The New Shiny Escapist

[Absimilliard]

Ok, now that I've had some days to get over the shock, I'll give my opinion again:
I definitely do not like it.
- The colour scheme is awful, as is the font set
- The main page does not present the site's contents nearly as well as the old one. The drop-down menus are only handy if you know what you're looking for.

I'm not going to claim that I'll stop using The Escapist, but I will probably spend less time here. Part of the appeal with this site was that I could spend hours looking through the content, finding old favourites or new things to watch/read/listen to. Now, the site is actually unpleasant to the eyes, and I do not feel motivated to stay for longer than it takes to watch the videos I view on a regular basis.

My initial impression was that the site looked soul-less and impersonal, especially compared to the old one (though I think I would get that impression even if I'd never visited before), and that hasn't changed one bit.

I would also like to say that "you'll get used to it" is not a good argument whatsoever. It's the same thing my doctor told me when I was diagnosed lactose intolerant. Yes, I did get used to it, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to go back to the days when I could eat my weight in ice cream. "Being used to" does not equal "enjoy" or "prefer"...

 

[O maestre]

Today we're revealing some big

We appreciate everything you, the readers, have done to make the site what it is today. This place would not be the same without your voice!

I have already commented on this negative change, but i am still fuming. then i spotted this.
it is very clear that you do no appreciate your readership at all otherwise we would have had some kind of input or involvement in this change. that has turned out to be a graphical and technical annoyance.

instead of having easy access from the main page we have to roam through several menus to get to the content we want. instead of relevant and related links i get links to zero punctuations videos from 2007 that have nothing to do with the article i was reading. the whole thing is a mess of tweets and facebook. that is perhaps the most infuriating part of the change, the site looks like a social networking site and not a game site.

i am not saying that change is not good but only when it makes sense and makes things easier to access. the main page that was in place before was adequate, i rarely had to click on any of the tabs to reach content. and finding the latest videos or articles has become a jumbled mess.

damn i am just repeating myself, but to reiterate, no, no and no, you dont give two shits about your readership so dont even bother to mention it, because its insulting to read such a blatantly false statement.

 

[Sarge034]

The site is less intuitive and a blinding white. Do not want.

The home page had everything I needed. Now I need to flip to several different tabs to get the same result.

What is it with people NEEDING to upgrade? First Microsoft screws up the 360's dash by making it less intuitive and forcing users to jump through additional loops, and now the Escapist does the same thing? At least the 360 dash doesn't screw up my vision like a flash bang in COD...

Why can't we just leave a good thing be people?

I have an idea! Why don't you all put a poll on this forum so you all can see what the community thinks without having to read thirty some odd pages of the same complaints?

 

[YunikoYokai5]

I've had a while to mull over this, but I have one major complaint. I cannot find the news easily on the front page. I miss the small box in the corner that had the 5 latest news articles, that was really handy.

 

[Spy_Guy]

I come here mainly for the news, LRR and ZP.

Now it's damned confusing to read the news, because there's a clutter of them above the proper list, so I can't go through them in order.
On the front page there are (very) old ZP's listed, and I wonder how I missed them, check them, notice that yes, I have seen them and subsequently feel rick-rolled.

Same thing with all the other videos.

The white colours don't burn my eyes like it used to, though, so good.

Still, it strikes me that someone ignored the old saying "Don't fix what ain't broke"
This site really didn't need this whatsoever.

 

[Jaeger_CDN]

I've waited on posting my thoughts of the new format to give it time and it seems like they've done a few fixes since then. All I can say is I find the new layout to be less friendly and intuitive than the old one.

- the over bright white background seems to have been toned down a bit (atleast to my eyes)but is still a little bright.
- the main page, everything looks cluttered to me whereas the old layout had much easier way of finding things.
- I used to log in alot to browse the news and forums but with the new format I find it clunky and not really user friendly (to me atleast)and has knocked my traffic to the site down alot.

The fact that some of the complaints have been addressed show me that this isn't just a lip service thread but I think offering users the option of the 'old' layout in their settings might sooth some anger against the new look.


Captcha: evidence, repenDF (maybe that should have been repent?)

 

[Keslen]

I've already presented my first impression review written shortly after the new format was released, now I wanted to offer what I think now after I've had a chance to get used to it.

In a nutshell, the new layout is dramatically inferior to the old one.

The front page of this new layout is borderline useless with all the clutter and lack of any real divisions of content (not to mention the much smaller amount of content displayed on it in general). However, I have been able to find a work around to that where I bookmark the news sub-page instead of the main page, then scroll down to the RSS feed box which seems to list all content uploaded in chronological order. If there were a way to scroll that up instead of just down or back to top it would be pretty much flawless.

The colour scheme still makes it look like the browser failed to load properly (I've taken to using ctrl-a to highlight a news article while reading it to save my eyes), but you seem to be at peace with it, so it's probably not worth mentioning beyond that.

In conclusion, I can live with this new format only because I have a long standing relationship with the Escapist, I know exactly what I'm looking for out of it and am comfortable enough fiddling around to find a couple of very necessary work arounds. If I were a new user who had never visited before, the main page would have sent me running, never to return, shortly after it loaded.

 

[Buizel91]

Susan, i think 70% just want these borders changed, it is WAY to bright.

Put the old blue ones back? that's pretty much what defined the Escapist for me, as with the Imps and the Escapist "e"

OMG! IDEA!

Put loads of Imps in the borders :')

 

[Deathninja19]

I have a minor complaint that I'd like to see resolved at some point. Okay, actually I don't think this one is very minor.
I can't for the life of me find a direct link to the video galleries anywhere. For example, if I want to get to the collection of Zero Punctuation videos, I have to run a search on Zero Punction, bring up a video, go to Yahtzee's profile and then click the link from there. And for the ones who don't put their escapist video gallery as their homepage, like, say Moviebob, I still haven't found a way to get there at all.
I mean, you can play around with the colors and design all you want, but a good rule of thumb for good design is that a person should be able to get where they want to go in as few clicks as possible.

Edit: Ooooooooh, I see. There are drop down menus that don't come down because I use noscript. Well, glad I figured thet out.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation

Here and to anyone who wants to just come here for Yahtzee, just bung it in to the faves tab and click on it every weds.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

I,personally,don't enjoy the new layout.

Really miss the button of "hot threads" that makes me go to the most popular threads in 1 click,rather than having to go back every time in order to see them on the main/home page.

Also,there have been some glitches with seeing your own posts a few days ago which was recently repaired it seems.

Overall I don't like it and wish you(escapist staff) would revert it back to it's former look,which I doubt will happen.Guess I'll have to cope with the new look.

 

[swatmajor1]

Well, it's been about a week. Let's see...

No true acknowledgement of people's complaints and grievances, many thousands of burnt retinas, and an increasing annoyed viewer base...good work.

Now, some advice. Put a coloured border to cut the eye burning. Gizmodo and the like did it after their re-design, and it is actually quite workable. Get someone to look after PR during this time (Not Susan, she seems personally invested too much to give good PR) to keep people informed about what is happening at Escapist HQ.

I think PR is the biggest issue now, above the website re-design itself. The Pub Members feel they were not listened to, and the non-Pub Members, and the viewer base at large, feel that they got no notice at all, or any change to comment before the site changed.

All I know is that I'm riding this year out, see how things go. But I wouldn't be surprised if I cancel my Pub Membership because, well, my money isn't going on what it needs to go on.

 

[M4t3us]

And now my avatar seems to have reverted to the default on the homepage/Top banner thingy... Yes I'm that much of a narcissist!

 

[adalekplunger]

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.

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.

I'm being plenty calm about this. However, at the same time, i'm not going to sugarcoat the fact that this entire thing has pissed me off. I'm not saying that they're intentionally being dicks, or making unruly demands. At this point, i'd be happy if all they did was send someone on here to help address concerns and to keep us updated. They've been silent for far too long, and it's irritating to a lot of people that feel that they're not being heard. Its not even as much about the site change anymore for me, as it is their seemingly callous disregard for their fan base. They might actually be working really hard to fix everything, trying to help make everyone as happy as possible, but without any word from them about the status of the site, or some confirmation that they are indeed reading and considering people's complaints, it just seems that they don't care. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Without them telling us anything, there's no way to know. That's why i'm pissed.

 

[Captain Booyah]

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.

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.

I'm being plenty calm about this. However, at the same time, i'm not going to sugarcoat the fact that this entire thing has pissed me off. I'm not saying that they're intentionally being dicks, or making unruly demands. At this point, i'd be happy if all they did was send someone on here to help address concerns and to keep us updated. They've been silent for far too long, and it's irritating to a lot of people that feel that they're not being heard. Its not even as much about the site change anymore for me, as it is their seemingly callous disregard for their fan base. They might actually be working really hard to fix everything, trying to help make everyone as happy as possible, but without any word from them about the status of the site, or some confirmation that they are indeed reading and considering people's complaints, it just seems that they don't care. Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Without them telling us anything, there's no way to know. That's why i'm pissed.

This. Seriously, what the fuck is happening?? I want to believe that somebody is doing something, like perhaps implementing a "revert to old format" option or at the very least altering the eye-melting colour scheme that so many have complained about, but this thread's been getting pretty sporadic replies from anybody with any influence. I remember one of Susan's posts about giving the new layout a few days, but...it's been a week. It's been a week and the best reply they've got is "it's all right, I suppose I'll get used to it". The site is still slow and laggy on my computer, and my new avatar hasn't appeared even hours after I apparently changed it (which was not the case before the new layout). I don't think anybody wants to come across as spiteful or whiny, but when there's still so many kinks that need to be ironed out and complaints to be addressed, the silence isn't exactly encouraging. Even just a post a day to keep us updated would be better than nothing at all.

 

[Don Reba]

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.

The thing is that we are also asking for feedback, but you are not giving us any. What concerns have you heard, what are are planning to change, what are you deliberating on? I think people would be much happier, if this was a respectful two-sided conversation.

 

[Plazmatic]

what really ticks me off is that they are incessant on making escapist laggier than it already is, and yes it is ONLY escapist doing this, first a few month ago it became apparent that escapist was having some technical difficulties with their servers, and it wasn't even possible for any one to get in, after that its been laggy and it takes, instead of a nearly instant load up, 30 seconds to load the front page and other subsequent pages. And now they decide to INCREASE stress on the servers? this is just stupid... fix your servers, fix your site.

 

[Something Amyss]

it is very clear that you do no appreciate your readership at all otherwise we would have had some kind of input or involvement in this change. that has turned out to be a graphical and technical annoyance.

You know, I'm going to be kind and assume that it wasn't a lack of appreciation, but more thoughtlessness. Doesn't mean I like it, and doesn't mean I want it to stay this way, but it's a little harsh to say they don't appreciate their readership at all.

I think they just developed FADD. Facebook Attention Deficit Disorder.

However, it seems they're handling the negative reaction really poorly, and are somewhat legitimately surprised (possibly even let down) that this didn't go over well. Which reeks less of "fuck you, we don't care," and more "We thought you'd like it."

What is it with people NEEDING to upgrade? First Microsoft screws up the 360's dash by making it less intuitive and forcing users to jump through additional loops, and now the Escapist does the same thing? At least the 360 dash doesn't screw up my vision like a flash bang in COD...

I'm sticking with my FADD explanation (see above). I don't mind upgrades, just make sure they're...Upgrading. This is more like taking a hatchet to your servers and expecting them to run faster.

...actually, that could explain why pages are taking ten minutes to load.

 

[Hamhawk]

The funny coincidence with this whole fiasco (yes, this redesign is a fiasco, not quite to netflix/qwickster proportions or debit card fees, but along the same vein) is that I really was debating about joining the publishers club so I could see Yahtzee on my iPad. Now, however.. I can not view this site on my iPad without blinding myself or manually turning down the brightness. I guess I will not join now seeing how responsive the staff is to complaints and problems. I do not believe you deserve my hard earned cash.

You would rather them respond to EVERY SINGLE REUEST than to work on the problem while responding to a select few?

Priorities...sort them out

Where exactly did you pull out this absurd interpretation. Go back to your den foul beast!

What I want, and what I believe a significant population segment want is a post or article explaining the changes and what feedback is being listened to and what is being ignored. We want to now what is going to change and what isn't. It is clear the new format is unacceptable to more than a minority. Right now the feeling from the escapist staff to the general non-paying viewing public is that the public viewers are not important enough to warrant a thought out response or action.

If the current response remains, many of us, I believe, will stop visiting the escapist and go somewhere else.