I think I posted about the same. Tried more to post when a project was finished now instead of waiting and make a dump. But I did that too, as I got very distracted there with xmas. I do miss the prompts. It is so fun to plan! But at the same time, its nice to just be able to post everything you have made without trying to fit into a prompt. I know there were the Headmistress prompts, but I had some difficult finding a craft that would fit, but thats just me.
But I know I post most in the HP-along, rather than the other alongs, even though I try to post there.
It do sounds good to have the term end at january so one have time to think before the term ends. I will definitly continue to join and post if you start another HP-along, but if you need a break you need a break, and thats totally okay.
Iāve loved this along for ages. It can spark creativity when a prompt gives you an idea you wouldnāt have self-generated and it can be a mental puzzle to fit the projects one has made into the prompts for points lol.
Personally, Iāve been a bit adrift in general for months just due to family stuff and job changes, etc., so Iām hoping that 2024 is more settled and conducive to creating and crafting more regularly, being able to do swaps againā¦
I know I read through every post that was made and feel I was less involved than usual, again that could be real life related more than anything here.
As for the HPC format, etc. Itās hard to pin down, isnāt it? Itās nice to be able to just plop a craft down without fitting it into anything, but also the prompts added to the world-building and āmagicā theme of the thread. I know there were head mistress challenges, so not zero prompts, but maybe adding back in some class/wizarding world prompts for the theme and magic building along with the āanything goesā style of this test run could be a way to go where the prompted posts are worth more points? Are the tallies a selling point? Maybe removing the points and instead one tries to complete a semester of prompts like a report card or bingo card? IDK. That runs into how to declare a house winner I suppose. If each house has only one or two players how do you mark it out for a winnerā¦ ?
I think upping the world building a bit would be fun, the other big question is how many players will you have? If the numbers arenāt enough to make it chatty and vibrant then maybe it isnāt worth the work you have to do to make it function at a level higher than this? Itās a conundrum. I feel like this was just a ramble of nonsense but hopefully something in this blarby wordiness was useful. 
I wanted to participate more, but life is chaotic, I never know what to say on othersā posts other than āthat looks amazing!ā (which is very true but also repetitive), and only sporadically remember to take pictures of what I make. That being said it was great to be back with the group! The HP Craftalong is what really got me into crafting back on the old site and has been a huge inspiration for me over the years.
I really enjoyed the prompts in the past and appreciated the ones we had this time around. But I know they are a lot of work to create and keep track of. If we wanted to low-key add in a few more prompting opportunities, maybe we could treat the classes more as āindependent studies?ā We could start with a list of the standard classes and then we have to say how our project helped us learn about Divination or Numerology. It would bring back some of the storytelling elements while hopefully not over complicating the set-up and organization process.
What about jumping put of the castle and embracing the story world at-large? Like prompts for things to fit in to shops or places in the stories, āgiftsā for characters (like, you make a nice kitchen accessory for a friend but the prompt story is that itās for Mrs. Weasley or something?) kind of like a āfake swapā using ideas like the I want to live in the burrow or Madam Malkins that we did before. just something that popped into my head just now.
Loving this idea!!!
I would say I probably posted about the same or a little more than normal - there were definitely whole terms of the original setup where I just couldnāt handle the idea of āfacingā the homework planner and never really got started, so the lower hurdle to entry was measurably better for me. But I donāt think having prompts alongside a lower pressure option would be a detriment - I like the idea of having the option but not the requirement to engage with the world building part. I will also say that my personal connection to the HP universe has waned somewhat in the intervening years, so that probably factors in as well.
If HPC didnāt come back, I would probably try to transition over to the 50 Projects thread, since that was my original everything-along when I joined the old site. I have the same problem where I donāt have time or brain space to post in multiple craftalongs for each medium - it has to either get dumped in one place or not at all. My crafting style is very āooh, new shiny thingā so posting whatever actually gets finished versus following a list seems to work better for me.
I will also mention that the Advanced Studies does seem to be a unique thing that I donāt know where Iād get the motivation to specifically work on those longer projects (not that itās not possible, but just donāt know of an immediate translation). Hope this is useful!
I also found I missed the commentary from folks on their crafting process, in what would have been āBrief Descriptionā.
Ideas have been sparked, and now magical things are afootā¦
Late to the party. For me I havenāt participated much, but thatās no different to the previous few years. Life gets in the way a lot and as someone said, Iām also probably a little less connected to the HP universe. I do miss the little descriptions of peopleās work, but for me the homework prompt tended to be me fitting what Iāve made into the description. Not sure Iām adding to the discussion. But I want to see how grateful I am (as Iām sure everyone is) for the monumental task that this craftalong is. @MistressJennie you are amazing. Xx
Iām here. I lurk off and on. Work has been soul-sucking lately, so I havenāt participated much at all. I love to see what people are making. The ease of posting is certainly less intimidating, but the prompts were fun, too. Iāve not been very active, though, so I donāt know that my input should be weighed much.