Hello! Thought I'd reply to this as somebody very happy with the changes made to Scarlett.
I do not think the creators thought of the drawbacks this has caused for a lot of players
I can assure you that people wouldn't act irrationally without first considering the drawbacks. People definitely have thought about them, and it has lead to the point where this decision has been made. It is true that many believe the drawbacks are not worth the positives of the removal of Scarlett, but that is the conclusion that has been come to after considering these drawbacks.
neurodivergent people attempting to play the game already experienced difficulties with the lack of directions in other areas of the server. The castle is complex, and personally as someone with adhd and brain damage which causes me to have memory problems and difficulty with directions I could not imagine how hard it is and will be for new players with similar or worse issues
I understand you here, as I also have brain damage, memory loss and ADHD. My memory loss is long-term, so it is difficult for me to remember all of the places and all of the coordinates but I keep them in memory by trying to help people out frequently. I enjoy helping others, and guiding them, and it is helpful for me memorising the ways around the castle as I am visiting them when I do not even need to do so myself.
It is true that the castle is complex, but now that Scarlett has been removed people will be able to wrap their heads around it. With Scarlett around, nobody knew how to navigate the castle because they didn't need to. This is why her removal was such a shock. People were so dependent on Scarlett that they didn't learn how to navigate themselves, and they lacked the experience of getting around during the very early Hogsworth quests. This will improve with time as newer players never had the experience of Scarlett and becoming dependent on her - however, it will not improve if people keep going on about how great Scarlett was. People then think that its a big shame they don't have her, and they don't have the same motivation to explore and it has a negative impact on them.
I am sure that the directions over time will improve, as we see not only the introduction of Scarlett's directions rather than a teleport but also the introduction of more signs and more NPCs around the castle to help provide more information on navigation. Where more directions are needed, they will be added - the removal of the teleports is not to intentionally make people lost, and if there is something that players struggle to find they will add more ways to make it clearer. They don't want players to get lost, they just don't want players to become dependent on Scarlett.
Likely also, what you call the "lack of directions" could easily be referring to the pre-update directions. Since the update removing the Scarlett teleports, there has been increased directions around the castle to make locations clearer and as I mentioned in the above paragraph I have no doubt that they will make certain places clearer if they need to be.
I would not suggest adding more directions, but I would suggest either bringing back the teleportation or coming up with another solution
As I have said above, I personally think that adding more directions to make certain areas clearer could be a help. It allows players to get to know the castle, allows them to get around easier, and avoids having to fully re-introduce Scarlett as the magic-teleporter-so-you-don't-need-to-know-anything-about-the-castle. I really can't see any drawbacks there, but would love to hear why you don't suggest this.
I don't think bringing back the teleportation is a good idea. Like I said, players became very dependent on Scarlett. One point I've been saying is: You only need Scarlett because you had her. If Scarlett was never here, sure people may have been struggling to get around a bit but there wouldn't be a massive uproar like there is now. People have become dependent on Scarlett, people are used to the fact that they don't need to know anything about the castle and now that they DO have to know where to go, its a shock.
Scarlett always felt, to me, as a quick solution to a sudden amount of new players joining. She never felt permanent to me - I always hoped she wasn't permanent - and it felt to me like another solution had to be found in the near future.
A good one could be finding or developing a mod like the other fantastic mods on the server to act as a "Marauder's Map" of sorts, allowing us to be able to find our way around the castle while still having the immersive experience you as creators are going for. And if you do go for this kind of approach, please bring back Scarlett's original use until completed.
This really depends on how you would imagine this specific replacement to operate. It likely couldn't be called a Marauder's Map as the original FT method for the server WAS the Marauder's Map, and it could cause confusion especially for collectors talking about their Marauder's Maps.
Still, lets just think of how a map would work. The way I see it, there are 3 options for how it would function and I'm really not sure how it could do anything else - however, it is your idea so obviously if you had something different in mind please tell me! This is just my assumptions as you didn't specify
1) An actual map, like the one we have on the website. I think this one is unlikely as you seemed to suggest it would be an item, but of course I cannot rule it out. I don't think this would work as there are many rooms and Hogsworth itself is massive and complex, as you said, so it cannot really have a map for it. If somehow they were able to, it would take a LOT of effort and time. That is if they even find a way to make it work.
2) Particles. I don't think this would work as it would cause massive amounts of lag for those on older or worse computers, so this isn't an option.
3) Directions - which is the same as what Scarlett does now.
As for bringing back Scarlett's original design, this wouldn't happen if this happened to be implemented. It is an alternate solution to Scarlett so that people do not have this dependency, and would take a large amount of effort and time to do so - reintroducing Scarlett alongside would simply negate and make all of that completely pointless. What is the worth in having an alternate solution to a problematic feature if you're just going to keep that feature anyways?
but please think of not just those who are neurotypical who play but also your neurodivergent players
This implies that Potterworld ignores neurodivergent players completely, which is a lie. It also implies that all staff are neurotypicals who don't think of those who are neurodivergent and only think of their perspectives as neurotypical people, which is also not true.
To start with, many staff are neurodivergent - and neurotypical staff are not ignorant of neurodivergent lives, perspectives and experiences. Like I said before, I can assure you that this decision was not made without considering the drawbacks - including the drawbacks that could come to neurodivergent players.
Also, Potterworld staff and players do a lot to support neurodivergent users. If you have any reason to need help, people are always willing to help you no matter your circumstances. If there is anything you are struggling with because of your neurodivergency, you can speak with players who will be happy to help you and also with staff who can see what they can do to assist you and make Potterworld more to your needs.
Potterworld is a safe place for those who are neurodivergent, and everyone here is welcoming and willing to help everyone who needs it.
I hope you can see my viewpoints and I would love a response from you to see anything else you think!