the chapter where Harry discovers the Mirror of Erised (chapter 12? something like that). I'd say about 80% of the comments are variants on "OMG, I DIDN'T NOES THAT YOU COULD READ TEH INSCRIPTION BACKWARD!"

Am I being unfair, or is it OK to roll my eyes at the huge number of people who neither figured it out while reading, nor did any research on it before now? Maybe it's less obvious for the non-dork set. :facepalm


2. Potions. :facepalm I'm running at about 2 successes vs. 9 failures (though only one busted cauldron). Most of the failures were caused by stupid shit, like ingredients that would be easy to handle in real life, but really unwieldy with the mouse. I'm fine with admitting that I'm not good at it, but I'd rather be not-good for more subtle reasons than "It's hard to pour liquids with a mouse."

Also, I find it ironic that, unlike the canon version of Potions, the Pottermore version has quite a lot of "foolish wand waving." They've got it set up so that the wand acts as a sort of timer stop when you're done with the potion. I guess they wanted something magical in that role, instead of something more logical like covering the cauldron with a top, or maybe just flipping over the hourglass.

 

I have 100% success on potions in practice mode, 100% failure outside of practice mode.

 

Especially considering that these comments come from people who went to lengths to get into Pottermore early and have probably read the books, this is a non-pleasant surprise. I seem to have too much confidence in fans to have believed otherwise, but, well.

Seems like I shouldn't read the comments when I'm finally in, too much rage-potential On another note, only one month left :awesome

Also, hi everybody.

 

There's an excellent set of Youtube potions tutorials by StormChestnut89- given that account sits in the top four of Gryffindor, I'd say they know of what they speak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJMmngtEAfs&feature=related

The trick seems to be controlling your time use and the flames. Also, pick up bottles by the top and use the cauldron edge to control how they tip.

Biggest tip- don't count an ingredient added until the little counter-circle shows it correctly. If you start the next thing too soon, the app will treat it as not being included.

I've made 2 batches of Forgetfullness now, so I'd say it's good advice.

Overall though, I have better things to do than keep poking at the site. Once the walkthrough is done and you've completed a few potions, the allure wears off. They need more games, a better chat system and more stable servers if they want to sustain interest.

Also, if I were the developer I'd be poking JKR for more insights and new material to add in. The site probably won't have all seven books posted for a couple years. She should be able to expand in all sorts of ways over that period, since she has little else creative to occupy her of late.

 

I'm so jealous of all of you >_< Is there any way to get a beta account now?

 

I can give you one, check pm.
Edit: I hope you get it, because I have some problems with PM system.

 

So I've got the shopping list in Diagon Alley but it still won't let me move on to the next scene. It doesn't appear that I can do anything with the list in the trunk screen. Am I missing something obvious here?

 

It won't let me advance to the "Harry and Hagrid Visit Gringott's" scene despite the fact that the shopping list is in my trunk and I've heard that's all you need to move on past "Arriving at Diagon Alley".

 

You need to pick up something (don't remember what it was) from the ground just before the entrance to Gringott's. This is pretty much a common problem, so I think they should change it somehow.

 

That's the shopping list. But picking it up didn't seem to do anything for me.

 

Did you buy everything you need? Maybe you missed something.

 

I think you start shopping after the visit to Gringott's.

 

You have to click on the Gringott's Door to get into Gringott's scene.