I have received my welcome 이메일 from 포터모어 the 일 before yesterday and I would like to tell 당신 how I like it so far.
Exploring the Chapters
This is in my opinion the main thing 당신 can do on 포터모어 and I really liked it. The pictures for the different moments are very beautiful and I 사랑 the fact that 당신 can zoom to three different levels so that different things come into focus. This makes everything seem 더 많이 real. When 당신 옮기기 the cursor to the left 또는 to the right, things in the picture that are closer to 당신 will 옮기기 further on the screen than things that are farther away. This gives a nice sense of three-dimensionality, although 당신 can't 옮기기 sideways very far.
Some objects will show a reaction if 당신 십자가, 크로스 them with the cursor, which makes exploring 더 많이 exciting and shows a 사랑 for detail. Collecting things also makes it 더 많이 interesting, although 당신 can't really do anything with most of the objects, but at least 당신 receive house points.
I can gladly say that the site exceeded my expectations optically. However, I think the moments could be improved if 당신 could find something on every zoom level of every picture to make the zoom function 더 많이 sensible, but in most moments 당신 really can't find everything without zooming, so it is quite good already.
But now about the content: In each chapter 당신 can read about the characters, objects, places etc. that appear in this chapter in the book. Most of the content is headed with "From the Story", which means that 당신 already know what they tell 당신 there if 당신 have read the book and I skipped most of those (in general very short) texts. However, there are also parts headed with "New from J.K. Rowling" (which means new background information for the story) 또는 "J.K. Rowling's thoughts" (e.g. why she chose certain names for certain characters). I found those texts very interesting to read and especially enjoyed Minerva's story. 당신 can find information on her life in three different chapters so 당신 get an agreeable amount of text.
Buying Your Wand and Getting Sorted
These were two of the features I was especially excited about and I enjoyed answering the questions. Sometimes I had to think really hard to decide for one option, so it took me quite a while. I like the fact that 당신 do these two 퀴즈 at the right time in the story, so 당신 won't belong to any house until the Sorting Hat chapter. A small negative result of this is that 당신 only get points for collecting stuff from this point on, so people who find certain objects only when they go through the chapters for the 초 time (when they have already been sorted) will have 더 많이 house points in the end that those who found everything at once.
As for the Sorting Hat - I still think that 당신 can know better which house 슈츠 당신 best yourself than the website could know from the seven 질문 당신 answered. I would like it better if everyone had to answer a greater amount of 질문 from J.K. Rowling's pool. Of course, 7 is an important number in the books, but I would value a good Sorting result 더 많이 than this symbolic aspect.
I found most of the 질문 very interesting, but I didn't like the 질문 "Black 또는 white?". Are 당신 supposed to choose the colour 당신 like better (e.g. what 당신 prefer to wear) 또는 should 당신 consider the symbolic aspects? I've got the feeling that this kind of 질문 rather tends to distort the result than help finding the right house for someone.
Potion Brewing and Dueling
Once 당신 have explored all the chapters, this is what remains for 당신 to do until the 다음 book is published. Like this 당신 can earn 더 많이 house points, however 당신 might also lose some if your Potions explode. If 당신 fail to brew your Potion correctly, but it doesn't explode (which hasn't happened to me so far), 당신 will get one point for trying. Personally, I think the difficulty is appropriate because it would be kind of boring if 당신 succeeded every time. I also think it is really helpful that 당신 can practice the "Cure for Boils" without using up your ingredients (which 당신 have to buy in Diagon Alley - but 당신 have got lots of money!) and without risking to lose points. However, I wish 당신 could also practice the other Potions before actually brewing them because it is much easier if 당신 already know what to do without checking the book after every step because there is a time limit.
The time 당신 have to let the Potion brew before 당신 can do the last steps can be a little annoying (the Cure for Boils for instance takes 1-3 hours depending on which cauldron 당신 use). On the other hand, it also makes the experience closer to reality.
Just as the Potions, 당신 can also practice the spells before 당신 actually start a duel. This is really necessary because I think that the explanation how to do it is not very good. At first I didn't know that 당신 have to click each letter twice (not only the first one), once when the line hits it and once when the ring reaches its highest radius.
I like the fact that different spells have different difficulties and the harder ones will lead to better results.
At the moment, dueling is undergoing maintenance, so I couldn't try out my skills against other users yet, but I already know that 당신 can only earn house points if 당신 win against someone from another house. This is quite a good thing because otherwise people would just keep dueling their house mates so that your house would get points no matter who wins.
Adding Friends
What needs to be improved most on 포터모어 in my opinion is the interaction between users. I really miss the option to send someone a message.
If 당신 add someone as a friend and (s)he adds 당신 back, 당신 are able to see his/her 프로필 and which chapter (s)he is currently exploring. However there isn't much 더 많이 to it. The only way 당신 can "talk" to other users is 의해 leaving a 코멘트 in the Great Hall (where everyone can see it) 또는 in your Common Room (where only people from your own house can see it).
How the Site Is Working So Far
On my computer at least, 포터모어 runs quite well. At some points, collecting an item didn't work at the first try, but that didn't happen very often and I always managed to collect it in the end, so it didn't annoy me very much. Once I had to wait for a while before I could continue exploring because they were just doing some updates, but it's obvious that this can happen in the beta phase. What I was really glad about is that most of the time there weren't any long 로딩 times. The only thing that sometimes took a moment was adding an object to my trunk.
Beta Feedback
In the corner of the page there is a button for giving 포터모어 feedback. If 당신 press it, a 투표 will open up. However it is a very short one and I wonder how they can take much out of it. I didn't find any 우주 were 당신 can make a concrete suggestion how the site could be improved. Of course, 당신 can tell that in the 코멘트 below chapters, but I don't think they read all the 코멘트 because there are just too many and some of them just say things like "I 사랑 Hermione so much".
Exploring the Chapters
This is in my opinion the main thing 당신 can do on 포터모어 and I really liked it. The pictures for the different moments are very beautiful and I 사랑 the fact that 당신 can zoom to three different levels so that different things come into focus. This makes everything seem 더 많이 real. When 당신 옮기기 the cursor to the left 또는 to the right, things in the picture that are closer to 당신 will 옮기기 further on the screen than things that are farther away. This gives a nice sense of three-dimensionality, although 당신 can't 옮기기 sideways very far.
Some objects will show a reaction if 당신 십자가, 크로스 them with the cursor, which makes exploring 더 많이 exciting and shows a 사랑 for detail. Collecting things also makes it 더 많이 interesting, although 당신 can't really do anything with most of the objects, but at least 당신 receive house points.
I can gladly say that the site exceeded my expectations optically. However, I think the moments could be improved if 당신 could find something on every zoom level of every picture to make the zoom function 더 많이 sensible, but in most moments 당신 really can't find everything without zooming, so it is quite good already.
But now about the content: In each chapter 당신 can read about the characters, objects, places etc. that appear in this chapter in the book. Most of the content is headed with "From the Story", which means that 당신 already know what they tell 당신 there if 당신 have read the book and I skipped most of those (in general very short) texts. However, there are also parts headed with "New from J.K. Rowling" (which means new background information for the story) 또는 "J.K. Rowling's thoughts" (e.g. why she chose certain names for certain characters). I found those texts very interesting to read and especially enjoyed Minerva's story. 당신 can find information on her life in three different chapters so 당신 get an agreeable amount of text.
Buying Your Wand and Getting Sorted
These were two of the features I was especially excited about and I enjoyed answering the questions. Sometimes I had to think really hard to decide for one option, so it took me quite a while. I like the fact that 당신 do these two 퀴즈 at the right time in the story, so 당신 won't belong to any house until the Sorting Hat chapter. A small negative result of this is that 당신 only get points for collecting stuff from this point on, so people who find certain objects only when they go through the chapters for the 초 time (when they have already been sorted) will have 더 많이 house points in the end that those who found everything at once.
As for the Sorting Hat - I still think that 당신 can know better which house 슈츠 당신 best yourself than the website could know from the seven 질문 당신 answered. I would like it better if everyone had to answer a greater amount of 질문 from J.K. Rowling's pool. Of course, 7 is an important number in the books, but I would value a good Sorting result 더 많이 than this symbolic aspect.
I found most of the 질문 very interesting, but I didn't like the 질문 "Black 또는 white?". Are 당신 supposed to choose the colour 당신 like better (e.g. what 당신 prefer to wear) 또는 should 당신 consider the symbolic aspects? I've got the feeling that this kind of 질문 rather tends to distort the result than help finding the right house for someone.
Potion Brewing and Dueling
Once 당신 have explored all the chapters, this is what remains for 당신 to do until the 다음 book is published. Like this 당신 can earn 더 많이 house points, however 당신 might also lose some if your Potions explode. If 당신 fail to brew your Potion correctly, but it doesn't explode (which hasn't happened to me so far), 당신 will get one point for trying. Personally, I think the difficulty is appropriate because it would be kind of boring if 당신 succeeded every time. I also think it is really helpful that 당신 can practice the "Cure for Boils" without using up your ingredients (which 당신 have to buy in Diagon Alley - but 당신 have got lots of money!) and without risking to lose points. However, I wish 당신 could also practice the other Potions before actually brewing them because it is much easier if 당신 already know what to do without checking the book after every step because there is a time limit.
The time 당신 have to let the Potion brew before 당신 can do the last steps can be a little annoying (the Cure for Boils for instance takes 1-3 hours depending on which cauldron 당신 use). On the other hand, it also makes the experience closer to reality.
Just as the Potions, 당신 can also practice the spells before 당신 actually start a duel. This is really necessary because I think that the explanation how to do it is not very good. At first I didn't know that 당신 have to click each letter twice (not only the first one), once when the line hits it and once when the ring reaches its highest radius.
I like the fact that different spells have different difficulties and the harder ones will lead to better results.
At the moment, dueling is undergoing maintenance, so I couldn't try out my skills against other users yet, but I already know that 당신 can only earn house points if 당신 win against someone from another house. This is quite a good thing because otherwise people would just keep dueling their house mates so that your house would get points no matter who wins.
Adding Friends
What needs to be improved most on 포터모어 in my opinion is the interaction between users. I really miss the option to send someone a message.
If 당신 add someone as a friend and (s)he adds 당신 back, 당신 are able to see his/her 프로필 and which chapter (s)he is currently exploring. However there isn't much 더 많이 to it. The only way 당신 can "talk" to other users is 의해 leaving a 코멘트 in the Great Hall (where everyone can see it) 또는 in your Common Room (where only people from your own house can see it).
How the Site Is Working So Far
On my computer at least, 포터모어 runs quite well. At some points, collecting an item didn't work at the first try, but that didn't happen very often and I always managed to collect it in the end, so it didn't annoy me very much. Once I had to wait for a while before I could continue exploring because they were just doing some updates, but it's obvious that this can happen in the beta phase. What I was really glad about is that most of the time there weren't any long 로딩 times. The only thing that sometimes took a moment was adding an object to my trunk.
Beta Feedback
In the corner of the page there is a button for giving 포터모어 feedback. If 당신 press it, a 투표 will open up. However it is a very short one and I wonder how they can take much out of it. I didn't find any 우주 were 당신 can make a concrete suggestion how the site could be improved. Of course, 당신 can tell that in the 코멘트 below chapters, but I don't think they read all the 코멘트 because there are just too many and some of them just say things like "I 사랑 Hermione so much".
