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Staff Appreciation Day!
Written by Creme_de_Creme
Edited by bluecherub
Hello lovely readers! A short while ago, the same staff and team members that you know and love celebrated SAD week, otherwise known as Staff Appreciation Day. SAD lasts a week long, and usually occurs towards the end of January and July. This article will give an explanation of what SAD is, why we celebrate it, and announce the winners of the SAD writing competition! There is even a message from Droobledore himself!
So what exactly is SAD week, anyway? It is a time that we celebrate, appreciate, and are thankful towards both our staff and team members that volunteer their time towards developing and advancing Potterworld! You might ask “Why should we celebrate our team and staff members?” To answer this question more fully, I will break it down by department. Potterworld has six: Academics, Build, Community Management, Game Design, Media & Public Relations, and Technology & Development.
Starting with Academics, the members in this department teach us about the magical wonders, and dangers, of the world. I have learned so much from our Academics Department, whether it be about the history of the vast wizarding world, how to make a unique potion, dangerous creatures, rare magical objects, or anything in between!
The Build Department creates all the builds that you see on the main world, classrooms, events, Community Engagements, and more! I have learned from this department that all builds have their own character hidden within. They can encourage inspiration, fearful reverence, or even joy!
Community Management helps players of all kinds, whether by sorting through player feedback to make experiences more fun, moderating the server to keep it a safe and pleasant place, helping players who need assistance, or anything else! I have learned from this department that you gain just as much from helping others as they get from you.
The Game Design Department designs and creates events, world minigames, quests, lore, offers competitions, Community Engagements, inspires roleplay, and much more! The people of this department have taught me that if you can think of an idea and are passionate enough to want to bring it into existence, there is little that can stop you.
The Media & Public Relations Department creates the visual and written artwork you see both in-game, on our website, and on social media! I have learned from this department that art comes in so many forms from visual artwork such as renders, banners, drawings, and photos, to written forms such as poetry, stories, and prose. Media has taught me to appreciate all forms of art.
The Technology & Development Department codes the foundations of our server, manages bug reports, and assists in fixing those bugs so that our server can continue to run without breaking. I have learned from this department that teamwork across all departments is of the utmost importance, and without this department or any department, Potterworld wouldn’t be what it is today.
Droobledore himself has a message to pass onto everyone about SAD:
Droobledore: Staff Appreciation Day is one of those special traditions on Potterworld. It is a time to be grateful and a time to remember and remind ourselves why we all take the time out of our busy lives to devote to the server! It's also a tradition that we hold sacred because it allows us to all get together even though we are from so many different departments, countries, and backgrounds and share our experiences together!
Some students also had some lovely thoughts to share about our staff team:
What do you appreciate about the PW staff team?
ItzYahBoiM4: Firstly, when a person joins a new server for the first time, they give a warm welcome to players. When I first joined, everyone was so nice, friendly and welcoming. During my beginning years, they helped me a lot with my quests etc. They work so hard, whether it be class helpers, professors, arena team, inquisitors etc. I appreciate that they manage and spend time doing their work to provide the best for the server. Importantly, being a staff isn’t an easy task, yet they do their best and help the pw community.
stardustdotcom: I'd honestly say that most of them that I've met are so outgoing and friendly. They really set the standard for how to interact with other players and that makes the whole environment in potterworld very wholesome from a player perspective. A lot of times other places and servers have staff be above players in many ways, or at least acting very in the background so no one can see that they are actual people you could get to know. Potterworld has so many staff that are eager and active in global chat so everyone can see they're just other players like us.
This past week, some staff members participated in the Writing Competition where they submitted a piece that followed the prompt “Winter Fun” and had a limit of 1500 words. The pieces were put up for players to vote on, and then the Daily Diviner Producers were asked to vote on their favorite piece. The winners were to receive 500 Potterpoints each, and there were a total of 6 entries.
The players elected the piece called “A Tropical Summer” written by tqrpiar as their winner. The piece told the story of a group of fast friends traveling to Castelomagia and the author’s unique experience in being sorted into his house at the magical school. The Daily Diviner Producers elected the piece “Afterthought” written by mn614 as a winner. His piece told the tale of a man who loses himself in the grief of his loss of a loved one, struggles to find the joy in winter again, then regains himself in the end as he reconnects with his daughter and grandchild and finds the true meaning of what winter means to him through very well-written prose.
I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Writing Competition as well as thank all of our staff and team members for everything that they do. Have a wonderful day, everyone! This has been Creme_de_Creme reporting for the Daily Diviner!