JK Rowling Slaps Fans In The Face With 'Pottermore'

Today was the big day! JK Rowling would finally announce what Pottermore was. Well, sort of. Let's take a look at both the good and the bad of this announcement (the good is discussed towards the end). I know you couldn't see me this morning but I laughed and yelled at my computer and then walked away. That's right! This 13 year fan of the series does not appreciate being pandered to like I am a blubbering idiot who will accept every spec of Potter related news like it is a piece of gold! Let's face it folks, this announcement was anything but gold. She teased us and created such anticipation with a clever and cute countdown clock with owls that would eventually reveal to us what Pottermore was on June 23, 2011. The time has come and gone and what did she really say? Register your email (which isn't working for a lot of people) and then come back in a little over a month on July 31st. Will we get to see Pottermore in a month?? NO! A select group will have a chance to help 'create' it the world of Pottermore. Okay, that's definitely cool. What about everyone else? Oh they get a letter saying they weren't chosen and to come back in October. October!!  A big portion of the Harry Potter fandom have grown up with this series and are now young adults and adults who are very intelligent and can handle straight forward news. Personally, I feel this announcement could have been handled in a much better way that would have eased us into the acceptance that Pottermore would be coming later on. Or why not make the countdown a week before July 31st and then contact the selected helpers later. Why make a countdown and then say 'and now wait another month'. However, since this is a corporate site (in which SONY  is oddly a partner of and is rumored to potentially sell their products on the site. Really?! Why?) they marketed it with all the corporate bells, whistles, and slogans that they could fit in there.

I always appreciated how much Rowling valued her fans. But this was definitely a slap in the face. Face it folks, she didn't really tell us anything. A lot of the info going around is from press conferences she is giving and such. If it wasn't for those we'd only know that we are getting a 'unique online experience'. Wait, does she mean unique like every single other Harry Potter fan site that is out there delivering news as it happens? Sheesh. Also, we don't like to be called the 'digital generation'. So cut that out. But wait, some good news came from this right? We get eBooks! But haven't I heard of people reading Harry Potter books on their eReaders already? Okay so no new news yet but it has to be coming soon. 

We have been promised a 'unique experience' that will allow readers to actually live through the books by getting sorted, choosing the wand, mixing potions, earning house points, ect. This in theory is pretty cool but at the same time I am reminded of the many roleplaying sites out there dedicated to the Harry Potter world and feel you would get more from a roleplaying site than this section of Pottermore. We know that Rowling has the HP world on a lock and that nobody can even think of creating HP media without going through her. So because of that we get things like this; great ideas not fully realized. Anyway, I was lucky enough to save 4 Pottermore pictures from the site this morning that give you a glimpse of the 'roleplaying' aspect of the site. Upon revisiting the site this afternoon the section with these photos has been removed. Very odd. You can check these photos at the bottom of this article.

She also mentioned that we would be getting all the backstory information and side information that she never released in the books. This is great news! However, we can only assume that this means that the Scottish Book is not being made and in lieu of that we are getting Pottermore. This to me is actually half sad news as I would have much preferred to have a cool Potter encyclopedia type book in my hands to read. But still, getting all new information is completely fantastic! New material on wand wood, Dean Thomas' backstory (that she apparently cut for Neville's backstory), a more detailed explanation of Quidditch (along with a deleted speech from Dumbledore explaining its logical nature), Professor McGonagall's love for a Muggle as a young woman, how the Dursleys met (Petunia was working in an office) and including new information about Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses! See now this is the kind of stuff she should have said in her little video. Maybe fans might not be so angry if she did. Overall, Pottermore seems like nothing more than a corporate Potter site that will have some cool features and some amazingly cool new Potter information! Let's face it, the new Potter information is all people are dying to see from this marketing venture. But for now let's sit back and wait to see what happens with this site as both July and October come closer. It can only get better from here. And hey, its free!

Pottermore
Guardian.co.uk

*Click image to enlarge
This are images that were up on the site this morning and have since been taken down.