inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
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Post by Boy_Wonder on May 4, 2015 3:28:29 GMT -8
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inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 4, 2015 19:58:06 GMT -8
BUMP
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inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 5, 2015 9:20:06 GMT -8
BUMP
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|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 5, 2015 23:42:18 GMT -8
BUMP
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|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 6, 2015 11:57:44 GMT -8
BUMP
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|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 7, 2015 0:28:10 GMT -8
BUMP
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|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 7, 2015 22:57:50 GMT -8
BUMP
|
|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 8, 2015 11:00:24 GMT -8
BUMP
|
|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 9, 2015 10:51:14 GMT -8
BUMP
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|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 10, 2015 0:28:38 GMT -8
BUMP
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|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 10, 2015 22:36:28 GMT -8
BUMP - added a new background image in
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|
Kami
Forum Cat
Posts: 40,031
Mini-Profile Theme: Kami's Mini-Profile
#f35f71
156500
0
Offline
Jul 24, 2021 11:48:29 GMT -8
Kami
40,031
July 2010
kamiyakaoru
Kami's Mini-Profile
|
Post by Kami on May 11, 2015 1:14:27 GMT -8
Hi there! I haven't rated a site in a while but I'll give it a go. My rates are three part: first impressions , a second look (from the top of the forum, down, plus content), overall impressions. I cover ease of access, organisation, and design in my rates and give an overall score out of X/10. First Impressions: I have no idea what this site is about. Banner tells me nothing. Will I survive? Survive what? A mountain? Is this horror survival? Or more like Hachet? Are you a rabbit? I'm so confused. There's nothing particularly eye catching that makes me go, "ooh, wonder what this site is about, let me take a closer look". Why are there four different fonts (banner (x2), navigation/categories (x1), paragraph text (x1))? Second Look:• Site Subject: Okay, on second glance I see this is based on a game. I have no idea what game this is though, even as a very avid gamer. Suggestion: Maybe a link to what the game is about in your welcome box? A link would help the subject stand out as well as give prospective players / potential new fans of the game more information.
• Banner: To put it bluntly, I don't like the banner font. It's a neat idea in theory, but execution is lacking. The style of fonts for the site name vs. the tagline aren't complimentary. Also, the side image seems too narrow to match the sidebar, but not large enough to draw focus. What is the purpose? Suggestion: Have the width of the illustration portion of the banner match the width of the site, then have the background of the sidebar td (presuming you've used the sidebar redux plugin) be a different colour from the boards/sidebar cel content. Also, I'd recommend looking into a few typography tutorials to improve the appearance of the banner text itself. Here are a few links: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. Hope they're helpful!
• Sidebar navigation: I like the navigation links on the side. It's nice to see someone do something different! That said, the legibility on the font is not great. Most people will probably be able to see and read them okay, but for someone with dyslexia and bad vision it's hard to read script-like fonts when they're all caps and have little to no spacing between the letters. Suggestion: Specifically for the navigation, I'd probably space them out more at the very least, and consider a font change.
• Font usage & text: The main body text looks okay to me, and mostly everything else does too individually. That said! Suggestion: Personally I'd use no more than three different fonts for a site. Your mileage may vary on this, but I find that sites with three or less fonts (including the banner, unless the banner is specifically some sort of typographical art) wind up looking more cohesive in style, especially if good typography practices are used (as in the links above). I do however like that you've justified most text. Just a personal preference, haha.
• Boards & categories: First off I want to say that I commend you for having a non-default board layout! I am always happy to see people experiment. That said, there's not enough differentiation for me between the last post / thread / reply / subboard areas, and the board text is the same colour as the links which is really confusing! Suggestion: Make a colour difference for the subboard area, or at least put a label before the links saying "Sub-Board", or "See Inside", etc; make a colour difference between text & links.
• Posts & mini profiles: A little thin for my tastes, but not a turn off or anything! That said, it looks like some avatars are getting cut off, like this user, so you may want to double check the coding.
• Content: There is no plot. At ... at all. The FAQ is great, but there's nothing that tells me that the game even takes place in "Shalia" until I click the FAQ. There's nothing to tell me what I'm supposed to do here. You don't require game knowledge to play, but ... what. I don't even know if I'm a person or an animal or a made up species or race. For a forum that is okay with people jumping in, there is a lack of information on what they're jumping into. My first clue that this is an animal RP is through your signature, so that's a little confusing for a prospective member. Suggestion: Have something on the home page that tells people you're an animal RP, at the very least. Also more info on the setting / type of RP, if you're allowing people to play with no game knowledge. The FAQ is great, but when I'm looking at an RP my first order of business is whether or not the forum's subject is right for me. Overall impressions: I'd say it's a good start. A little rough around the edges, but most of it is aesthetic. The biggest drawback right now as an RP is that I have no idea what the heck the forum is about. Not a big deal if you require prior knowledge of the game, but since you don't you'll need to help prospective members out. If you sort that out, sprucing up the forum aesthetically would just be icing on the cake, really. (: Rating: 6/10 -- missing important game info (-3), design changes (-1). Hope this helps!
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|
inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 11, 2015 2:27:27 GMT -8
Hi there! I haven't rated a site in a while but I'll give it a go. My rates are three part: first impressions , a second look (from the top of the forum, down, plus content), overall impressions. I cover ease of access, organisation, and design in my rates and give an overall score out of X/10. First Impressions: I have no idea what this site is about. Banner tells me nothing. Will I survive? Survive what? A mountain? Is this horror survival? Or more like Hachet? Are you a rabbit? I'm so confused. There's nothing particularly eye catching that makes me go, "ooh, wonder what this site is about, let me take a closer look". Why are there four different fonts (banner (x2), navigation/categories (x1), paragraph text (x1))? Second Look:• Site Subject: Okay, on second glance I see this is based on a game. I have no idea what game this is though, even as a very avid gamer. Suggestion: Maybe a link to what the game is about in your welcome box? A link would help the subject stand out as well as give prospective players / potential new fans of the game more information.
• Banner: To put it bluntly, I don't like the banner font. It's a neat idea in theory, but execution is lacking. The style of fonts for the site name vs. the tagline aren't complimentary. Also, the side image seems too narrow to match the sidebar, but not large enough to draw focus. What is the purpose? Suggestion: Have the width of the illustration portion of the banner match the width of the site, then have the background of the sidebar td (presuming you've used the sidebar redux plugin) be a different colour from the boards/sidebar cel content. Also, I'd recommend looking into a few typography tutorials to improve the appearance of the banner text itself. Here are a few links: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4. Hope they're helpful!
• Sidebar navigation: I like the navigation links on the side. It's nice to see someone do something different! That said, the legibility on the font is not great. Most people will probably be able to see and read them okay, but for someone with dyslexia and bad vision it's hard to read script-like fonts when they're all caps and have little to no spacing between the letters. Suggestion: Specifically for the navigation, I'd probably space them out more at the very least, and consider a font change.
• Font usage & text: The main body text looks okay to me, and mostly everything else does too individually. That said! Suggestion: Personally I'd use no more than three different fonts for a site. Your mileage may vary on this, but I find that sites with three or less fonts (including the banner, unless the banner is specifically some sort of typographical art) wind up looking more cohesive in style, especially if good typography practices are used (as in the links above). I do however like that you've justified most text. Just a personal preference, haha.
• Boards & categories: First off I want to say that I commend you for having a non-default board layout! I am always happy to see people experiment. That said, there's not enough differentiation for me between the last post / thread / reply / subboard areas, and the board text is the same colour as the links which is really confusing! Suggestion: Make a colour difference for the subboard area, or at least put a label before the links saying "Sub-Board", or "See Inside", etc; make a colour difference between text & links.
• Posts & mini profiles: A little thin for my tastes, but not a turn off or anything! That said, it looks like some avatars are getting cut off, like this user, so you may want to double check the coding.
• Content: There is no plot. At ... at all. The FAQ is great, but there's nothing that tells me that the game even takes place in "Shalia" until I click the FAQ. There's nothing to tell me what I'm supposed to do here. You don't require game knowledge to play, but ... what. I don't even know if I'm a person or an animal or a made up species or race. For a forum that is okay with people jumping in, there is a lack of information on what they're jumping into. My first clue that this is an animal RP is through your signature, so that's a little confusing for a prospective member. Suggestion: Have something on the home page that tells people you're an animal RP, at the very least. Also more info on the setting / type of RP, if you're allowing people to play with no game knowledge. The FAQ is great, but when I'm looking at an RP my first order of business is whether or not the forum's subject is right for me. Overall impressions: I'd say it's a good start. A little rough around the edges, but most of it is aesthetic. The biggest drawback right now as an RP is that I have no idea what the heck the forum is about. Not a big deal if you require prior knowledge of the game, but since you don't you'll need to help prospective members out. If you sort that out, sprucing up the forum aesthetically would just be icing on the cake, really. (: Rating: 6/10 -- missing important game info (-3), design changes (-1). Hope this helps! I just want to say now that if you read the "Species" list it would have cleared it up immensely - where it lists the five species you can play as - and is the second post down in the Important Reads thread. There is no plot because I'm not sure how I can state that the concept is to survive as one of five species (that are getting added onto), raise a family and continue your lineage
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|
Kami
Forum Cat
Posts: 40,031
Mini-Profile Theme: Kami's Mini-Profile
#f35f71
156500
0
Offline
Jul 24, 2021 11:48:29 GMT -8
Kami
40,031
July 2010
kamiyakaoru
Kami's Mini-Profile
|
Post by Kami on May 11, 2015 3:06:21 GMT -8
I just want to say now that if you read the "Species" list it would have cleared it up immensely - where it lists the five species you can play as - and is the second post down in the Important Reads thread. There is no plot because I'm not sure how I can state that the concept is to survive as one of five species (that are getting added onto), raise a family and continue your lineage Ah, I see that! That is fair. Perhaps you don't need a plot thread, maybe just an "about" thread? Maybe explain a bit about the game, the setting, the goals of the forum / RP / story.
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inherit
Peabrained Codebreaker
107114
0
Mar 11, 2020 7:47:27 GMT -8
Boy_Wonder
6,249
July 2007
natzy24
|
Post by Boy_Wonder on May 11, 2015 3:47:21 GMT -8
I've also done some adjustments to the navigation font - is that looking any better? -working on a new banner-
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