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HPO has closed its doors for the final time.
Thank you all for the time you spent here.
Below is the extract from our last ever MoTD.
I’ve been putting this message off for a while now, but the time has come as the days draw closer to the final chapter of HPO to put out a final farewell and thank you from me to all of you. I’ll apologise now for how long this is and I’m not sure how many of you will see this due to the proximity of our last day, but I still felt it important to let you know my thoughts before we close the book on this wonderful journey that we’ve all shared.
HPO – in its current format – has been around as records show since October 2007, and this is the adoptive birthday that was bestowed upon the site when we celebrated its birthday with a party and presents for all. Fast forward 16 years and we’re still here, not as lively as we once were, but still a place for people to come and immerse themselves in the magic of Harry Potter, surrounded by others who share the same passion of the lore we all came to enjoy.
I personally did not anticipate 16 years of HPO, but I’ll be the first to admit that it wouldn’t have made it so far without our amazing players and staff. Many faces have come and gone, and I would hate to put my brain through the agonising task of trying to remember everyone who made an impact here, but I can assure you, each and every one of you contributed and made a difference.
You made HPO a community, a haven, somewhere for anyone to log in and play the game or join in with the roleplay in order to take a break from everyday life. As a famous wizard once said, “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic…” and that could not be truer than our ability to take a text-based game and provide an endless degree of adventure, enjoyment and of course, the magic produced by all of you.
From the beginning of strangers talking, I know some of you have found friendship from HPO, some of you have found more and some of you, like me, have found family. So, I will be forever thankful for what HPO gave to me both in-game and in real life.
To the staff, past and present. A whole-hearted thank you. Thank you for giving up your own time to help us develop, manage, and maintain HPO. Thank you for handling yourselves in the professional manner that I always envisioned and maintaining our standards. Thank you for being the support mechanism for both Aurora and myself. Without all of you, we would’ve lost the plot long before now, although some of you also pushed us down that path at times (haha - no names). Aurora mentioned some of you before, and like I said, I sincerely would try to remember all names and would fail dramatically. But no matter what, you made the difference, you got the job done and you did it all to support HPO. So again, thank you, thank you, thank you.
I think that about sums up my thoughts and feelings in the best way possible. Although I know HPO has had a good run, part of me wants to keep it going, but all good things come to an end, and I want people to remember the good times we all had here. It’s been great seeing so many familiar names coming back, even if it’s to just say goodbye. Even though the site itself and especially me most of all haven’t been active for a while now, it’s always been comforting knowing that HPO was still there, running in the background, still providing that home away from home. I am genuinely sad that it’s time to close things down and as I mentioned before, I have put this off for some time now, but I feel that now is the right time. I saw someone put in chat the other day, it’s like HPO is coming of age in the wizarding world, and whilst we’re probably not far off (even if we’re counting the official age as 16), it’s a pretty good analogy. A lot of us grew up with Harry Potter and a lot of you grew up with HPO.
So, for one final MoTD from yours truly, I just want to say thank you once more. You made HPO feel like home, full of friends, laughter and memories - seriously trying to hold back the tears right now. HPO will always be something I’ll never forget and if you take a look at the MoTD below this, you’ll find a link to a Facebook Group that’s been setup just so we can give you once more opportunity to keep in contact with players past and present.
To close, and I hope to reflect on the global reach that HPO had, with people from every walk of life and our common enjoyment of HPO and Harry Potter…
While we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one.
Thank you all.
Loxias woz ere!
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