It was a suggestion made by a player that we perhaps write a thank you card to Zach to thank him for all of his efforts. Well, he has not shared with me his address so there will be no physical letters. However, we can write him a Thank You card here in the Owlery and I can "mail" it to him by moving this thread into the staff area he checks for things I need him to do. 

So this is an out of character thread where you can thank Zach for his work if you want. Nobody is under any obligation nor are they being compensated for reaching out to say thank you. It is your prerogative to participate or to sit this out.

Dear Zach,

I just wanted to say thank you for all you have done to build, support and maintain Hogwarts.io in both iterations--English and French. As someone who comes from a humanities background, I cannot begin to imagine the immense amount of work and technical knowledge required to craft a successful website, especially one as intricate as this. This is to say nothing of the monetary investment, which I suspect is substantial. I really admire your belief that the site should be free; you have given Potterheads from around the globe with a tremendous gift.

Hogwarts.io has become a place I visit daily. It has given me the opportunity to grow and develop a character in one of my favorite worlds (Harry Potter), to ensure that I am writing everyday, and to meet some great writers/people. Moreover, in recent months, I have found a great joy in helping to support and develop systems that will ensure the site's continued success.

I know we all appreciate your dedication and I am excited to see the site thrive for many years to come.

Warmest wishes,
Ruthie Greer

Dear Zachary,

I’ve never spoken to you personally, but I wanted to say that even through I’ve never spoken to you or contacted you about anything or about a bug, I admire the site and everything that has been done to improve and make it what it is now. It is so impressive that you were both able to create and maintain such an amazing site, especially for two different languages!

I am not good at coding, let alone attempted to code a full blown website for the whole world to enjoy, and I can only imagine the effort and the time that it took in order to polish this into a well made RP site. I love being able to write freely and express myself with other amazingly talented writers and those who share a similar passion for storytelling and developing a well thought out character.

I wish you luck in every endeavor you undertake and hope that you will always keep pursuing what you love!

Much good will and good fortune in everything,
- Piérre Marchonné

Ps, I’m sorry for such a short letter of appreciation, but know that the thankfulness and the gratitude for everything you’ve done cannot even begin to be expressed in words, and I know that I can speak for more than myself on this site. Thanks again, Zach, you’re a-freaking-mazing!

My original account --

I have been here since the start of the English site, I think I was the second, maybe third Slytherin to join the community. I never intended to be staff, I never even intended to play when I joined. Boy, was I wrong on both. Thank you for your positive attitude, your hard work, your quality coding and your interest in the community, staff and playerbase. I have been a member of so many communities over the years, some of which I have even owned and this community is by far by favorite of them. 

Thank you so much.

Sarah

Dear Zach,

The first Harry Potter book came out when I was little. My dad read it to me, and we were both so smitten with the story, he wound up reading the first three books! I was old enough to read on my own by the fourth, but we continued to share the stories together. I grew up with the characters and Hogwarts became a part of me.

I have been role-playing for roughly seventeen years now. In all that time, I've never found a Hogwarts community that even brushed the magnitude of HiO. When I joined, I was so impressed by the standards you set for entry, and I was charmed by the in-character process (like gathering school materials). Once I was determining my character's wand and taking the quiz for his house, all these feeling from my childhood came flooding back to me: I was nostalgic, excited, curious, and just head over heels for the site. I thought I knew a lot about the Wizarding World before, but actually having a homework system has taught me much more, and being able to attend classes (even if they're online only ) has made for an unmatched unique experience. It's challenged me as a writer in a good way. HiO also introduced me to some wonderful people.

Finally finding AMAZING Hogwarts RP filled a hole in my heart I didn't know was there. Thank you a thousand times. HiO has inspired and improved my writing, and now that I have a six-year-old of my own, it motivated me to start reading the books to her! I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the work you and your staff have put into it all, from the immersive aesthetics to the engaging and intricate role-play systems. My hat is off to you.

With gratitude and admiration,
-Lib, Pericles Dralt's writer

Dear Zachary,

Ive been a part of the HIO community since it first opened. Since then, I never left because of how beautifully structured and amazingly new it was and that was all because of you. You gave English speakers a place to call home and I can’t thank you enough.

I’m happy to be on staff the entire time from helping you edit transcriptions/finding mistakes to literally instilling the first constitution of the site with other writers who joined in the beginning too. Thank you for such a wonderful community you’ve given the opportunity for

With so much love and gratefulness,
Claire

Dear Zach,

I believe my experience is one that is shared by many -- the sheer beauty of the website as well as how thoroughly immersive it is was what initially drew me to even continuing to RP on this site. I've always been quite a fickle-minded RPer; I've made many dead profiles on numerous RP sites simply because I lost interest before I even made a character onsite.

Your effort in maintaining and upkeeping the site is one that goes on very much behind-the-scenes, I don't think many people (including myself) are even remotely aware of the sheer amount of work that goes into doing up such a huge site. Still, anyone could tell that this site was made with lots of love and passion. It's become so much more than "just another RP forum". I truly believe that in this place, you've managed to create a world that so many of us now call our virtual home.

Thank you for all that you've done. Holla if you need help -- I may not have the magic you possess to build something remotely as wonderful as this, but I'm more than willing to do what I can to help you. As they say; every wizard needs some straw on his broom. (literally no one says this I just wanted to slip something in)

With love, appreciation, and strawiest of brooms,
Dinara Lucey

[font=PT Serif]Dear Zach,

After being on site for close to three years, I really have to say with how thankful I am that you went through all this effort. You really are a wizard for making all of these happen and I can't stress enough with how much this site has had an impact on my life. It's brought me some wonderful friends and experiences in my online life. Hogwarts.io does have a special place in my heart.

A forum hasn't captured me like this in a while and I've felt personally invested in some way, like what some have said - it's become more than a site for me. I love the community you've helped build and given a home to, thank you for what you've done here. The world is big, but thank you  for making it even bigger. Here's to hoping for many and many more years to come of magic!

Derrick[/font]

Dear Zachary, 

I want to thank you for creating such a wonderful site. Not only do I feel I can express myself in my writing, but I can also see an improvement in my writing. You've also given me a community where I feel I fit in, where I can interact with people similar to me, who like to write and give me friends. I really feel like I belong here which is not something that usually happens with me. This is the one place I feel like I belong. I cannot tell you how much I love and appreciate you for this. 

A very fond admirer, 
Lynn (Wren's writer) 

P.S. I cannot even begin to think of how hard the coding must have been to do this. I strongly admire you for that too!