Front page

[Raesanos]

You may have noticed http://www.armageddon.org looks a little different now.  This is something we decided to try out temporarily while the real website redesign is still in process.  Feel free to post your thoughts here.

[Anonymous]

i apologize for asking this, but ... what exactly changed? did the font got reduced and frames added only? The only thing that struck me was the lower font and better paragraphs. It certainly gives it a more 'proffesional' look, most web sites of big companies have small fonts, frames, and good paragraphs, but to be honest ... I liked the old one due to it's comfort and big letters. Maybe it's just an eyesight kind of thingy.

[Larrath]

It looks pretty nice.  I think it could be nicer still, though, if there was some collapsible documentations menu in the side.

...I'm a little tired so that suggestion might be lousy.

Either way, my problem with the main page has always been the way the documentation is reached.
Between Introductory, Roleplaying and General information, it's hard to really find anything.

I think it might be nicer if we had one section for OOC information (timeline, racial profiles) and another section for IC information (plants, animals, cities, What-You-Know, noble tables, etc.).

Also, there should really be a link to the Helper page on the front page.  It's pretty buried in the back as it is, and contacting a Helper should be one of the first things a new player does.

[Hexxaex]

The current font, which looks like a Times or default Times Roman thing is harder on the eyes because of the serifs on the letters.  Something bigger and more simple could make it look better and be easier to read.

[Intrepid]

It's definitely an improvement.  The links look cleaner for certain.  The
emblem doesn't look right though; too much like a drawing where a more
crisp image would do.

[Raesanos]

Things that changed:

--Non-textured baige background behind text
--Links are dark red, black when visited, lighter red when hovering
--Font size defined explicitely instead of using browser default.  IE users won't notice this, since its the same as IE's default font size.  Firefox / Opera users will notice smaller text.
--Recent news box doesn't have black border

The actual website revamp will include more drastic visual changes and structural changes to improve useability.  Just want to be clear the above is a quick adjustment just to see how it goes and gauge peoples feelings on different ideas.

[jhunter]

Don't care for the font type or sizing. The title text has about all the appeal of a rice cake. Blech. The non-textured background behind the text could have more contrast in coloring between it and the surrounding textured background.

[joyofdiscord]

The font makes the letters look crowded somehow.

[Folker]

I like it much better right now. With the font a bit bigger, it's fairly comfortable and stylish.

[WarriorPoet]

Don't care for the font type or sizing. The title text has about all the appeal of a rice cake. Blech. The non-textured background behind the text could have more contrast in coloring between it and the surrounding textured background.

This sums up my feelings fairly well. I dislike the font, the spacing, and the general bleh feel of things how they are now.

-WP

[Bogre]

The font of Armageddon could be tweaked, I liked the old logo.

[Vesperas]

I actually like it.

I particularly like the top half of the page, though -- the new links and center image look is like eye-candy.  It could do being a size larger, since I am among the quite-blind without my glasses.

[Raesanos]

I bumped the font size a bit and made it consistantly sans-serif among browsers, hopefully that looks more readable to y'all?

[Bebop]

I like it alot!  I was just saying a few days ago that how just a little change like that would make the front page look more modern and such.  I say keep it.

[Maybe42or54]

I like it. Can't wait for the finished product.

Still, I can't help but feel like one of those killer flies that attack Zebras, but the Zebra's stripes confuse it.

[amoeba]

I am a little tired, so bear with me if this seems disjointed.  None of this is meant as criticism, rather simply reflects my viewpoint.

Our website serves two functions, as a site for documentation the new feel works rather well.  It is easy on the eyes and has a clean uncluttered feel to it. In so far as the other function of the website, that as a marketing tool, one designed to invite exporation, it falls short.  Often the two functions work at cross purposes.  I realize the designs are very preliminary, but I am hoping that the final design has more of a playful, inviting tone, and less of an academic, textbook feel to it.  A least for those areas that the casual web surfer are likey to view initially.  

We live in a very visual society, and a very impatient one at that.  Even if this is a text only game,  there is a certian atmoshere and feel to our little peculiar world.  From a marleting perspective, it is imparative that you impart that feel and mood accuratly within that inital eyeball session which industry experts will agree is only a few seconds.  As a documentation site I would give the new look a B+, as a marketing site that reflects the view of our world, I think it falls short and I would give it a D.

[Sephiroto]

I think that the border around the recent news looks pretty. . .tacky.  I think a solid line or something similar to the line that separates the navigation box from the text on the main part of the page would look a little better.

[Sholdyn]

I still think the "ArmageddonMUD" title should be the old format, with the cool script. But everything else looks awesome.

[Moofassa]

I agree with Sholdyn. The ArmageddonMUD needs to go back to the old font, it was much catchier.

My personal opinion, but it's boring now compared to what it used to be. Call me old fashioned but I liked the old look.


It looks more like a corporation trying to sell something on first glance, rather than an intense roleplaying game.

[Bebop]

But we do need to sell it at first glance.  I think it gives the site a newer feel to it like we actually spend time to keep up with the times.  Some cool text for the title would be cool.  I like the way the links are brown now too.

[Manhattan]

The Armageddon logo should be an animated gif. Like a shiny glow flashing across the orb.

It should be a small animation. Like the billowing flag of this Carrion Fields logo for example:

[Rindan]

I like the new look.  It looks a little cleaner and a little more professional.  Great job.

If there is a site design in progress, the one thing I would really want to see emphasized is some how making those links on the main page easier navigate.  Maybe I am just stupid, but for the life of me, to this day I still have a hard time finding the right one a lot of the time.  I wish they were split up a little in some logical fashion.  How?  I have no idea.

[Yokunama]

Things that changed:

--Non-textured baige background behind text
--Links are dark red, black when visited, lighter red when hovering
--Font size defined explicitely instead of using browser default.  IE users won't notice this, since its the same as IE's default font size.  Firefox / Opera users will notice smaller text.
--Recent news box doesn't have black border

The actual website revamp will include more drastic visual changes and structural changes to improve useability.  Just want to be clear the above is a quick adjustment just to see how it goes and gauge peoples feelings on different ideas.

IMO, It looks a bit moe organized.

[jhunter]

I think it'd be neat and a bit more catchy if the background for the page was more than just some texturing. Maybe had some bits of stone, sun-bleached bones here and there to break up the monotony some sort of artwork to it. Like Amoeba said:

As a documentation site I would give the new look a B+, as a marketing site that reflects the view of our world, I think it falls short and I would give it a D.

It's just too damned bland. I know alot of people that have been around for a while don't care for change. But we all want more players right? Having the webpages more eye-catching and artistic would really help alot.

[path]

As long as someone is changing the main page around, I'd like to suggest they try putting the fonts in an olde english or similarly obscure style and make the central bit look like dilapitated parchment. Evocative, right?

I mean, that's my suggestion. If I had the graphics skills to back it, I'd send something in. I like the low-tech approach, because MUDs are, you know, low tech, but even better I'd like to see something that inspires a -feeling- for the game world. Because the tech is just a window to the story, and the story's what's important.

[Scarborough]

Easy to read fonts are best.  Old English is -not- easy to read.  Also, if people don't have that font installed on their computer they don't see it anyway.

[amoeba]

The problem with using odd fonts is that not all computers have them installed, so the browser often picks what it thinks is a close match. The end result is often awful, and not what the designer intended.  The only way to insure that the fornts are accurate is to create them graphicly.  This increases the download time of the page, sometimes dramaticly, is very hard to maintain, and the search engine web crawlers can't read them to populate search engines.

[Anonymous]

My favorite style is the antecedent of the current site format. The one most appealing, in my opinion, should resemble the format of the latter style. However, I do understand that the current style is merely a transition.

Semper Pax,

Dirr

[Stroker]

The one most appealing, in my opinion, should resemble the format of the latter style.

So much for the ability to proofread three sentences: the bold word should be FORMER not latter.... apologies.

Semper Pax,

Dirr

[path]

I also would like it if the sand looked more like sand.

[Scarborough]

Here's one:  or... or.  

Real sand/dirt might be too much to look at.  I think what's used as a background presently is neutral and easy to put things on top of.  Even if those sands I posted above were toned way down -- lightened -- they still might be too busy.

[Cale_Knight]

I like the Web site. The Arm home page is not the game, and I don't agree that it needs to evoke the same kind of feeling as the game itself. The home page is a portal to information, and that information needs to be as quick and easy as possible to access.

Beyond that, a MUD is a text-based game. Graphical advertisement for a MUD is misleading in a way. If a player is turned off by our Web site because there's too much text... well, he's probably going to be turned off by the game itself.

[jhunter]

I really like that first one you put up there Scarborough, that would look great as a background with the pages  front of it. It would fit nicely and is much more eyecatching than the current backgroud.

[Tamarin]

I think it would be a good idea to put a link to some player logs right on the main page, so that people can instantly see what the game looks like when you're playing it.  Maybe even put a few snippets right on the main page, and link those to the rest of the logs.

Also, the link to connect to the game (telnet://64.252.79.51:4050) should be close to the top of the page.  It should be like the second thing you see, with the title being the first.

[jhunter]

I think it would be a good idea to put a link to some player logs right on the main page, so that people can instantly see what the game looks like when you're playing it.  Maybe even put a few snippets right on the main page, and link those to the rest of the logs.

Or perhaps some screenshots of someone going through the character creation process. *shrug*

[spawnloser]

If it was to be done, I prefer jhunter's idea of screenshots of char-gen.

Scarborouch, I LOVE that first sand shot...but indeed, WAY too busy.  In the current style, it could replace the parchmenty background, but the text itself would have to be on something much like the neutral background that we currently have for just behind the text.

[Nao]

I think the whole website needs to be rearranged... All the information is there but it'sso hard to find and really badly organized... even the sitmap where you might find stuff is hidden somewhere under comunity resources.

It might be some work to rearragne al that stuff into categories that make some more sense and fit the page better but it's really necessarry. I don't know how much of this is done in the website revamp but even if the new website is made with the current sitemap it needs to be changed. Place links to the same document at more than one place on the page if you have to, but make it findable. I've looked over the website and tried to sort stuff a bit different... It's definitely possible, and in a way that makes more sense than the current one, wherre it seems that bits and pieces ave been added at whichever plac they seemed to fit best over years, making everything pretty messy..

Oh, ans 'm all for using that second sand picture somewhere in the background.  

[amoeba]

Beyond that, a MUD is a text-based game. Graphical advertisement for a MUD is misleading in a way. If a player is turned off by our Web site because there's too much text... well, he's probably going to be turned off by the game itself.

I was waiting for someone to say this.  It is not that it is "graphical" advertisement, it is that you need to get people to look at the site long enough to elicit enough interest to actually read the content.  It is a fallacy to think that many people stop to actually read the contect of the websites.  It is also bad marketing practice to draw the (incorrect) conclusion, that only people that take the time to srutinize the site will translate into potential players.

The point is had you never seen the site before, and and happened upon it while casually surfing, the current site gives a feel of a dry, academic documentation website.  It is not a window into the atmosphere of the game.  The animated ad on TMC does a far better job of that.

[jhunter]

The animated ad on TMC does a far better job of that.

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Don't like the feel of this new thing. I know your just testing it out for the right now until things are finished with the other one. I liked the old one and felt fairly comfortable with it.

[LauraMars]

This is much better.  Far less tacky than it was, very clean and professional.  The little jewel bullets next to each link still make me wince, though.