The Daily Diviner - Issue 28

[The Daily Diviner]

New Year's Resolutions
Feature
Written by Silquer
Edited by kvmw
​

Hello wonderful readers, and welcome to the first issue of the new year! Now that 2021 is officially here, it’s finally time to let go of the old year and start the new one with fireworks, social-distanced parties, and resolutions. Among all the excitement of the new year, you may have already heard people talking about their own New Year’s resolutions, but what exactly are they? How can they be used? Are they more of a hindrance, or are they helpful? That’s what we’re here to find out!

We’ve all heard of New Year’s resolutions, whether it was from friends who took on their own goals or from personal experience. However, these resolutions can take on many different forms depending on the person. For one person, a resolution can be one singular goal that takes up the entire year, such as becoming a better duelist on Potterworld. For another player, it could be multiple small accomplishments, like collecting chocolate frog cards and playing more minigames. Both of these resolution types are at the heart of what a resolution is: self-improvement. Regardless of what the goal is, or how many there are, the general idea is to improve yourself throughout the new year.

Despite how beneficial and helpful resolutions sound, they can sometimes be problematic. A common occurrence is unrealistic goal-setting. Certain resolutions, like reaching the highest level on Potterworld, can be difficult to accomplish in a single year. Sometimes, it’s downright impossible. If such a resolution remains unfinished, it can be demoralizing, and eventually weaken your resolve. Instead of increasing motivation, as a resolution should, it might even prevent you from making resolutions in the future. Besides decreasing motivation, it can be just plain tiring to work on one goal (or goals) throughout the entire year. Motivations and interests can change, and it just isn’t fun to do something you aren’t interested in anymore. Sadly, as good as resolutions sound, they have quite a few downsides.

On the other hand, if managed correctly, resolutions can be very helpful throughout the year. Resolutions can help organize and prioritize what you want to do in the new year. It can be hard to keep track of everything you want to do, and resolutions can help organize those thoughts and keep you on track during the coming months. In a similar way, some goals, just by existing, can provide motivation to do something you’ve always wanted to do. Finally, at the end of the year, there’s a strong feeling of accomplishment if you completed your resolution. A finished goal gives a sense of pride and triumph that can supply even more motivation for the next year. Resolutions, if handled with positivity and realistic expectations, anything is possible.

Overall, resolutions can be both good and bad. It all depends on the person and what you want to get out of it. No two resolutions look the same, either. As long as a person sets their own limits and knows themselves, resolutions can be a great tool to help many (including myself) accomplish something in a year. Happy New Year, everyone!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

A Trip Across the World
Editorial
Written by Andyreu
Edited by CelloIsMyLife
​

Hello witches and wizards, and welcome to the editorial column of the 28th edition of the Daily Diviner! On Potterworld, some of the many fun activities for players to take part in are the ones made by other players. Many players have created organizations or traditions in the past that have become staples of our server’s history. Recently, there has been an idea that has struck up a lot of attention, and I would like to spotlight it today for you all! Calista Labelle has worked with a few others to bring players across the Potterworld map to take a look at some of its key locations. If you would like to see the main page where it was introduced, you’ll see it in the Student-Run Organizations section of the forums! Personally, I found this to be an exciting idea that I know would be incredibly fun to take part in. I have never been on one of these field trips, so I am interested in seeing how they operate. I would like to introduce cqlii (Calista_Labelle), who came in today to give us all some more information about her new tradition.

What do you believe the field trips provide other students with?

Calista: We all know that the server offers classes that have lots of info about our world. However, what students are missing there is the chance to explore some of the areas they learn about and truly feel the experience of some of the classes live.

How did you come up with this idea?

Calista: Honestly, it came out of nowhere and it was very random. There was one class that many people were sad about missing out on. I ended up offering to take them on a field trip to Hogsend to make up for it! Everybody ended up really enjoying the experience and we tried out games and scavenger hunts during that field trip. Many said yes after I asked if it should become a daily tradition.

What are some of the locations you have learned about so far on these field trips?

Calista: We have visited so many areas, including Rushstone, the Ministry, Diagonal Lane, the Quabbleball Pitch at Hogsworth, Grimmane Lane, Mundane Lane, and Appleby Village.

What do you plan to do next with these field trips? Do you have any ideas for how to expand them?

Calista: I have created a team of players to help me with this idea over time, and we have actually created a discord server! This discord server includes all the details you need to join one of the field trips, like when and where they are happening. In the future, I really hope we can create a point system and rules for our field trips. Maybe we could even get to award house points some day!

After hearing what Calista has to say, I’m sure that engaging in one of her field trips would be an interesting journey. It sounds like a great chance to meet new people and have some fun with friends! It’s not often that we see these unique player-made events, but when they come along, all of the players can grow closer. It seems as if Calista has plans to get further onto the official Potterworld radar in the future, so I wish her good luck!

Thank you to Calista for taking the time to be interviewed today! I am sure that players across Potterworld have learnt and will learn a lot about the world around them through these trips. Again, I will definitely be sure to tag along on one of these field trips in the future! Remember to contact Calista if you’d like to find out more about how to get on board for these field trips! This has been Andreu with another edition of the Daily Diviner. Stay safe, everyone!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

A Year in Review: 2020's Accomplishments and 2021's Ambitions
Editorial
Written by chail3y
Edited by kvmw​

Welcome back to the Daily Diviner! My name is Chailey and in this edition of the Editorial column, we will be reflecting on 2020 on Potterworld and looking forward to the goals for the future in 2021. This past year challenged the world as a whole but Potterworld pushed through and made some amazing improvements. The staff team has big hopes for 2021 as the server continues to soar past our current standards.

This year has been huge for Potterworld. Due to the pandemic, many people have looked to the server as a magical escape. Throughout the year there were many great successes. We celebrated several events such as Valentine’s in Underland, the Spring Festival, Halloween at the Haunted Hollow, and yet another phenomenal Winter Waltz. Unique to this year was Potterworld’s 6th anniversary and the virtual graduation event for the 2020 seniors affected by the unusual year. The staff team also brought Official Roleplay back and of course, released the very well-known Revelius Update.

In general, the year was very big including some really crazy numbers for the server. Many of these things were also accomplished by you guys; the players! In 2020 alone:

88,431 new players joined the server.
2,568 classes were held
77,497 minigames were played
171,681,536 gold was deposited into player’s accounts
The staff team closed 28,816 support tickets
Players completed 504,907 quests

Looking back at this year, Potterworld has done some crazy things. I spoke with SLGStardust and Redmire to hear how they thought 2020 on Potterworld went.

PW has had a bunch of new players in 2020, and it's been exciting watching them get into the same magic that many of us fell in love with when we first started. - Redmire

The server really changed alot with revelius, I loved and could see the real effort was being placed into the events as well as the itself. - SLGStardust

Additionally, there are lots of goals for the server for this next year. I asked both of them for what they hope to see for Potterworld in 2021.

I hope to see the PW community continue to grow and enhance all aspects of server with their involvement and interest. - Redmire

I really hope and am betting on things just getting better and better as the new year rolls in, they've already knocked it out of the park with these past months. - SLGStardust

In addition to the player’s goals, I wanted to give all of you some insight into the staff team’s hopes for 2021 so I asked the heads of each department!

In 2021, our focus is on current game balance and fixing flaws in our base systems. This year will be spent more so about identifying what flaws we have and either redesigning or balancing those points. - Droobledore (Head of Game Design)

The past year for Media was one where we better established & made the department more present. For 2021 our goal is to become more efficient and branch out in terms of projects. We have a lot of cool ideas and plans and we’re so excited to work on them together as a department. - Sunnya (Head of Media)

Our primary goal as a department has been and will continue to be to provide fun, exciting, and interesting classes to the players. This year specifically, we want to continue to do this by implementing more interactive classes and making classes more important for gameplay. - HeyLookBunnies (Head of Academics)

Our goal for 2021 is to continue to deliver high quality and amazing builds for everyone to enjoy on Potterworld - RobotWizz (Head of Build)

We have a ton of interesting projects for 2021 within Tech & Dev. Some you might see the results of and some that are more back-end, but which are secret for now.. We are, however, really excited to restructure the Development subdepartment and open up the applications to the public this year. - Alexstrasza14 (Head of Development)

My goals for 2021 with CM is making the department function even better than it is now. I want to get a lead for each rank, and have as many senior members as possible - so we never get into a position again where our leads have to cover multiple roles. Furthermore, I would like to increase our communication and transparency with the player base. 2020 has taught us a lot, and based on all that I think can we make 2021 incredible - DenizTM (Head of Community Management)

In addition to being the current Head of Game Design aforementioned, Droobledore is a huge piece of this server as the founder and Headmaster. I also reached out to him to hear his opinion on how 2020 on PW went but also what his hopes are for 2021.

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. Not only on Potterworld with the pandemic, but also in real life with all the world events happening. We are proud to have released one of the biggest updates to Potterworld we have ever seen and introduce a handful of new systems that PW has never seen before in gear and spell trees and the new world. My goals for PW in 2021 is to really "find the fun", fixing balance and adjust systems that aren't working so well to really hone in on what our server is about. - Headmaster Droobledore

Potterworld is a home away from home for many people and has a strong impact on the members of our community. This year has been a hard year for everyone and Potterworld has been here through all of it. Cheers to an even better year with bigger and better things to come. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of this issue!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

First Sledding Tournament
Games and Sports
Written by MakkChi
Edited by chail3y​

Greetings, readers, and welcome back to the Games and Sports column of the Daily Diviner! As many members of the community know, tournaments are an essential part of the Potterworld community and provide healthy outlets for competition. With the introduction of the new sledding tournament, players had the chance to familiarize themselves with a new kind of sport.

Now that the holiday season is in the rearview mirror, the Potterworld community has time to reflect on the sledding tournament that occurred on December 12th. Since the match was streamed on the Potterworld YouTube channel, players watched as the competitors experienced the unique mechanics and new concept.

This new tournament allowed some community members to exhibit their talents in ways they had not been able to previously—players who had not flown or dueled competitively as frequently as others came out to participate. I’ve interviewed a few players to get their thoughts and opinions on the Winter Waltz 1v1 Sledding Tournament!

How did the Sledding Tournament differ from other tournaments? Did it have a different feel?

At first glance, the Sledding Tournament might look like a grounded flying tournament, but I think there are a couple of large differences. The biggest difference is the fact that everyone can easily memorize the maps. The biggest hurdle to becoming a strong contender at flying tournaments is map memorization, letting you handle crowded areas or confusing maps (such as Halloween forest). In flying, there is only one route. Sledding allows people to have the freedom to pick to a large degree. This let some people take risky routes to catch up at the cost of possibly losing the race bigger. - TallBlondeDude

I haven’t attended too many tournaments in the past, but from what I’ve seen the tournament went pretty similarly. I think a big difference was that Sledding is more of an everyone against everyone kind of tournament, whereas other tournaments (like Dueling) are more split up. - MaggieChi

So I think I have only participated in one other tournament, a flying tournament. It was fun but I am really bad at flying so I was out quick but I had fun and I think it really was different because it had more of a Christmas vibe of course, but it really was a lot of fun! I loved it! - Allannndrk

What were you looking forward to the most regarding the new sledding tournament?

I’ve been a huge fan of the Sledding minigame ever since it was first released. While I’m not very good at it, I was super excited to get to do a tournament for a game that I love. So, I suppose that is what I was looking forward to the most. - MaggieChi

I was most looking forward to trying Sledding because as I said it's new to me. I wasn't that bad at it, I believe I got 4th or 5th I can't remember, so it was exciting to be not bad at something. - xNyn

How did you prepare for the tournament, if you prepared at all?

I played the minigame and went to challenges. The minigame is great for learning the controls and the minigame map. Challenges and other tournaments are great for learning how to deal with the additional pressure and challenges that are caused by having more people in your race than you would be used to in a minigame. - TallBlondeDude

I didn't prepare actually xD I don't know why but I loved just going into it without practice . it was an amazing fun tournament and I would love to do it another time - Allannndrk

How did you feel about the Sledding Tournament, from the perspective of someone on the Arena Team?

The 1v1 Sledding Tournament was really fun as someone from the Arena Team. It was our first ever Sledding Tournament so we did have some lag issues, as any first tournament would. It was really interesting to see how players performed across the course, which many hadn't sled on for over a year. We've been working to limit lag and I'm super excited for a smooth 2v2 Sledding Challenge! - Tannngg

The sledding tournament is brand new and definitely interesting, its similar to flying but comes with its own challenges and struggles as well as a ton of new competitors that enjoy sledding. As an Arena Team member there are a multitude of things that we have to figure/have figured out like new maps, how to reduce lag, etc. Nonetheless these are struggles that come with the job and I still love hosting sledding as I think it’s brilliant to watch with the players, new and old compete in this holiday-themed event. - Sametric

I want to thank TallBlondeDude, Allannndrk, xNyn, MaggieChi, Sametric, and Tannngg for taking time out of their days to answer these questions!

One thing’s for sure: the Potterworld community seemed to enjoy the sledding tournament. I know that I’m looking forward to even more innovative tournaments and ways for the Potterworld community to engage in friendly competition!

Thank you for reading, have a great rest of your day, and see you next time!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Celebrating 2021
Lifestyle
Written by Becaologies
Edited by CelloIsMyLife & MakkChi
​

Hello, and welcome back to the Lifestyle column! I hope you stayed safe and your New Year was filled with magical celebrations and great food... while staying safe, of course! To bring the festivities to your part of Potterworld, keep reading for a handful of great ways to embrace the arrival of 2021! From party supplies to side events to snacks, there’s nothing you can have too much of.

There’s no better way to start 2021 off right than to host a party at your housing. No New Years party is complete without interactive and engaging activities, however. First up on the shipping list is entertaining party supplies for your housing! To have a wicked party, it’s imperative to keep your fellow classmates amused. So, stop by the Quality Quabble Supplies store in London to pick up a couple Trainer Balls to pass around while waiting for the countdown to begin! Since you’ll be in the area, add some extra variety by making a pitstop at Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment to get your very own Magical Paper Airplane! Your party guests will be sure to thank you for the fun mini-games you brought out. If you can’t make it to Diagonal Lane, though, there are some alternatives you can find in Hogsend, such as the Harp to serenade the dancers at the party, or even a Dungbomb Pack to pull a quick prank on your party mates.

Did you have a party if there were no costumes? When sending out invites to your friends, think about setting up an exclusive dress-code. Ask your classmates to either make or pick out a fresh new skin to party the night away! Want to make it even more exciting? You can incorporate a skin contest where everyone can vote on their favorite skin based on a theme. Perhaps the theme could be “My 2020,” where everyone picks a costume representing what they can’t wait to leave in the past. From dressing up as your favorite character from a new show you binged, to your work-from-home pajamas, there’s nothing that you can’t pull off! Either way, it’s up to you, as long as you have fun with it!

Along with the interactive activities provided, you can spice things up for the party-goers with some classic fireworks! If you’re still shopping in London for party supplies, make sure to check out the Wacky Wizarding Wonders Joke Shop to gather a couple Bombtastic Bomb Packs for only 5 gold! On a budget? No worries! If you’ve reached level 26 you can equip the spell, Signum, to conjure a firework straight from your wand! If you’re below level 26 a sure-fire, new-student friendly spell to illuminate the skies is Calligraphora. It’ll let everyone around you know that you’re ready to party!

Last but definitely not least, you have to have snacks at a party! The perfect way to make sure no one gets hungry in the first moments of the new year is to attend a Magical Cuisine class and learn a special dish to impress all your friends with! Check the class schedule to see when the next Magical Cuisine class is by typing “/nc” in-game chat, or go directly to the Potterworld website. No time for class? No problem! Stop by some of your fellow classmate’s housings before your party and purchase some sweets and treats from their shops!

Now that you have your party games, costumes, snacks, and fireworks, I think you’re more than ready to have a blast with all your favorite witches and wizards! Reminder to have fun, but don’t forget to stay safe this year! There’s only one New Years a year, so make this one count. Thanks for joining me today, and I can’t wait to see you in the next one! Happy New Years!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Wizarding Travel Guide
Lifestyle
Written by Carolllyn
Edited by MakkChi
​

Hello witches and wizards! Carolyn, here! Welcome to yet another one of my lifestyle articles. Today, I’ll be talking about traveling. In this vast wizarding world, it can be hard to know where to explore first. Now, you may be asking yourself these very questions: Where should you definitely visit during your travels? What are the most spectacular destinations? Well, I’ll tell you! I have a list of locations to which I would highly recommend a journeying wizard pay a visit. Keep reading for the perfect travel guide, and I encourage you to follow along!

Hogsend: This is one of the most charming towns you will ever visit. The architecture is worth noting. Short, village-like cottages line twisting streets and alleyways with the occasional spire-looking chimneys sticking up. You could shop in this town for days, the products and stores are endless! My favorite part about this town is that, when it snows, it feels like a winter wonderland. You get immersed in the fantastic, cute, snowy vibes. To get to Hogsend, simply fly southeast of Hogsworth, over the river and mountains, or follow the signs through the woods from the train station!

The Leaky Cauldron: This pub is a staple of a wizard’s life. It’s a classic landmark for those who want to enter the wizarding world from London and beyond. The entrance point to Diagonal Lane lies right outside the establishment’s doors. Simply tap the wall and see the exciting world unfold in front of you. The Leaky Cauldron is a comforting, welcoming, fun-loving place, full of socializing wizards, superb beverages and foods, as well as hotel rooms upstairs. The decor is dark, mysterious, and a little bit edgy! If you plan to stay a few days in the area, definitely consider this spot your home base.

Ireland: To some, Ireland may seem like a desolate, isolated, location, but that's just what it looks like by looking at a map! A few miles off the coast of the mainland wizarding world, Ireland could be considered a world within itself. It has a large forest, mountain ranges, a town, farms, ports, cliffs, coves, caves, a waterfall, and even a Quidditch stadium. The town is a petite, wonderful community with multi-colored homes and picnic blankets scattered around the parks. The views are astonishing! To get to Ireland, use the Fire Dust system and select its warp!

The Hovel: The Hovel is the home of the infamous Lana Lovett! The build of the structure is unique. It starts very wide at the base and softly becomes more narrow towards the roof. It’s truly an iconic landmark, simply put. Fly your broom south of Hogsworth or make the trek to the home by foot from a nearby town such as Tristmoor or Whitewaye.

Seaside Cottage: Have you ever seen a cottage by the sea? It’s a rare sight to come across cottage-like aspects mixed with beachy scenery and vibes. This is why you must visit this place on your journey through the wizarding world. Plus, who wouldn’t want to stop at the beach on their vacation?! There’s serenity, views, and peace. Travel to the coast where the cottage lies by flying south of Hogsworth or walking from Tristmoor or Longbay Landing!

Well, well, well. I hope you are all well-versed travelers of the wizarding world at this point. If you followed along, that is! If not, again, I highly recommend you visit each of these destinations next time you venture out into the vast land. Let me know if you enjoyed the article or were inspired to pursue traveling according to it by sending me a book and quill via the Owlery, sending me a direct message on Discord, or messaging me next time you catch me in-game! This was Carolyn Lestrange reporting for the Daily Diviner!

 

[The Daily Diviner]

Before the New Year
Original Works
Written by Bertnana
Edited by Palindrome_789
​

“Students, I am so proud of how far you’ve come this year. To celebrate our journey, I would like to take a look back at all the moments we shared this past year...” While the Headmaster rambled, Olivia Santos dozed off near the edge of the Griffin table. Much to her dismay, her nap was interrupted when a tap on her shoulder jolted her awake.

“Here, take this,” whispered the Griffin student as he handed her a slip of parchment. She laid the parchment on the table and tapped her wand against it. Blotches of ink materialized, and morphed into a few sentences that read:

“You have been invited to an exclusive New Years Party! It’ll be held in the Astronomy Tower at 12:00 a.m. There will be food, games, stargazing, and tarot card readings!

See you there!

- Wyatt”

“Ooh, tarot card readings? Wait-” Olivia’s eyes darted toward her watch—there are only 20 minutes before the party? While she panicked, a Griffin girl scooted closer to Olivia, clutching a parchment identical to hers.

“Liv, were you invited as well? These invitations were sent to us too late,” the girl whispered, rolling her eyes. “I blame Wyatt’s darn messenger owl!”

Olivia snickered, it was her best friend. “Yeah, Elle, I got invited too! But how are we supposed to attend with the Headmaster rambling and staff nearby?”

“I think I have an idea, but we’ll need some help.”


-----


“One word: fireworks.” Elle said, just below normal volume.

“This is a great idea and all, but what if we get caught? I don’t want to risk getting detention,” whispered Olivia as she glanced back down at her watch to double-check the time— 15 minutes left.

“Don’t worry too much, I got that all covered!” Elle reassured. “You two better be creating chaos while we're gone, alright?”

The two Griffin boys that sat in front of them nodded. “Yeah, we will,” one muttered.

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

Oblivious to what was stirring up at the Griffin table, the Headmaster continued his long speech. “I remember when Professor Claira-” he began, but got cut off by a loud crackle. A firework burst through the middle aisle, which hurdled towards him as he gasped and ducked behind his podium.

More fiery, colorful explosions lit up the area. The students, either hollering from the top of their lungs or visibly confused as they were half-asleep, rose from their seats and scattered. Nearby staff pulled out their wands and attempted to cast spells; however, it immediately backfired as they got knocked over.

Amidst the chaos, Olivia, followed by Elle, tagged along behind a large pack of students heading towards the exit, hoping to reach the courtyard, but—

“Hey, Olivia and Elle! We won’t get caught, right?” the boys yelled in unison while simultaneously igniting more packs of fireworks.

Elle paused briefly and looked back at them. “Boys, we forgot to mention one detail… You’re going to have to take the blame. Sorry!” Elle grinned mischievously, then dragged Olivia through the chaos and towards the courtyard.


-----


After sprinting through hallways and up flights of stairs, they arrived at the top of the Astronomy Tower with 5 minutes to spare.

The Astronomy Tower was overflowing with students from every year. Some devoured plates piled with sweets; others looked through the telescopes and admired the shimmering night sky. In the corner, students played Globbaubles and Wizard’s Chess.

“Elle, I’m going to get a tarot card reading.” Olivia said, glancing at a girl to the side shuffling her deck of cards.

“Nice! I’m going to eat some snacks. I’m starving!” Both girls nodded at each other, then parted ways.

Olivia headed towards the girl and sat criss-cross in front of her. “Hello there. My name is Kimora. What’s yours?” she questioned, feeling out her client’s aura.

“I’m Olivia! So, what do I need to do for this?”

“Nothing much. Just tell me your question, and I’ll shuffle and interpret your cards.”

Olivia excitedly nodded her head. “Alright. My question is: what’s gonna happen to me in 2021?”

Kimora took a deep breath and started to shuffle the deck. As she shuffled, three cards flew out and landed on the table. Flipping them over, they discovered the 9 of Swords, Knight of Pentacles, and 5 of Cups. Her widened eyes and the hand that clapped over her mouth were not a good sign.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia gasped. What could it be? Detention?

“It seems you have some sort of fear or anxiety plaguing you. You may be working hard to get rid of this fear, but if you let it control you, you may fail to achieve your goals.”

“Wait, what-” Olivia began, but was cut off by other students who had begun the countdown. Both she and Kimora rose up and joined in.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!”