The New Shiny Escapist

[octafish]

Ok I think it may be livable. It looks crap on my netbooks 1024x600 pixels so I guess my visits will be less frequent. If you could have a look at smaller screens (not iOS devices) you might find some tweaks.

My real problem is the font used in the articles and in the hot topics feed and such. I have Ctrl plussed and minussed all to no avail, the font remains jaggy and indistinct, almost impossible to read. The forum font is fine, but if I can't read the articles what is the point of the Escapist if I can't read the articles? I need to see if it is the same on my desktop, but most of my access is via the good old netbook.

 

[EHKOS]

...Hopefully with enough bitching they will change it back. Is my mindset for what I'm about to say.

The airy feeling feels empty. It's bright and hurst my eyes and there's not a lot to it which makes it unremarkable. I hate it I hate it I hate it. At least give us a choice, even a porn site I know let's me change it to pink or black. I want the old one back.

 

[tehbeard]

Too bright, also the font on the navbar pops up like a zit on greasy teens forehead.

Now for constructive comments.

Perhaps blue bars either side of the main column, same color as the footer/header backgrounds, something to remove all the headache inducing whitespace.

Second, remove whatever text effect is occuring on mouse over on the navbar, just do it. It's horrible and unprofessional looking.

As for load times I assume this is par for the course with having to wipe the caches.

 

[imnot]

make the background a little darker, or maybe like the old blue one. Other than that I quite like it (Although its harder to see you have a message)

 

[Febel]

I love it... I wish there was an optional darker template, perhaps somewhere in the profile selection or something, but I can live with bleeding eyeballs. Inefficient site design I can't live with, so this particular change is very much welcome.

Definetly needs some kind of darker version, maybe going back to the blue that the old escapist had. The smaller text is...annoying but can be dealt with. Having everything eye-searingly white, on the other hand...

 

[Trujkin]

Also, is it just me, or are a LOT of the Escapists here really not that fond of change, or new things? I mean, look at Jimqusition, there was so much hate towards that show, and now most people thank god for making the Escapist upload his show here. I guess waht I'm saying is: no point in making this the end of the world, folks.

Spoiler: Does this pretty much sum it up?

 

[Alphakirby]

This new layout currently confuses and enrages me.
I may get over it eventually, but I am lost right now.

 

[SeanTheBlueSheep]

I'll adjust, but right now, let me say, if only for the chance to look back in a week that right now, the site looks like ass.

The sharp corners and harsh lighting make it feel like I'm rolling my eyes around a box of broken glass and metal - Very shiny, but not a pleasant feeling.
The new top bar isn't very nice, and I'm just waiting for fifteen people to message me so I can completely not realise they have sent me messages.

I'm sure I'll adjust, in fact I already am, but it's not something I like right now.

 

[BloodyThor]

The site looks nice now, kinda harder to find as many articles as before on the main pages, but overall cleaner
Yet this web site took 1 full minute to load when it used to take half a second on this same computer... and its a good and fast computer!

 

[blue spartan 11]

1- Slow, but that's to be expected at first.
2- Way too bright. In the "OH MY GOD! MY EYES! THEY ARE MELTING!". As someone already said, all that white has removed the warm and welcoming feel of the pages. Now it's feeling cold and trying to push efficiency.
3- I already miss the old list fo features on the right.
4- Having the news floating in the middle of all that white is quite disturbing on the front page.
5- Why must everyone try to create new UI now? Why fix what isn't broken? I've got nothing against change, but please consult the community before doing something drastic like this.
6- As of typing this, the typing box just keep increasing in size for no reason. That's one weird glitch.

 

[SonicWaffle]

I might not have seen it, but a letter from the editor a week or so in advanced would have been nice. Thanks for all your work and I look forward to seeing more of your amazing content.

We did give some advance notice to Publisher's Club members, who have had access to the new design since Friday. Part of the incentive for joining Publisher's Club is that we let people in on stuff like this early

Do they also get the option to make it less bright or change their background? Not to harp on or anything, but at the moment the site actually hurts.

 

[uppitycracker]

I might not have seen it, but a letter from the editor a week or so in advanced would have been nice. Thanks for all your work and I look forward to seeing more of your amazing content.

We did give some advance notice to Publisher's Club members, who have had access to the new design since Friday. Part of the incentive for joining Publisher's Club is that we let people in on stuff like this early

part of the incentive is to get access to web design a 5 year old would laugh at? oh gee, how privileged! now I'm REALLY glad I never paid for that garbage.

 

[Diplian]

Im not sure if i like this new look.
It will take some getting used to but at first glance i strongly prefer the old look.

 

[manic_depressive13]

I liked the old one. The old one was fine. This one looks, as many people have said, as though there was a browser error and the site didn't finish loading. Everything is too spread out, there are harsh lines everywhere, and it's very bright and "blocky". It just looks clinical and unpleasant and takes too long to load.

 

[azurine]

I hate it when a website changes and then I can't find anything. There was nothing wrong with the old layout or look of the escapist before.

Now it's too bright, I can't find anything, and it looks like facebook.
I hate facebook.

Was this necessary? Was anyone asking for this to happen? 'Cause I'm quite certain there was no one asking for this.

 

[Jedamethis]

Can we please have the blue back? I like the blue... :/
That's my only slight complaint. It was a nice blue.

 

[Scrustle]

I like the new redesign but it's being really slow loading pages for me. Especially loading forums. And it I can't manage to load any of the pages under the Xbox/PS3/Wii etc. links at the top of the page at all! Anyone else finding this?

 

[Claptrap]

I can deal with the site changing (although i think it look's pretty bad), But my god that white background make's it a pain to read anything

 

[Coldster]

I'm leaning to the side of "not really enjoying this" but then again I take a while to adapt to changes like this. It looks much more accessible to new users and most if not all of the same features are here. The only complaints I have are some small ones:

1. The background is bland and unfriendly:
A blank white slate. This is obviously going to be filled with and ads and other material to make it actually look more colourful. For now however, it looks a bit depressing and boring.

2. The "Hot Topics" section is gone (at least to my knowledge):
Yeah, this is much more of a personal complaint, but I really, REALLY liked that part. It would always have the popular threads for the day and would change consistently at a steady rate. Now it has been replaced with a section that shows the threads with the most views and another with the most comments. Not bad. It works in theory, but I bet we will find that it will have threads that will stay there like giant boulders and not budge till the end of the month (or whatever time variable is selected).

So overall, I think it looks like a step forward. Two steps back, but three steps forward. Just remember to not step into any pits...