Redesigning and re-branding EN World

[DPGDarrin]

As a fan of this site first, and a publisher second, I have a few suggestions.

First of all I don't care about the name one way or another. You can make it more utilitarian (3EN), or keep it as an homage to the original creator of the commuity. That's your call. Personally, Eric always did right by me.

Second, I agree that this site has become a bit of an arm of most people's marketting departments, and as the marketting department for DPG, I would say that its definitely a valuable one. One I would be willing to PAY for. Yes, I think its fair that us publishers are making money from the service that you provide, so why not share in some of the expense as well? I'm not saying that it should be too expensive, or on a per announcement basis, but what if all of us just pitched in a mandatory $50 to $100 per anum to continue to use the main page as a means of passing important information on to the community? I do feel that covering publishing news was the original intent of Eric's site, so I would recommend not moving too far away from that. Its good for the publishers to get the word out about a new product, and its also good for the fans to have a firm grasp of what's new. I think that's one of the reasons you get so many visitors. Also, this is one of the few fan sites that the publishing industry takes seriously. That's quite a feat, and something you should be proud of.

Third, I like the way the site is organized now. Its easy to navigate, its easy on the eyes. I just can't see too many reasons to change.

So that's my $.02

 

[bloodymage]

???

So the rebranding (that's probably not even the right word) is partly to emphasise that this is a fan community, and a fan site, not a faceless news reporting agency.

italics added

Gamers EN Heaven?

Roleplayers EN Paradise?

 

[Morrus]

Thanks, Darrin.

I'm not keen on your idea, though. It's not a money issue at all (I could make more money easily by doing another job!). Adopting that suggestion would move me in the opposite direction to the one I wish to move - one in which I am more beholden to publishers, and more required to act as an automaton - all the while less free to say what I think!

I think that after 3 months of doing that, I'd close the site. I just wouldn't get any pleasure from it.

I agree that bringing important news to the fans is important. I need to figure out how I'm going to do that; all I know is that I'm not going to be posting press releases like a robot from now on.

 

[DPGDarrin]

OK, another idea. Don't post the news unless you think its important to the fans. Maybe new product coverage can become the mention that its out as opposed to a several post game of "its at the printers" and then "we just looked at it and its great," and then "Oh its available on our website, and it should be out in the stores in a few more days," and then finally, "You can buy it now becuase your local store should have it. Lets tell you about our next one now," and so on.

I guess part of the problem is that this site has become too important for publishers and it could hurt some if that feature goes away. I agree its a tough call, but I understand where' you're coming from.

 

[EricNoah]

That explanation, I think, is very helpful, Russ -- thanks.

I'm gonna ramble a bit here, and I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know from experience. Bear with me.

I've never been big into "mission statements" but it never hurts to have something to look at and say "oh yeah, that's why I started doing this and why I continue to do it." I'd love to see what you come up with.

In some ways you are in a very unenviable position -- you've got lots and lots of people who want a piece of that valuable acreage called EN World's front page. Some of those people are fans -- they want to be mentioned in the Community News if they've made updates to their websites or created a neat new adventure or aid of some sort. I think that's a great use of the D20 News area.

Some of those people are publishers. And that's where it gets a little hairy. When a publisher offers up a freebie, it's fun to be able to tell the fans about that. When a publisher sends you a press release, though, they're not always all that relevant or useful to many viewers on your site. I'm sure you, like I did, have often used your judgement to decide what is news and what isn't news. I'd urge you to continue to be judicial about that. Make the publishers do their own advertising. You don't work for them.

It's great to hear you reaffirm that the site is about the fans. You are not here to serve the publishers. You are not here to sell their products for them. Now, sometimes helping the publishers communicate with the fans is important -- not because it helps the publishers, but because it helps the fans. They'll want to know if there's some neat new product coming up, or a freebie or a rules correction, etc.

Your site and my site are very different in some ways. Because my site was pure "hobby" I could literally take it or leave it and it wouldn't force a major change in my life. You, on the other hand, are attempting to make this a profitable business in some way, and as such that makes things even more difficult. You will have a tough balancing act between wanting good relations with publishers and yet making sure your loyalty to your fans and to your own vision of the site stays true. I don't envy you your position!

Now, how does site redesign fall into all of this? I'm not necessarily talking about what pages link to what, more about how the news area of that main page is presented. Here are some thoughts...

First, I propose that you separate your D20 News "chunks" a bit more. Press releases should be one category by itself, and it should get little fanfare. Press releases are rarely news (rather they are advertisments disguised as news). Give 'em a title, mention who they're from, and link to them on the message boards or wherever they have been posted so if people want more information they can get to it. Or maybe even have one section of a sidebar called "This Week's Press Releases" with links.

Other D20 News categories could involve official freebies/previews/web enhancements; corrections/clarifications; industry news (who got hired, fired, merged, downsized, the good and the bad); stuff like that. And you already do that to some degree; what I'm suggesting is more emphasis on the stuff gamers who aren't into "industry news" would like to see (free stuff) and less on press releases.

I was about to suggest something radical -- not metioning every little update to WotC's site. I mean, map-a-week, who needs to be reminded of that every other day. But actually this is probably a really important role that EN World plays, so maybe gather more input on this.

Another area that might need some rethinking is the D20 Reviews/Guide. This section is a great idea in theory. However, in practice the d20 guide part of it ends up spouting the company's line a bit more than maybe it has to. A lot of that stuff really screams "I'm helping these companies sell their stuff" perhaps uninentionally, when maybe it should be screaming "I'm keeping the fans informed." One not-so-simple fix to this is to not use the company's canned info about the products, but to write a more neutral/factual description that leaves the hype out. A very laborious task ahead of you there if you decide to go that route. But for example, if a company describes their forthcoming book as "A huge book filled to the brim with feats, prestige classes, spells, magic systems, vehicle rules, and other crunchy bits to make your half-ghoul characters really come to life!" you simply write "half-ghoul sourcebook."

Ok, some more ideas coming to mind, and kind of related to the above ... I get the feeling that some companies use your site (maybe the D20 Guide/Reviews section specifically) to subsitute for an accurate, up-to-date, informative company website. My only advice there is to do your best to not let them get away with doing that.

Finally, I do know, probably better than anyone here, that with this site comes a bit of politics. Ick, hate it, I'm right there with you. Publishers telling you what to do, how to do things, why this company shouldn't nominated for X in the ENnies or why company Y shouldn't even have been invited. Maddening. I want you to know that I support any changes you might want to make with the site -- in design, in content, in scope, or in mission. Because ultimately the site has to be Russell Morrissey's site, and it has to please you first and foremost. If you're doing with the site things *you* love to do, we will be here -- because you're making the site better for *us.*

 

[alsih2o]

art geek

i am not computer savvy, but i am an art geek, and if i can do anything to help with the new design i am here for you free o' charge mr. morrus.

good luck

 

[EricNoah]

As a PS, I thought I'd throw out a list of the things I loved, tolerated, or hated re: my old site:

Loved:

Rules Illustrated Pieces: combat examples, AoO diagrams. Anything that made the rules easier to understand or helped demonstrate something.

Putting the pieces together. Detective work. Anonymous scoops. I wouldn't have been big on people posting whole lists of things from the Epic Level Handbook, for instance, but I myself wouldn't have minded posting a name of a feat here, or something now and then. Perhaps that time has passed, but the pre-3E release days were the best for this stuff.

Exclusive interviews: coming up with an interview that you couldn't get anywhere else. Russ, you've got the clout to do this more if you wanted to, I think.

Sharing other people's resources with the world. Loved being able to tell folks about Angrablahblahblah's reference sheets or Jamis Buck's generators.


Tolerated:

updating my old D20 Guide. Tolerated because I knew it was important to try to consolidate the huge mass of products in some way. Didn't like so much because I often was working with old, outdated, inaccurate information. Did my best to not let a company's entry in the guide substitute for having an actual website with correct release dates.

delivering bad news about the industry. Very important role, but no fun most of the time.

Added stuff to the Conversion library: Again, important, but labor intensive. Often put that task off until the last possible moment.

Hated:

BS press releases that didn't really say anything or served no purpose. Advertising disguised as news.

Removing Skurge's stats!

Dealing with message board problems (the VERY rare misbehaving miscreant)

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Count me as strongly against a new name. You mention "rebranding" the site, so you must know something about marketing - keep in mind that the EN World "brand" is extremely valuable!

There is no other site that has the name recognition that EN World has, and other game sites would give their eye teeth for such a wondrous thing! It would be like a major corporation changing their name - you just don't do it because you're tired of the name you have now.

You'd be potentially tossing a large percentage of your users out with the new name, since it would take so long to re-engage them.

I can't counsel strongly enough against a new name, in short.

And I agree that a marketing strategy is in order more than anything.

 

[DPGDarrin]

Hated:
BS press releases that didn't really say anything or served no purpose. Advertising disguised as news.[/B]

Eric is right - there is a lot of this that happens. We're as guilty of this as the next publisher. Our internal policy regaarding this since about 8 months ago is to only ask to be in the news if something important has occurred. Some have confused this as being quiet when in fact we had a lot going on in production. Other times we've made an FYI post on the message boards and watched it turn up in news. We weren't expecting it to show up there, and we weren't asking for it, but there it was. One example that immediately leaps to mind was when we posted some art to our site. Of course art is one of those things that Eric liked. Go figure.

The bottom line is that I support whatever decision you make in supporting either/both the fans and the industry. Like most other publishers, we're doing printed advertising for printed products, and I think they'll do pretty well with that type of support. We want to be part of this community as a friend and supporter; not as a detractor.

 

[CRG]

To what Eric Noah just sayd "Here here!"

What I'd like to see...

The front page to have more of a portal feel. Keep the running list of news updates, press releases in one section (maybe on third). Separate out the fan-events in another (contests some people are having, neat things on the message boards, etc.) and finally the third area I'd like to see be the community area (Natural 20, Creature Collection, etc.) - things that have taken a step beyond a discussion on the message boards and either archived, cataloged or stored as a developed product in one location. Basic "whats new" for each of these 3 portal sections with some bigger buttons / hotspots to jump to the areas in question (go straight to natural 20 press, go straight to details about the July 20 WoTC press release on flying islands, go straight to more info about the MyGameCompany "Feats that should never be" contest", etc.). Also have a few buttons that jump you to the message boards.

Revamp the message boad categories. Not all get used. Trash the ones that don't. Add a section where DM's can build their own board for their home world (maybe collect a fee or donation via paypal?).

Almost finally, for the front page to remain black in color. I think its important.

Finally, Eric is right about both the mission statement and the fact that this is YOUR site. I think you need the mission statement, it will help you clarify your goals. Hell, it may be the first step in incorporating or even getting some sort of not-for-profit status for your site....the biggest will be to help you set your scope.

It is YOUR site, but I'm kind of a softy for history. If you say "EN World" everyone knows what you mean...the name has brand identity. Its up to you if you want to change it. I'd like to think of EN World as the equivalent (at least in this subculture) as the equivalent of "Coke" or "Pepsi" in the soda world. Personally, I wouldn't change the name.