Academics and Classes

[MattyPoltergeist]

This is more feedback than a suggestion but I think it's important.
Right now here are all of the classes on the calender: Magical Crime Studies, Dueling, Flying, Potions, Mythology, Astrology, Alchemy, Literature, Wizard's PE, Creative Writing, Ghoul Studies, Ancient Studies, Poetry, and Arithmancy.
Notice anything interesting about these?

Well here's all the classes that are on the calender and also play a major part as a class in *cough* *cough* a certain wizarding franchise - not associated with anyone (of course):
- Potions
- Flying
And that's it.
Arithmancy, Alchemy, Ghoul Studies, and Ancient Studies were (at some points) also classes at... *cough* *cough* a certain famous wizarding school in a certain wizarding franchise, but were only mentioned occasionally and played no decisive role in the story.

All the classes that are NOT in (enter certain wizarding franchise here) but ARE on Potterworld are listed below:
- Astrology
- Dueling
- Wizard's PE
- Literature
- Poetry
- Creative Writing
- Mythology
- Magical Crime Studies
So why is there such a divide between the franchise and the server despite the server getting many of its most loyal fans from said franchise? Well, obviously professors want to teach their own class but I feel like recently it has gotten to the point where much of the previous resemblance has gone. Defense Against the Dark Arts is no longer taught, Astronomy is no longer taught, Charms is no longer taught, Dark Arts is no longer taught, Herbology is rarely taught... Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Unmagical Studies, Divination, Potion Theory... all no longer on the calender.

I think it would be good for Potterworld to make a firm decision on where they stand on the future of Academics and how they feel about this growing issue. Personally I think it would be better to increase the number of classes taught in (insert randomly, non-related, never-associated franchise here) as people join for that and that's what they expect to get. I made a nice venn diagram because I wanted to:

(replace 2nd Alchemy in 'Both' with Arithmancy)

 

[cheddarsoup]

Yeah I think the class system should be reworked and looked over. Even some of the existing classes that are in both the franchise and PW are lackluster, the biggest example in my mind being potions. Potions class used to be pretty cool from what I remember about it from a few years ago, but now it's just a mindless task class that takes about 5 minutes, and the potions that you get from it aren't even useful. I'd like to see some of the classes from your diagram that aren't in PW currently added (or re-added in a lot of those cases), and adjustments to current classes that aren't sufficient enough in my mind to even count as a class (if a class can end quicker than a game of Quabbleball can, that's a problem).

 

[Zmiya]

I absolutely agree.

I do think that professors, being volunteers, should be allowed to teach whatever subjects they enjoy and are passionate about, but I also think that a certain weekly checklist or something should be completed where the subjects that actually exist inside of Hogwarts are taught X amount of times. I've heard many many times things like "There's finally a Transfiguration professor" when I was in Academics and that should never be the case where a subject hasn't been taught for so long that people are happy to see it return.

 

[zachmath15]

Hi @MattyPoltergeist! Thank you for the suggestion!

At this time, we are not going to be making a quota or requirement for any of our Professors to teach a certain number of classes from specific subjects, for a few reasons.

Firstly, we do not want to force people to teach subjects that do not interest them. Our Professor positions can be very demanding jobs, and one of the most rewarding parts of the position is being able to teach whatever interests you within our magical world. I previously taught History of Magic, Magical Creature Studies, Flying, and Dance because those were the subjects that I had the most fun with, and that I felt the players enjoyed as well. I would have been less motivated to teach, and probably would have had lower-quality classes, if I had to teach a separate, prescribed set of subjects.

There are also issues surrounding the copyright status of some of the subjects you mentioned. Transfiguration, Herbology, and DADA, just to name a few, are very copyright-heavy. Because we cannot use any copyrighted material, we must have our own lore written for these subjects, which can take a lot of time. The lack of available lore makes it difficult to teach these classes.

Nevertheless, I will be sharing this post with the Academics team so they can see your perspective. If any of them are interested in teaching some of these subjects, whether as current or future Professors, they would be more than welcome to do so.

Thank you again for your feedback and have a magical rest of your day!