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My report navigating the D&D website as if I were new to RPGs
- Thread starter Libramarian
- Start date
jonesy
A Wicked Kendragon
It changes. From that one address you can get either a Game Day page, or one for Spiderkiller, or one for 1st edition rulebooks, or one for Sword of the Gods, or one that almost looks like a normal front page. But depending on your setup you might see just one of the promotion pages with the New to D&D sign hidden below the screen and just the image for the promo visible (Game Day, Spiderkiller, Sword of the Gods). It's like the whole front page was designed specifically for people who already are in the hobby and know what the heck those are.
That sounds easy enough.
ya know, back in 1990, me and miy high school aged friends decided to start playing group in a town of 300 people, with no prior experienced people around.
I saved up some cash, and MAIL ORDERED the PH, DMG and some dice from an American Entertainment ad from a COMIC BOOK where we had seen the ads for the game.
It wasn't rocket science to a 16 year old kid looking at catalog listing of product names and prices for what to buy and trying to get the right books so we wouldn't be stuck and wasting cash.
That's without ANY explanations of what books to buy from a website or forums or experienced players to get help.
PS. We got the books. AE screwed up and sent me the 1E PH, when I ordered 2E DMG & 2e PH. That was a little confusing, and shaped my distaste for Gygax's writing style. We got it straightened out and got my proper 2E PH, despite my first PC being a 1E fighter/thief initially. That main group is still playing, and I am going back to game with them and MY local group is going with (1500 mile roadtrip).
P
PaulofCthulhu
Guest
So, are there any RPG sites that you think have better navigation?
Tequila Sunrise
Adventurer
I didn't have too much trouble getting to the What to Buy page, but it could use some improvement. The Red Box is the most visible product, which I guess makes sense for customers who aren't ready to drop $60 on a game they haven't played yet.
But the core three are nowhere in sight. Instead they're using the 'essential' misnomer for the "Heroes of..." books, which are anything but essential last time I checked. Or did they slip rituals into one of them, at some point? I don't remember the rarity system ever getting ironed out, either.
If I read the fine print, I notice repeated mentions of new builds and new options, but there's also the repeated use of the 'essential' descriptor. Without any hint of the PHB, this is all very misleading.
But the core three are nowhere in sight. Instead they're using the 'essential' misnomer for the "Heroes of..." books, which are anything but essential last time I checked. Or did they slip rituals into one of them, at some point? I don't remember the rarity system ever getting ironed out, either.
If I read the fine print, I notice repeated mentions of new builds and new options, but there's also the repeated use of the 'essential' descriptor. Without any hint of the PHB, this is all very misleading.
Aberzanzorax
Hero
I don't mean this to be coy, or hating on 4e...
But since I started 4e early on and we simply incorporated essentials as we went along...
I honestly wouldn't know where to start if I was giving advice to a group of non-players who I couldn't just GM myself.
Essentials? The original three cores? The free downloadable stuffs?
I do think the website could use improvement for clarity's sake...but I don't entirely blame the web designer. 4e is deep enough into its evolution that there are multiple potential starting points for the edition. You could do any of the three things I mention and get a game on...and that might be a strength rather than a weakness (but, if confusing, a strength quickly can become lost through lack of utility).
I dunno. It'd be good to tighten up the website, and perhaps to even have a "for experts" section that addresses the issues I bring up (if you are experienced, where to go with people who aren't)...but I also think that if people go in any of those three routes, they'd get a satisfying 4e experience (and then might branch out further from there).
But since I started 4e early on and we simply incorporated essentials as we went along...
I honestly wouldn't know where to start if I was giving advice to a group of non-players who I couldn't just GM myself.
Essentials? The original three cores? The free downloadable stuffs?
I do think the website could use improvement for clarity's sake...but I don't entirely blame the web designer. 4e is deep enough into its evolution that there are multiple potential starting points for the edition. You could do any of the three things I mention and get a game on...and that might be a strength rather than a weakness (but, if confusing, a strength quickly can become lost through lack of utility).
I dunno. It'd be good to tighten up the website, and perhaps to even have a "for experts" section that addresses the issues I bring up (if you are experienced, where to go with people who aren't)...but I also think that if people go in any of those three routes, they'd get a satisfying 4e experience (and then might branch out further from there).
RangerWickett
Legend
I think a D&D site needs to have a Dragon on the splash page. Then have two links:
New to D&D (some image of a party of heroes)
Existing Player (some image related to the latest products, changing every week or two)
Also have some sort of cycling image on the side of bottom with one or three items of interest, and little pips that highlight as the images cycle.
I recognize that they're trying to sell new products, but they seem to be sacrificing 'welcomeness.' They have a similar problem with Magic, I think. Here's their front site: Magic: The Gathering
It's advertising Duel of the Planeswalkers, not Magic. Sure, most people who come to the site are existing players, but existing players know to look for what they want; new players need to be helped along.
I too ordered a bunch of D&D books by mail (my mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas) back in 1995, but hey, it's the future. Let's act like it.
And hey, while we're at it, if you have suggestions for EN Publishing's page -- D&D ADVENTURE PATHS -- feel free to share them.
New to D&D (some image of a party of heroes)
Existing Player (some image related to the latest products, changing every week or two)
Also have some sort of cycling image on the side of bottom with one or three items of interest, and little pips that highlight as the images cycle.
I recognize that they're trying to sell new products, but they seem to be sacrificing 'welcomeness.' They have a similar problem with Magic, I think. Here's their front site: Magic: The Gathering
It's advertising Duel of the Planeswalkers, not Magic. Sure, most people who come to the site are existing players, but existing players know to look for what they want; new players need to be helped along.
I too ordered a bunch of D&D books by mail (my mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas) back in 1995, but hey, it's the future. Let's act like it.
And hey, while we're at it, if you have suggestions for EN Publishing's page -- D&D ADVENTURE PATHS -- feel free to share them.
jonesy
A Wicked Kendragon
That would be a good start. I would have it be three links. One for new players leading to a beginners guide, one for promoting things in the current product line for existing players, and then one that simply said something along the lines of Product Line & Free Content.
The front is well done.
But the way the links are setup is a bit odd.
First, the 'online shop' link looks like it's trying to hide and does not lead to an online shop. It takes you to the forums.
You have three image links for the individual settings. Two of them, WotBS and Zeitgeist, take you to their wiki page. Of the three image links for the settings only Santiago takes you to a promotion page. The corresponding promotion pages for the other two are hidden behind the 'subscribers' link in the subscriber content information. Does Santiago have a wiki page?
I think you should have all six links (wiki and promotion) at the product line front page, not hidden in the subscriber information.
But then I do like the wiki pages more than the promotion pages. Better structured information. The promos are a bit artsy. Especially Santiago where I can see it might take a moment for someone to figure out whether there actually was anything on offer, or if it was just promoting something upcoming. Especially since the other two link to the wikis, which are very clear.
Clear is always better than good looking, because unclear isn't good looking.
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I hate this kind of armchair quarterbacking. Even if you're a professional web designer, you don't know their business (even if you know what you like to play) or what constraints they're operating under.
In this case, thanks to the magic of cookies, you don't even know what newbies see.
If you have never visited the D&D site before, you get a giant "New to D&D?" splash page with huge honkin' buttons guiding you to various options.
If you have visited the D&D site before, the site detects a cookie on your computer, and shows you one of four splash pages for D&D fans.
Criticism is easy. Building stuff is hard. If you have an idea about something great for D&D newbies, go build it, and tell us about it. I'm sure we'll be thrilled to see it. If it's really good, everyone will link to it, and newbies will see it too. (And if not... well, building stuff is hard.)
In this case, thanks to the magic of cookies, you don't even know what newbies see.
If you have never visited the D&D site before, you get a giant "New to D&D?" splash page with huge honkin' buttons guiding you to various options.
If you have visited the D&D site before, the site detects a cookie on your computer, and shows you one of four splash pages for D&D fans.
Criticism is easy. Building stuff is hard. If you have an idea about something great for D&D newbies, go build it, and tell us about it. I'm sure we'll be thrilled to see it. If it's really good, everyone will link to it, and newbies will see it too. (And if not... well, building stuff is hard.)
jonesy
A Wicked Kendragon
Cookies aren't as magic as you think.
Which isn't good web design. You want your front to be stable, familiar, user oriented. Not something that changes, even for the same people. You want it so that the users know what choices there are, and get to make those choices themselves. Not so that the site makes the choices for them. What if the person looking for information is using a public library or school computer? Some organizations, goverment and private, offer free access to customers. There's internet cafes. Some cities have public computer terminals. You don't know whose been using them, or what they've been looking for. The designer can't know what your setup is, and he shouldn't account for 'newbies' like that.
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