Awww, you guys! You shouldn't have! Really, i mean it, stir the hornet's nest and expect to survive the manure storm with no umbrella? Do you know how many people still use the old layout of the yahoo mail? I don't know either but there's still a few. So, where's your umbrella?
The New Shiny Escapist
- Thread starter Trujkin
- Start date
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The portal has no rhyme or reason. Some things randomly take up more space than other things, and there's a required reading section with random articles, there's random news articles on the auto scrolling bar thing, while other random news articles are randomly random'd around the page -- but then you have the neat little box with news articles sorted by latest, comments, and views which makes the scroll bar and randomly placed stories kind of redundant.
I feel like the portal would be better if everything was more like that neat little news box. Have your articles, videos, features, and whatnot all have their own little boxes. If you really want something eyecatching to highlight certain videos, stories, or articles, then you can have a scrollable highlights section like Steam or Slate uses. I think the biggest problem is that everything is so disorganized. I look at the portal and (besides being blinded by the whiteness) I'm confused by the randomness. It's like you took Bush's Shock and Awe doctrine and developed a website design philosophy around it.
I feel like the portal would be better if everything was more like that neat little news box. Have your articles, videos, features, and whatnot all have their own little boxes. If you really want something eyecatching to highlight certain videos, stories, or articles, then you can have a scrollable highlights section like Steam or Slate uses. I think the biggest problem is that everything is so disorganized. I look at the portal and (besides being blinded by the whiteness) I'm confused by the randomness. It's like you took Bush's Shock and Awe doctrine and developed a website design philosophy around it.
well ill add my voice to the unwashed masses. i despise this change, and resent the fact that we did not get any sort of influence on the change. forgive me for belittling your sense of precognition but how the fuck do you know what we would like changed on the site, if you do not even bother to ask for the escapists user input.
I cincerly hope you have not deluded yourselves to think that our opinion is irrelevant. I hate when this happens, some presumptuous VIP gets it into his head that there needs to be a layout change without even bothering to consult the users. I am truly disappointed that my favourite site has finally made the final transition from sensible to disrespectful.
i realize my rant will have no effect, but it is all i can do, its not like my or anybody else's opinion matters to the escapist at all!!
so what are my concrete complaints, everything is too bright an almost duochrome. but mostly i dislike the change because this gaming site now looks like a social networking site. likewise content seems like it was pre selected, instead of the more content filled main page, where i could access almost all of the sites features. instead if i want to find specific content one has to navigate and through menu after menu. yes i realize less is more and simple is good. These changes however seem annoying at best and impractical borderline stupid at worst.
i hold the crew behind the escapist in high esteem and have always been appreciative of their talent and effort, something that has gained my respect, i guess i just am saddened to learn that they dont give two shits about their users opinion, just like every other company.
I cincerly hope you have not deluded yourselves to think that our opinion is irrelevant. I hate when this happens, some presumptuous VIP gets it into his head that there needs to be a layout change without even bothering to consult the users. I am truly disappointed that my favourite site has finally made the final transition from sensible to disrespectful.
i realize my rant will have no effect, but it is all i can do, its not like my or anybody else's opinion matters to the escapist at all!!
so what are my concrete complaints, everything is too bright an almost duochrome. but mostly i dislike the change because this gaming site now looks like a social networking site. likewise content seems like it was pre selected, instead of the more content filled main page, where i could access almost all of the sites features. instead if i want to find specific content one has to navigate and through menu after menu. yes i realize less is more and simple is good. These changes however seem annoying at best and impractical borderline stupid at worst.
i hold the crew behind the escapist in high esteem and have always been appreciative of their talent and effort, something that has gained my respect, i guess i just am saddened to learn that they dont give two shits about their users opinion, just like every other company.
I freely confess I couldn't be bothered to read most of this thread, but this is where feedback goes, so here is my feedback.
I don't like the bright white sidebars. I loved the Escapists blue sidebar thing, it was much easier on the eyes, and this change genuinely confuses me. Indeed, I would prefer it if the whole site was just a few shades darker.
Other than that, I have no complaints. Having browsed around for a short while now, I have not found the change to be an improvement on the aesthetics of the site, but it doesn't look any worse either. I was bothered by the scrolling news display, because I would see an interesting sounding article and then it would scroll on before I could click it; but the 'News' section is right up the top, so that is no longer a bother.
I wasn't clamouring for change, but I'm not afraid of it either. So if you guys like the new design, more power to you.
Oh, something positive I just noticed! I can see more of my friends on my profile page. That's not significant, but it's nice.
Final Note: The website is often loading slower than it used to. I assume this is just growing pains, so I'm not too bothered; but if it becomes a permanent aspect of the site change, that's a serious problem.
Final Note II: There is an insane amount of hatred coming from this thread! Anyone who thinks this website is badly designed needs to look around on the internet more. Whether you like the change or not, this site is a desert rose compared to so many others.
Final Note III: Having watched todays GINX video, I went to enter the forum thread for said video, only to find I could not locate the button to take me there. Either it is very well hidden, which is exactly the opposite of what it should be, or an error has occured, because there is no way that's a deliberate design choice.
I don't like the bright white sidebars. I loved the Escapists blue sidebar thing, it was much easier on the eyes, and this change genuinely confuses me. Indeed, I would prefer it if the whole site was just a few shades darker.
Other than that, I have no complaints. Having browsed around for a short while now, I have not found the change to be an improvement on the aesthetics of the site, but it doesn't look any worse either. I was bothered by the scrolling news display, because I would see an interesting sounding article and then it would scroll on before I could click it; but the 'News' section is right up the top, so that is no longer a bother.
I wasn't clamouring for change, but I'm not afraid of it either. So if you guys like the new design, more power to you.
Oh, something positive I just noticed! I can see more of my friends on my profile page. That's not significant, but it's nice.
Final Note: The website is often loading slower than it used to. I assume this is just growing pains, so I'm not too bothered; but if it becomes a permanent aspect of the site change, that's a serious problem.
Final Note II: There is an insane amount of hatred coming from this thread! Anyone who thinks this website is badly designed needs to look around on the internet more. Whether you like the change or not, this site is a desert rose compared to so many others.
Final Note III: Having watched todays GINX video, I went to enter the forum thread for said video, only to find I could not locate the button to take me there. Either it is very well hidden, which is exactly the opposite of what it should be, or an error has occured, because there is no way that's a deliberate design choice.
This looks like a PowerPoint template made into a website, sans any background. Seriously, I keep waiting for some background to load. Now it's a wasteland of a website and I lost any appetite to read anything.
ehh not a fan, give me back my sidebar of shows and i will be fine but this new layout is going to make it impossible for me to use my ps3 to watch new videos (as i often did) and it takes longer to get to other new videos, plus the colour scheme is...wrong, i dont know i just much prefered the old layout
I see what you're going for but it still needs some work. I like that I don't have to scroll down so far to see all the videos but I miss being able to look at the 5 most recent for each. I don't look at the site every week so it's tedious to click on each page to look for videos I haven't seen. A favorites page with the old layout could solve that problem and give people a reason to sign up.
I also agree with the others who say the white background is unappealing. A simple 3D backdrop or just a darker color could go a long way.
Finally, there's the issue of the seemingly random front page. The other pages have titles for all their subcategories and are laid out in a logical manner. The front page, however, just has several mini-pages mashed together around unorganized and sometimes redundant features. I can't even see a pattern explaining why those features are on there. It's not chronological, it's not categorized, it's not based on popularity, it's just confusing.
I also agree with the others who say the white background is unappealing. A simple 3D backdrop or just a darker color could go a long way.
Finally, there's the issue of the seemingly random front page. The other pages have titles for all their subcategories and are laid out in a logical manner. The front page, however, just has several mini-pages mashed together around unorganized and sometimes redundant features. I can't even see a pattern explaining why those features are on there. It's not chronological, it's not categorized, it's not based on popularity, it's just confusing.
I'd love to comment on the new look but as soon as I opened up my browser I went blind. :/
I think the community has spoken... But hey, whatever. I've dealt with uglier.
If this new "beautiful" Escapist makes them feel good then who am I to take that away?
I think the community has spoken... But hey, whatever. I've dealt with uglier.
If this new "beautiful" Escapist makes them feel good then who am I to take that away?
Okay, I think I've noticed a pattern emerging from the complaints here and it's similar to the complaints I heard about the Star Trek reboot. Everything is too bright and the layout makes no damn sense. Sounds a lot like "too much bloom, too many plot holes" to me.
I can't say they don't have a point. I mean, I'm with you on the whole change thing and all, I'll put up with it, but just because I don't complain as much doesn't mean my eyes are burning, too. I'll live with it and with time I'll get used to it. That doesn't mean the change was a good idea, though.
I'll give you one thing, I really like the drop down menus. It has never been easier for me to find non-ZP reviews.
I can't say they don't have a point. I mean, I'm with you on the whole change thing and all, I'll put up with it, but just because I don't complain as much doesn't mean my eyes are burning, too. I'll live with it and with time I'll get used to it. That doesn't mean the change was a good idea, though.
I'll give you one thing, I really like the drop down menus. It has never been easier for me to find non-ZP reviews.
It took some time to sit down for feedback, but now's the chance and I can't get around that the whole site just got a lot more impractical to me.
I usually come here to read feature articles and watch the videos.
Before the change, I could see all new additions on the front page in chronological order without missing anything, even when I haven't visited the site for a week.
With the new design, I check the front page which seems to have the last 4 entries of written and video content. That in itself seems fair to make room for other content, but now I'll have to do at least two clicks more just to see the new stuff (Features and Videos) and even there it is not listed chronologically. What I am truly missing is something like the simple "last 10 feature videos" bar that was on top of the old layout - not necessarily in the same design, but with that kind of functionality and scope.
As an example, if I click on Videos right now, I see what I presume to be the 3 latest videos and the 3 "whatever?" videos followed by all different feature channel.
Those channels do not list the recent entry, but instead something from the last month.
The "Features" page handles that a bit better by listing the latest entries directly for each column.
I would also recommend to separate the premium content from advertisement material like trailers (especially on the "latest" list), instead of throwing everything and the kitchen sink at you.
The whole site just leaves a feel of "here is some random stuff" from our archive.
Maybe it would improve to visually distinguish the different areas on each page and indicate the relation of the content to each other - i.e. adding a frame that says "latest videos", "latest features", "hot discussion topic".
Right now I'm looking at the main page and think to myself:
- the upper left section seems to be new video content, but then there is a news item there, too
- below that comes the news ticker which is ok, i guess, but that could be a shared with a latest news list in the same space as the "popular forum posts" as a switched panel
- after that comes a list of content that seems to be the editor's choice (just guessed that because of "The new Escapist" leading up and it being a bunch of new and older content
- following up comes the latest news panel, which is a bit redundant to the new ticker and oddly enough not on the right side as the other list-type panels
- and then I get really confused while seeing "Required reading", "Stories you might like" and starting to question the center part mentioned earlier that seemed to be the editor's choice.
I would assume that there are different people with different expectations coming to the site.
Some are like me and just care for the videos and/or features. Others come here for those, too, but weigh forum communication as equally important. There might even be someone who comes here to read the latest news, although I would doubt that as it seems to be the area of least focus on the Escapist (which is totally fine, but seems weird to justify a ticker and a top list panel on the same page).
Glancing over this a second time may sound horrible, but I tried to describe my impression and thought process as best as possible while looking at the new design.
Hope that it helps you guys to straighten things out.
I usually come here to read feature articles and watch the videos.
Before the change, I could see all new additions on the front page in chronological order without missing anything, even when I haven't visited the site for a week.
With the new design, I check the front page which seems to have the last 4 entries of written and video content. That in itself seems fair to make room for other content, but now I'll have to do at least two clicks more just to see the new stuff (Features and Videos) and even there it is not listed chronologically. What I am truly missing is something like the simple "last 10 feature videos" bar that was on top of the old layout - not necessarily in the same design, but with that kind of functionality and scope.
As an example, if I click on Videos right now, I see what I presume to be the 3 latest videos and the 3 "whatever?" videos followed by all different feature channel.
Those channels do not list the recent entry, but instead something from the last month.
The "Features" page handles that a bit better by listing the latest entries directly for each column.
I would also recommend to separate the premium content from advertisement material like trailers (especially on the "latest" list), instead of throwing everything and the kitchen sink at you.
The whole site just leaves a feel of "here is some random stuff" from our archive.
Maybe it would improve to visually distinguish the different areas on each page and indicate the relation of the content to each other - i.e. adding a frame that says "latest videos", "latest features", "hot discussion topic".
Right now I'm looking at the main page and think to myself:
- the upper left section seems to be new video content, but then there is a news item there, too
- below that comes the news ticker which is ok, i guess, but that could be a shared with a latest news list in the same space as the "popular forum posts" as a switched panel
- after that comes a list of content that seems to be the editor's choice (just guessed that because of "The new Escapist" leading up and it being a bunch of new and older content
- following up comes the latest news panel, which is a bit redundant to the new ticker and oddly enough not on the right side as the other list-type panels
- and then I get really confused while seeing "Required reading", "Stories you might like" and starting to question the center part mentioned earlier that seemed to be the editor's choice.
I would assume that there are different people with different expectations coming to the site.
Some are like me and just care for the videos and/or features. Others come here for those, too, but weigh forum communication as equally important. There might even be someone who comes here to read the latest news, although I would doubt that as it seems to be the area of least focus on the Escapist (which is totally fine, but seems weird to justify a ticker and a top list panel on the same page).
Glancing over this a second time may sound horrible, but I tried to describe my impression and thought process as best as possible while looking at the new design.
Hope that it helps you guys to straighten things out.
I've actually gotten used to it pretty quickly but I will say that it does look a little bare.
Between the white background and the font at the top of the page it looks kind of cheap. As if it's not loaded properly.
Alter those two things and you'll be set. Seeing as the entire community (pretty much) is speaking out against the bareness of it, it would probably be in your best interest to change that.
Other than that, though, some good ideas.
Between the white background and the font at the top of the page it looks kind of cheap. As if it's not loaded properly.
Alter those two things and you'll be set. Seeing as the entire community (pretty much) is speaking out against the bareness of it, it would probably be in your best interest to change that.
Other than that, though, some good ideas.
I'm going to try and post this without sounding at all like an ass. No, seriously, I'm going to really try this. It's going to be new and interesting!
...Okay, so I'm not a fan of the change. (I'm alone in this view, right..?
) Like, at all.
It's blinding, even on the darkest of monitors. The layout looks like ass. Borders are barely visible. The old style actually had a thing called colour. As someone else pointed out, the Wii, DS and PC sections are eye-meltingly bad.
I'm sorry, but this is true. Hell, the video content doesn't even line up with the video description. Yes, minor nitpick among the DRASTICALLY WORSE stuff.. But it still looks irritating.
And forcing the old layout on Pub Club only? That's just insulting to your normal members (I'm IN Pub Club and I still think that's insane.)
There's no clear border between posts and such in the forum either, it's ALL white. The brightest of white. Horrendously bright white. The revolving news ticker looks out of place on the main page, the font looks... Well, terrible, aside everything else.
The "New Videos" section is pretty meh as well. It used to be "Here's the 3 latest videos, all together. The same size." Now you've got one large one and three tiny ones to the right, barely visible. Monday's line-up was difficult to find when you have LoadingReadyRun, Unskippable, Jimquisition, GINX.. And something else, all on the same day! Unskippable and LRR are big things on The Escapist, one of your most loyal partners.. Yet both instances of their content were barely visible, with Jim Sterling's egotistical mugshot front and centre. Yep, totally gaming as a lifestyle right there. If THAT is what gaming as a lifestyle is, I want no part in it.
I mean.. IGN looks better than this. IGN. This doesn't look professional AT ALL. It looks like an intern designed it. Apologies to the web designer/s who worked on this "on their weekends, etc", but WOW. Someone needs to look at Penny Arcade's layout to learn how to make a well-designed website. Better yet, HIRE PAUL SAUNDERS FROM LOADINGREADYRUN. He knows how to make a site look pleasing to the eye and functional!
...Right, so I turned into an ass. But eh, a lot of the feedback has been mind-numbingly critical, and rightly so.. :/
The Escapist Magazine
2005-2011
God.. Even going to the About Us page.. Those are not classy or professional fonts at all. Did you guys use Microsoft FrontPage for this?
EDIT: Okay, I got my lulz for this evening...
"the internet's home for high-quality journalism and insightful commentary on the wide and wonderful world of videogames and gamer culture."
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114782-Heres-a-Picture-of-Catwoman-Fondling-Her-Own-Boobs-For-a-Good-Cause
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114781-The-Vita-Will-Die-A-Horrible-Premature-Death
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... Aaaaaaahahahaha... Oh, you guys are adorable. High-quality journalism? Most of it is sensationalist/misleading headlines with somewhat biased articles taken from other websites. Don't go saying "the internet's home for..", that's just not true. Plenty of other places out there, not just you guys. Yes, SOME of your content is top-notch, but there's been many more mistakes made.. :/
...Okay, so I'm not a fan of the change. (I'm alone in this view, right..?
) Like, at all.It's blinding, even on the darkest of monitors. The layout looks like ass. Borders are barely visible. The old style actually had a thing called colour. As someone else pointed out, the Wii, DS and PC sections are eye-meltingly bad.
I'm sorry, but this is true. Hell, the video content doesn't even line up with the video description. Yes, minor nitpick among the DRASTICALLY WORSE stuff.. But it still looks irritating.
And forcing the old layout on Pub Club only? That's just insulting to your normal members (I'm IN Pub Club and I still think that's insane.)
There's no clear border between posts and such in the forum either, it's ALL white. The brightest of white. Horrendously bright white. The revolving news ticker looks out of place on the main page, the font looks... Well, terrible, aside everything else.
The "New Videos" section is pretty meh as well. It used to be "Here's the 3 latest videos, all together. The same size." Now you've got one large one and three tiny ones to the right, barely visible. Monday's line-up was difficult to find when you have LoadingReadyRun, Unskippable, Jimquisition, GINX.. And something else, all on the same day! Unskippable and LRR are big things on The Escapist, one of your most loyal partners.. Yet both instances of their content were barely visible, with Jim Sterling's egotistical mugshot front and centre. Yep, totally gaming as a lifestyle right there. If THAT is what gaming as a lifestyle is, I want no part in it.
I mean.. IGN looks better than this. IGN. This doesn't look professional AT ALL. It looks like an intern designed it. Apologies to the web designer/s who worked on this "on their weekends, etc", but WOW. Someone needs to look at Penny Arcade's layout to learn how to make a well-designed website. Better yet, HIRE PAUL SAUNDERS FROM LOADINGREADYRUN. He knows how to make a site look pleasing to the eye and functional!
...Right, so I turned into an ass. But eh, a lot of the feedback has been mind-numbingly critical, and rightly so.. :/
The Escapist Magazine
2005-2011
God.. Even going to the About Us page.. Those are not classy or professional fonts at all. Did you guys use Microsoft FrontPage for this?
EDIT: Okay, I got my lulz for this evening...
"the internet's home for high-quality journalism and insightful commentary on the wide and wonderful world of videogames and gamer culture."
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114782-Heres-a-Picture-of-Catwoman-Fondling-Her-Own-Boobs-For-a-Good-Cause
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114781-The-Vita-Will-Die-A-Horrible-Premature-Death
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA... Aaaaaaahahahaha... Oh, you guys are adorable. High-quality journalism? Most of it is sensationalist/misleading headlines with somewhat biased articles taken from other websites. Don't go saying "the internet's home for..", that's just not true. Plenty of other places out there, not just you guys. Yes, SOME of your content is top-notch, but there's been many more mistakes made.. :/
I wish it was possible to turn off the "random junk" section - it is utterly useless. I can image how the Escapist feels it cannot simply sit on this wealth of rarely accessed material, but it is not being used for good here.
Please, listen to this man.MattAn24 said:
So I just got a 404 error when I edited my post.. A My Little Pony version of the "Twitter fail whale" with a "Well, we sure fucked that up, hey!" note? REALLY? I hope those royalties are being sent to the artist who made the fail whale.. Oh, I'm SO glad I came across that page!
EDIT: I should also note something.. I study Semiotics (a scientific of the signs and symbols in everything) at a college in Australia. My knowledge of Semiotics tells me this; Old layout > A can of tuna > Desert Bus > New layout
The signs I see from this layout, other than blue meaning professional, is unfinished and empty.. Just from that.
I definitely came off sounding like a rude asshole, but these things really need to be said. It makes The Escapist's design look terribad and "gaming as a lifestyle" even worse.
EDIT: I should also note something.. I study Semiotics (a scientific of the signs and symbols in everything) at a college in Australia. My knowledge of Semiotics tells me this; Old layout > A can of tuna > Desert Bus > New layout
The signs I see from this layout, other than blue meaning professional, is unfinished and empty.. Just from that.
They won't. But thanks!Don Reba said:
I definitely came off sounding like a rude asshole, but these things really need to be said. It makes The Escapist's design look terribad and "gaming as a lifestyle" even worse.
Oh hey! I got the 404 again! Here it is for those of you playing at home.. Bask in its many lulz!
There's a Google Search there.. Where you can search for another gaming news website. Neat!
Additionally, I drew Graham a new beard. With a monocle. IN ENGLAND~!
There's a Google Search there.. Where you can search for another gaming news website. Neat!
Additionally, I drew Graham a new beard. With a monocle. IN ENGLAND~!
My personal opinion? Yuck in both form and function. The biggest negative is that the former site design had most of the good stuff on a sidebar so you didn't have to play the Habitrail navigation game to see what was new. I was hoping they'd expand it to a "favorites" bar so I could have all my regular shows and features right there.
So I guess I need to bookmark all my favorites now, because that's easier for me than clicking through the menus to find them each time. But I still lose out on being able to see what's new and updated, unless I just check them all every day? ..... I'm a premium member so that doesn't benefit them for advertising revenue, so I guess it's a loss all around.
So I guess I need to bookmark all my favorites now, because that's easier for me than clicking through the menus to find them each time. But I still lose out on being able to see what's new and updated, unless I just check them all every day? ..... I'm a premium member so that doesn't benefit them for advertising revenue, so I guess it's a loss all around.