So today, I did something I tend not to do.... I looked at old emails for the fun of it. And I realized something... I miss whoever used to respond to us.
A good many of you probably don't know what happened in beta, but the idea was, user base goes in, and helps Pottermore iron out the kinks in it's own site. We were test dummies on a widely untested site, to help determine what they could do and what would go over well. But here's the great thing... on occasion, they'd give actual answers. When I asked if Chamber of Secrets was coming soon, I got this:
"Thank you for getting in touch with us.Since we launched Pottermore, our one million Beta users have given us lots of amazing feedback, and we’ve been collecting their thoughts and comments so that we can make Pottermore the best experience it can be before it opens to everyone.After looking closely at all the information that we've gathered, we have decided to further extend the Beta period so we can improve Pottermore before giving more people access, however we hope to open the registration for sometime this month."
Asking on another matter (a disappearing cauldron) I got this:
You know what, that wasn't the only moment of usefulness, there was also:
That's not just the thing, they used to say usernames if you mentioned them and while you would usually get what's now known to users as "canned spam" there were more moments where there would be glimmers of actual progress. This has decreased so much over time, and I rarely see it happen anymore. Now, this may be purely a logistics issue, as there are quite a few users, and not as much staff to respond, but debatably, this is really detracting on user experience, and now I think I can fully articulate why.
For ages, I was thinking it was something that I had lost, or something that may not have ever been there. But it has. It was there a long time ago, and now it's gone. I doubt it will come back so long as we use the site but that's no reason to give up on complaining and shouting. If anything, it's a reason to shout more. Time and time again, I see pottermore users with common sense solutions to moderation issues. I see people that know the environment on the ground, and they know what to do. The only thing that's missing, is communication.
All of us matter. If enough people shout, we will change things eventually. Though this really is more ranting than my usual posts, I hope it at least reminds people that yes, stuff like this works eventually. Even though the actions rarely cause reactions with the speed we'd enjoy... every shouting voice helps.
"We are aware of the trouble you are experiencing and are currently working on a solution to the problem. Please be patient, keep trying and check Pottermore Insider for updates.Unfortunately we are unable to reset the account to reflect the objects or galleons lost due to the potion glitch.Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused."
You know what, that wasn't the only moment of usefulness, there was also:
That's not just the thing, they used to say usernames if you mentioned them and while you would usually get what's now known to users as "canned spam" there were more moments where there would be glimmers of actual progress. This has decreased so much over time, and I rarely see it happen anymore. Now, this may be purely a logistics issue, as there are quite a few users, and not as much staff to respond, but debatably, this is really detracting on user experience, and now I think I can fully articulate why.
For ages, I was thinking it was something that I had lost, or something that may not have ever been there. But it has. It was there a long time ago, and now it's gone. I doubt it will come back so long as we use the site but that's no reason to give up on complaining and shouting. If anything, it's a reason to shout more. Time and time again, I see pottermore users with common sense solutions to moderation issues. I see people that know the environment on the ground, and they know what to do. The only thing that's missing, is communication.
All of us matter. If enough people shout, we will change things eventually. Though this really is more ranting than my usual posts, I hope it at least reminds people that yes, stuff like this works eventually. Even though the actions rarely cause reactions with the speed we'd enjoy... every shouting voice helps.
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