The New Shiny Escapist
- Thread starter Trujkin
- Start date
Ok, it's a week old. I still think it looks horribly cluttered and visually unstructured. I don't know anything about web design, but I look at the page and I just see a bunch of stuff thrown out there. There's no connection between different visual bits (text, image, those blue label things) that are part of the same story, there are no borders to separate groups of related items, and everything I used for convenience (the video index, hot forum posts) has either disappeared or been made much harder to see.
From now on I'm just using Google to find the videos and columns I want. I already had to use it to find specific episodes anyway.
From now on I'm just using Google to find the videos and columns I want. I already had to use it to find specific episodes anyway.
I actually registered now after the past few days of this crap just so I could give theEscapist crew a piece of my mind.
This new website design is crap. Plain and simple. You've clusterfucked the site so badly that I can't browse the news or the videos I had interest in without jumping through a series of hoops. Plus you made it painful to the eyes.
As far as I'm concerned, you can count me in the number of people that are simply not going to use the site any longer. I'll get my news elsewhere and suffer the loss of Yahtzee(though I'm sure I can find his videos without coming here).
Good job guys. You lost someone who has been getting you ad revenue EVERY day for a year or two now!
This new website design is crap. Plain and simple. You've clusterfucked the site so badly that I can't browse the news or the videos I had interest in without jumping through a series of hoops. Plus you made it painful to the eyes.
As far as I'm concerned, you can count me in the number of people that are simply not going to use the site any longer. I'll get my news elsewhere and suffer the loss of Yahtzee(though I'm sure I can find his videos without coming here).
Good job guys. You lost someone who has been getting you ad revenue EVERY day for a year or two now!
Hi, also registered just to say.. sorry I know you put alot effort into the new design, but it is very unpleasant to the eyes, whereas I LOVED the old design, which was very comfortable to browse and had beautiful layout.
Please, give us an option to turn to the old view.
Please, give us an option to turn to the old view.
I have taken my time on deciding what I think of it and...
Really, navigation is too abstract in its approach. Especially, the home page. It makes me cringe every time I see it. It feels like Firefox couldn't find escapistmagazine.com so it offers me a page of Escapist related content and links as a substitute.
I do like the drop down menu from the HUD bar up top, and I also like the larger reply box on the forums. It isn't all bad. I don't really have much of a problem with the color scheme, but some borders to categorize things could go a long way to help.
Really, navigation is too abstract in its approach. Especially, the home page. It makes me cringe every time I see it. It feels like Firefox couldn't find escapistmagazine.com so it offers me a page of Escapist related content and links as a substitute.
I do like the drop down menu from the HUD bar up top, and I also like the larger reply box on the forums. It isn't all bad. I don't really have much of a problem with the color scheme, but some borders to categorize things could go a long way to help.
It's been a week and it's still to bright. The brightness on my monitor is set to 24/100 when I've always had it at 50/100 for the entire life of this monitor.Susan Arendt said:
I don't really mind the other changes as long as I can find the things I want to watch. The current series are easy enough to find but there doesn't seem to be a link anywhere to older shows like Doraleous and There Will Be Brawl. I want to watch Doraleus all over again in the hopes that now that their movie is finishing up it will come back. But to get to it, I have to use the search at the top of the screen. I miss the Series Index button at the top that took me to all the series, current and old.
Now I really only come here for the series, but in the old setup all the new articles and reviews were right there, and they had descriptions. Now there's stuff, but I can't tell if I'm interested in it. The most cryptic thing on the main page at this moment is called "Console Revolution" and it shows what appears to be an Asian town. There's another one,"Thanks for Failing," that just shows a gangsterish looking guy in front with an emo chick in the back left and an accident in the back right. I have no idea what these articles are about. So my first option is to just go straight to um lets say the newest Zero Punctuation, watch it then leave the site, missing out on all the articles that might be interesting to me. My other option would be click on everything I see, then reading the first paragraph of everything just to find out that none of it interests me. The second option is a a massive waste of my time.
I hope that taking the time to write all of this wasn't a massive waste.
I had to edit this. I started watching D&A again and they seem to sum this up in episode 7.
"I have seen some shit in my day but that was messed up," said Mirdon
"That just made my eyes hurt," said Neebs.
I hate to be pessimistic and all 'rebellious' as well but... I'm really beginning to feel like that I'm the one of a couple hundred (or thousand, I dunno) people who's just gonna be swept under the rug and ignored on the very legitimate and simple belief that the site was fine and never needed the change.Bob Kyuss said:
Of course, there's a good chance at this point we're gonna be told 'We're not going back to the old format, get over it and accept the new layout' to which I'll say, 'Okay Escapist, it's been nice knowing you, I'm done.'
I'll stop watching LRR, I'll stop watching ZP, I'll stop watching MovieBob and viewing Criticial Miss or The Name Game, because as much as it will suck to miss those weekly entries and favorite entertainment outlets of mine, I don't think I'd wanna be somewhere that basically told me I wasn't wanted anymore.
If I'm not wanted on the Escapist because I liked the old format and didn't think it needed changing then I guess that's that.
Judging only from the comments of this topic, I would say its the majority of people who actually care at all, i.e. the ones that they were trying to appeal to with this change, generally dislike it. At this point, its not even that we're making unreasonable demands, as the biggest change people want is for the color scheme to be less eye-gouging, with most other people just wanting some acknowledgement that our concerns are actually being heard and taken under serious consideration, aside from the whole "We're [probably] working on it" or "Try to get use to it". Hell, i'm still waiting for an answer to as why us free members got shafted by this entire change, without so much as a "by the way...". They really fucked this one up, PR wise, because now a significant number of pub members feel pissed off because of the lack of changes from the beta (like, once again, the color scheme), while the free members got no notice at all as far as I can tell. Even now, i'm guessing that this whole thing would be smoothed over much better if they would dedicate somebody to keeping us updated while they work on things, and at least addressing our concerns in a more effective manner, like telling us what they're either going to, or considering going to fix, and keeping us informed, rather than just waving us off and telling us to "give it a chance". It's been a week. I'm still pretty pissed. Having this entire process be what is essentially a black box isn't helping.Kyogissun said:
I'm just trying to take the whole thing in a calm mannered and polite approach because I'll be honest, I'm paranoid the moment I curse or use 'strongly worded language' in my post, I'll be moderated for flaming/trolling/hateful posting like I have in the past.adalekplunger said:
So to be more exact, I have to agree with most of your post sir, albeit I just put it in different terms. I'm just not about to put my ass on the line and, more importantly, be treated like I'm being unruly, inconsiderate and rude like some other users in the thread have been accused of being.
I too am here a week later (well, 5 days but close enough) and I'm still not satisfied at all with the layout. A simple 'reversion to the old format' option for those of us not fond of this new layout is really all I want. For those of you used to the new format, awesome, enjoy it. But it's just 'not' for me at all.
How much has changed for you depends on your system configuration, site use habits, and eye sensitivity, apparently. For me, the biggest changes are the annoying welcome banner that won't remember to stay closed and the barely readable fonts on popups and menus. There are little improvements, too: the profile and forum boxes in the right column are fairly convenient.Mediteral said:
The design/art/deco whatever you want to call it, doesn't really bother me too much... I just can't find the videos I want to watch. It's all I really come here for, and now I can't actually find the new ones. The old box on the right hand side that showed the latest episodes was my best friend.
So I guess... umm... hey, The Escapist guys, can you please fix out some of the navigation stuff... or could someone tell me if I'm being stupid and it's actually really easy to find latest videos.
(Note: I found the "Latest Videos" section, but the feed is clogged up with videos I'm not interested in so I can't just search for the ones I want, which are not showing in that feed... it's pretty much just game trailers actually....)
So I guess... umm... hey, The Escapist guys, can you please fix out some of the navigation stuff... or could someone tell me if I'm being stupid and it's actually really easy to find latest videos.
(Note: I found the "Latest Videos" section, but the feed is clogged up with videos I'm not interested in so I can't just search for the ones I want, which are not showing in that feed... it's pretty much just game trailers actually....)
Honestly, the first time I saw the front page, I literally thought my net had a hiccup when loading it and everything was trying to display itself in code everything. Then I took a closer look and puked. Then I went to pretend the site was back to normal every time I've come back.
I've been lurking for years, signed up just to reply here, and then vanish in self-satisfaction:
1. I echo the "too white omg omg" comments. I seriously would prefer full column ads down both borders, make them move, play unmutable music, and sell me the latest Adam Sandler film... as long as it covers the white. It's that bad.
2. I come for the ZP weekly, and click on other things if they catch my eye. But nothing feels like it has that opportunity anymore. I guess it's less cluttered to some, but it lacks first sentence taglines that got me to sometimes click on other sections.
3. Susan's reaction is 100% understandable, while also pants-on-head insane. Every website, game, band, actor, dog show competitor seems to go through the same thing when it deals with public backlash: "I really care about this stuff, why are you being mean?". Everyone who reguarly deals with the public is also reguarly told how much they suck donkey butt. Let the public vent, detach your emotions from the vent, make money, develop alcholism. That's how it works. Venting back any, even in a reasonable and measured way, can only serve to diminish the money part of that sequence.
It's just a strange cycle that seems magnified by the internet. A blogger, youtuber, or website has things basically even-keel, then they do something out of step. BOOOM! The "community" treats them like a violent crime was committed, which is jarring to the content creator from the cool kids club that existed before. The content creator says "don't be mean" to the internet, which is insane. There's literally nothing to gain from addressing the disrespectful. Assholes don't care that they're being assholes... because they're assholes. The optimal response is "I'm really sorry we let you down, THANK YOU SIR FOR YOUR CONCERN!". That's how all professions that deal with the public have to roll. Although to be fair to the haters, these white borders are like a FMU hazing to my eyes.
1. I echo the "too white omg omg" comments. I seriously would prefer full column ads down both borders, make them move, play unmutable music, and sell me the latest Adam Sandler film... as long as it covers the white. It's that bad.
2. I come for the ZP weekly, and click on other things if they catch my eye. But nothing feels like it has that opportunity anymore. I guess it's less cluttered to some, but it lacks first sentence taglines that got me to sometimes click on other sections.
3. Susan's reaction is 100% understandable, while also pants-on-head insane. Every website, game, band, actor, dog show competitor seems to go through the same thing when it deals with public backlash: "I really care about this stuff, why are you being mean?". Everyone who reguarly deals with the public is also reguarly told how much they suck donkey butt. Let the public vent, detach your emotions from the vent, make money, develop alcholism. That's how it works. Venting back any, even in a reasonable and measured way, can only serve to diminish the money part of that sequence.
It's just a strange cycle that seems magnified by the internet. A blogger, youtuber, or website has things basically even-keel, then they do something out of step. BOOOM! The "community" treats them like a violent crime was committed, which is jarring to the content creator from the cool kids club that existed before. The content creator says "don't be mean" to the internet, which is insane. There's literally nothing to gain from addressing the disrespectful. Assholes don't care that they're being assholes... because they're assholes. The optimal response is "I'm really sorry we let you down, THANK YOU SIR FOR YOUR CONCERN!". That's how all professions that deal with the public have to roll. Although to be fair to the haters, these white borders are like a FMU hazing to my eyes.
You know that comment will just be skipped and forgotten unless you can actually provide some sort of constructive criticism, right? Unless you make clear what's bothering you, it's likely you'll be filed under "doesn't like change in general" and ignored.JesterRaiin said:
I still get the feeling the site is slower.
also, seeing the new site content on the right was mighty convenient, why remove it?
also, seeing the new site content on the right was mighty convenient, why remove it?
Well, I simply don't like how there isn't even a stub under the title of the articles. I mean, I just have to guess what is it about (which is already a pretty big deal).
I preferred the previous colors, but that's a matter of taste, and the new ones don't bother me that much, anyway.
Also, is it just my impression, or titles seem to remain in the front page for less time than before?
Finally, the layout is a little odd, and I don't understand why some content gets a bigger icon, and some a smaller one (and by this I mean that there is a big picture, than a few small ones, then another big picture and a few small ones, etc. But I can't seem to find the logic behind the groups they form. It doesn't seem to be connected to the time of the upload, nor to the content, so I am guessing it's about how many comments they got, or something like that... But that isn't how I navigate content, I simply search what is interesting to me, not to others). Also, it's more important to keep the chronological listing of the news at the center, as it is the easiest way to see if something interesting come up since last time you took a look.
I preferred the previous colors, but that's a matter of taste, and the new ones don't bother me that much, anyway.
Also, is it just my impression, or titles seem to remain in the front page for less time than before?
Finally, the layout is a little odd, and I don't understand why some content gets a bigger icon, and some a smaller one (and by this I mean that there is a big picture, than a few small ones, then another big picture and a few small ones, etc. But I can't seem to find the logic behind the groups they form. It doesn't seem to be connected to the time of the upload, nor to the content, so I am guessing it's about how many comments they got, or something like that... But that isn't how I navigate content, I simply search what is interesting to me, not to others). Also, it's more important to keep the chronological listing of the news at the center, as it is the easiest way to see if something interesting come up since last time you took a look.
