The New Shiny Escapist

[Tjaeden]

I like the new site.

But it took me *SIX* clicks to find the store to buy xmas gifts.

It's cool if you guys are in the "it would be kind-of, sort-of cool to make money" crowd.

 

[largeclassicpoop]

The color scheme is hard on the eyes, and the site lags on every single thing I try to read. Plus, the layout is just cluttered and lame. Count me in with the 'change it back' crowd.

 

[thespyisdead]

not sure if it's because of my location, but i have started experiencing lag more often after the new site went up

 

[giant enemy spycrab]

I can't find anything.

 

[thisthat92]

well,i could write what i feel but this video sums up my feelings quite well:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiMOKmp0uZc

 

[Arandomelle]

I thought something had gone wrong with my internet when I came onto the site today, but apparently it's meant to look like this?! It looks minimalist and amateur, like when a teenager makes a website for the first time. When I tried to get into Zero Punctuation, it took me to a facebook page initially, rather than the nice menu screen. Go back to the old website! It looked so good, and worked really well, now it looks like the OLD myspace, and that can never be a good thing!

 

[Arandomelle]

Forgot to say, on the bug side of it, not only is the lag terrible, but the text and links keep moving so the overlap each other so you can't read/use them, and the navigation menus on the top bar get stuck down, really annoying if you move the curser over them accidentally...

Trouble is, we're going to be stuck with this now, cos after spending what I assume is A LOT of money on this 'shiny new site' it's not going to be changed back to the one that works! Like Facebook.

 

[MorsePacific]

Just plain ugly. The light blue and almost pure white actually make it hard to look at. The front page isn't organized in any coherent way. The load times are atrocious and the top banner doesn't even seem to load properly, unless it was meant to not fit the screen.

 

[Mediteral]

My only issue that the Forum box on the right side is broken on any other setting than "Latest". I wanna see "Most Viewed" but when i click on it, the links move to the right, covered the side,

 

[sunami88]

It's pretty good, but I would really like a "dark" theme. The site is far too bright for night time viewing.

The layout seems fine though. It'll just take a little getting used to.

 

[Deathninja19]

Yeah, our sizes changed just a *wee* bit, and we haven't caught up with all the assets we had to replace yet. So a few things still look squishy or stretchy. It'll all be fixed bit by bit...though, I dunno, I kinda like Shamus looking all Stretch Armstrongy. Makes me chuckle.

Also, folks, this should go without saying, but we're far more likely to listen to your feedback if you're not being a total cock while delivering it. (This obviously doesn't apply to to the post I'm quoting, which is perfectly fine.) We're not trying to fuck anyone over, or trick anybody, or just generally ruin your experience because we think it's hilarious to watch you all freak out. We launched the redesign in response to a great deal of feedback that we got, over several years, that our old site was confusing, cluttered, and just plain hard to use. If the new design we've chosen needs a bit of tweaking yet, that's ok - we didn't really expect it to be perfect right out of the gate. That's why we're asking for feedback, so that we can focus on the areas that really, truly don't work for you guys and try to find some kind of compromise.

Speaking to us like we're all clueless jackasses who just got drunk one night and decided to fuck up the site just for kicks doesn't help anyone. We all work very, very hard on The Escapist, not just because it's our jobs, but because we believe in it. We want it to be great. We want it to be something that you genuinely look forward to visiting every single day. And we're pretty sure you want it to be that, too.

So how about giving us the benefit of the doubt that we genuinely want to move forward in a positive way, and stop talking to us like we're beneath your contempt?

Alright, fine. Not a cock.
While I understand that you probably have gotten a few complaints over the course of several years regarding your sites layout, it seems like a very big jump to a total redesign that I had absolutely no notice about before it happened, and i imagine that's why you're getting a good deal of flack from people. If you're going to do a total overhaul, then people should be alerted beforehand. Everyone. Being "in the know" about a sites change shouldn't be relegated to a paid service, it should be a very large banner across the top saying something along the lines of "WE MAY BE REDESIGNING THE WEBSITE IN X DAYS". Sure, make beta testing a pub-only deal, but the people who browse the site on a daily basis, the same people who help support your site by viewing all of the lovely ads should be given some obvious, preferably unavoidable, heads up. While that great deal of feedback may have pointed out the difficulty of navigating the site, haven't people complained about the same thing here about the new one? Yes, they'll most likely get used to it, but couldn't the same be said about those other people who complained in the first place?

Of course, I may have a bit of history with website redesigns, as a number of other sites I use to frequent also had redesigns, and subsequently underwent *other* revisions that either sucked the soul out of the site, or otherwise made it unpleasant to use, so any kind of major redesign that turns my previously liked site into a stark-white and somewhat drab and dreary one comes off as a four-horsemen scenario for me. In the end, I just wish that you had at least held on to the old sites color-scheme and design, because that "cluttered" feel actually gave it personality,rather than what i'm currently looking at. While the new design isn't the worst I've seen, I strongly would prefer and encourage whoever makes these decisions to reconsider.


Or at the very least put that lovely article box where it was before.

I agree, I think that the fact there was no indication of the changes to the free side extreamly disrespectful and kind of rude. Look I don't really care about the changes apart from the colour scheme but the lack of forewarning really makes me feel that if I'm not paying my voice and my presence in general is not wanted here. And make note I said feel, I know that this was not intentional but the fact that we non-paying members were an afterthought at best is ignoring the fact that this website is where it is because of it's community (and Yahtzee). I think I'll find somewhere that cares about what I think.

 

[Deathninja19]

This still doesn't makes sense to me. Almost all websites are white: Google, Facebook, Reddit, Slashdot, Stackoverflow, BBC, Guardian, National Post, etc. If you are editing a Word document, you're starting at white, if you are working with Excel, it is almost all white, Kindle for PC is black on white by default. Being white is the screen's most common state. If it hurts your eyes in a well-lit room, then something is seriously wrong.

Google I don't stare at for hours so that isn't a problem, The rest work ok as they use space well, use formal easy to read fonts and tend to use even colours because I'm on a widescreen desktop when I maximise the window there is so much empty white space and when I try to focus on something else it is either tiny black words in a sea of white or bright blue colouring. Not only does it hurt my eyes but it feels a lot more unwelcoming too. You will probably say to minimise your window but I shouldn't have to, it's bad design when you are forced to do something to make a website readable.

No, no, I would not tell you to minimize your window. I was genuinely curious why people complain. Your reply and several others explain the problem quite well. Thanks.

No problem dude I understand, I do wear glasses for occasional eye strain so that may be a factor but I found the old style much easier on the eyes.

 

[D_West]

Wow, almost a thousand comments here, I'm glad there's people who care so much!

The website used to look great, with it's blue backgrounds and blue...everything. I really liked it! The blue design was unique and easy to read, unlike now. I also enjoyed being able to click on shows like The Big Picture by clicking the video series button on the right side of the page. Now the website is confusing to navigate, and hard to read. I am not a happy camper.

 

[remulean]

in really don' t know if anyone is still really reading this, i mean someone who matters, but if there is someone from the escapist site reading this then please please listen.
i really liked this site. i really liked the bar where i could see when new videos had been uploaded. i really liked that i could go the front page and see the newest uploads. and as someone who lurks heavily i also liked not seeing the same threads all the time. please understand that i really like these things, very especially the bar with the videos. it was so simple, so straightforwards, so mindblowingly selfexplanatory. now its gone. i'll stlill watch movie bob, i'll still watch zp, but i really cant say that i'll just stumple upon a new topic on the forums now, or that i'll end up watching another video from feed dump or other brainless videos. give us the video sidebar again please, make it bigger, make it better. we came for the videos and stayed for the community, but then you gotta make us come for the videos.

 

[sgtleeemery]

Although, I am not raging at you guys (I appreciate you have to try different things and a lot of work went into this) I do prefer the old layout of the site as it was easier to navigate.

It seems now that new videos get pushed off the home page a lot faster. For example, I almost missed the latest 'The Big Picture'. I now end up checking every video thread, manually, every day which makes me feel like this site is making me work harder than a web site should.

I also saw an article yesterday that I didn't have time to read before going work. I check today and it is gone from the front page and I have no idea where to look for archived news or if you do archive it anymore. Admittedly, this may be me not looking hard enough but a really great website shouldn't make me look it should be intuitive. I realize that this is easier said than done but I'm sure you guys can pull it off.

Now, I've tarried long enough here. Back to SWTOR!

 

[Itsthefuzz]

Is it possible to get enough feedback to change it back?

 

[-Dragmire-]

I also enjoyed being able to click on shows like The Big Picture by clicking the video series button on the right side of the page. Now the website is confusing to navigate, and hard to read. I am not a happy camper.

Doesn't the top bar cover the same function? Just hover your cursor over the VIDEO section and the drop down menu has The Big Picture there.

 

[Kyogissun]

It may sound odd, but the design makes me want to not come here anymore. It's just very off putting and boring.

As much as I hate to say it (and I really do) this is how I'm feeling now.

I guess I just wanna have my last bit of input on this topic, so here's what I've got to say to the staff:

Whatever feedback you got about the site being 'hard to navigate' in my honest opinion is absolute BULLSHIT. The site was, I'd argue, damn near 'perfect'. I've considered the escapist to be one of my favorite sites purely on the ease of navigation alone for the past... What, 2/3 years?

Whatever people were telling you was wrong, I'm sorry, 'they' were wrong and the ones who believed the site was fine or fellow staff members who felt that aside from coding that the site didn't need a change? THEY were right.

You don't need to bust your asses and overhaul the site. It was absolutely and completely fine the way it used to be... And that's saying a lot in my opinion, as there's one glaringly annoying problem with a certain favorite gaming site of mine who's god damn 'features' window decides to scroll with the speed of a child under the age of 10 who just drank 4 cans of soda, all because I decide to open and browse other windows.

tl;dr: I'm not mad at anyone who decided to contribute to the new design, but please change the site back because there was 'nothing' wrong with it whatsoever. I KNOW it took you guys six months to put this all together but... I liked the old escapist, it just... it 'worked'.

And I know I may be getting a bit snotty or cocky or obnoxious by saying this, but if any users after this post feel the same, I'd like to request you quote or re-iterate that last statement of mine. Not because I wanna 'stick it to the man' but to show that we genuinely liked and had no problems with the way the site used to be.

I'm not being critical here, I'm reinforcing the idea that there was nothing wrong or necessary for change in the first place, at LEAST visual interface wise. Aside from occasional video crashes (which were usually rectified later that day or in a few hours), the escapist has been by far one of the most 'stable' sites (visually and functionality-wise) I've browsed in the past 5 years and I hate to see that otherwise awesome and familiar interface just completely up and disappear to a new format that just feels stark and unpleasant.

And I'll also admit here and now, I have not bothered to try and use the new site layout and adjust to it, because I see no point learning how to use something that I hope and believe will go away soon. Might be stupid but... I have a sort of hope and faith the site will go back to the old format, even considering that 'timesink' you put into working on it.

But again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it and the Escapist's old layout was the 'epitome' of such a statement.

 

[FEichinger]

So ... more time has passed and I currently view the site at like 300% zoom (just enough to have around 1 inch of white border each side ...)

Feels better, but ruins my eyes even more in the long run ... And now I have to scroll for entire minutes to find what I'm looking for ... Still not the perfect workaround, but injecting jscript isn't a viable choice either, imho ...

That said, reason for the white hurting anyones eyes is likely that the borders aren't in the immediate field of vision, yet the brightest overall element of the entire site ... Which of course hurts, if you think about it ...

Guess I'll just prepare for my old days when I can't view any site in any way other than this ... ^^