SpirosBlaak: What is it?

[tetsujin28]

The lack of publicity might have something to do with the fact that it was released a year and a half late. But I've been interested in it since it was first announced, and I'm picking up my copy this weekend. Colour me chuffed

 

[Michael Dean]

Michael, if you're interested we're looking for people to playtest upcoming SB materials. Drop me a line at trustrum@misfit-studios.com if you want to join in.

Thanks, Steve; I'll take you up on that offer and e-mail you this weekend, as I am leaving work this minute.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Do you mind elaborating on what turned you off exactly?

If I have a hard time with the organization of a Web site or the editing is distractingly inconsistent, it makes me worry (unfairly, I hope) that the printed product will be comparable.

I spent a lot of time with the site, and other than a laundry list of names, I didn't get much out of it. The Web site for a print product is the best chance to sell it. The site didn't read like that, it read like campaign notes a DM posted that weren't meant for anyone's consumption other than himself.

I got little information from the site, and what I did get was singularly uncompelling.

I think the idea of the setting and the site are awesome. The execution of the site falls far short of its potential, for me. I cannot speak for anyone else on that, however. Hopefully I'm a lone lunatic in this view.

 

[Riggs]

Do you mind elaborating on what turned you off exactly?

[I started typing right after this post and I know lots has happened since so bear with me]

Hello, I don't have an opinion on this product because I know little about it (though I do have another Mythic Vista item, the BCCS and love it), but I gathered that you might have sway in the design of the website that is in question and wanted to offer my first take on the look of the site.

I'm not a web designer or a critic, just wanted to help since you seem to want constructive feedback.

I went to the site and here's what I thought after first perusal: I have my monitor set to 1152x864 res with IE6 fyi

• The font size is too small to read easily, I would scale it all up about 2 levels or so. I think you have it at about 7.5pt and I'd try for 9 or 10 as you have the vertical real estate for it and scrolling is better than squinting anyway.

• Orange font on Red for your headers is really hard to read and I think gives the whole look a detracting feel instead of an inviting one.

• Red, along with Green are the top two most common colors lost to those with any color-blindness, so contrast is vital and here it's tough to see in most spots where you are trying to direct attention, like your links, announcements, etc. This applies even without the color-blindness, the biggest draws by this site for my attention are orangeish on red which isn't easy on the eyes. It is common and perhaps dull to have high contrast, typical stuff like black on white, etc, but there's a reason that is standard.

• The left frame rollovers, icons, and funtional details are fine. I can't comment on how appropriate graphics are to the product since I don't know it--I'll assume they are right on target.

I think the look and feel are the weakest part of this site rather than the functional details. I think it's important to have the user be quickly able to grasp the site and it's functionality and get to the desired point asap. You may have only a few seconds to get the user where they want to go before they quit or take a bad opinion. Cool design comes after this and can enhance usability but not replace it.

I hope this helps and is not taken as an insult--I just wanted to try and help flesh out why some might not like the look/feel of this site as much as was intended by design.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

If I have a hard time with the organization of a Web site or the editing is distractingly inconsistent, it makes me worry (unfairly, I hope) that the printed product will be comparable.

What's inconsistent? The entire site was built from a single template and uses the same CSS file and layout format. Please point out some examples of where you're running into this issue so I can have a look.

I spent a lot of time with the site, and other than a laundry list of names, I didn't get much out of it. The Web site for a print product is the best chance to sell it. The site didn't read like that, it read like campaign notes a DM posted that weren't meant for anyone's consumption other than himself.

Again, I don't see where this opinion is based. The site certainly offers more info than a typical site which usually has just the blurb taken from the back of the book. Are you talking about a bullet summary of the book's contents or the like?

I think the idea of the setting and the site are awesome. The execution of the site falls far short of its potential, for me. I cannot speak for anyone else on that, however. Hopefully I'm a lone lunatic in this view.

Even a lonely lunatic has value

If you have any questions, let me know and in doing so you'll likely make it clear what answers the site needs to be providing for yourself and others so that I can fix it.

I hope this helps and is not taken as an insult--I just wanted to try and help flesh out why some might not like the look/feel of this site as much as was intended by design.

No insult taken. We're certainly open to feedback.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Again, I don't see where this opinion is based. The site certainly offers more info than a typical site which usually has just the blurb taken from the back of the book. Are you talking about a bullet summary of the book's contents or the like?

A typical site for a setting, if there is such a thing, would do the following:

1) Give a simple one-page (without scrolling) summary of what the setting is all about. This isn't a request for a product blurb, but an explanation of the basics of the setting.
2) An easy to digest break-down of information of how the world varies from others.
3) A simple and straightforward history. Timelines, as boring as they may be to write, are good for this, because they break down history into "this happens, and then this, and then this."

Maybe it's changed dramatically since I last looked at it (my work computer is sluggish at best, so I only look at game sites at home), but respectfully, I disagree that your site does what I say above.

We get a lot of text talking about entities running around killing each other, but unless we already knew who these people were and what these nations were, it all goes in one ear (or eye, as the case may be) and out the other.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What's inconsistent? The entire site was built from a single template and uses the same CSS file and layout format. Please point out some examples of where you're running into this issue so I can have a look.

The editing is inconsistent. Hopefully there's been another pass.

I find the organization of the site to be idiosyncratic.

Templates aren't my issue here.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

A typical site for a setting, if there is such a thing, would do the following:

1) Give a simple one-page (without scrolling) summary of what the setting is all about. This isn't a request for a product blurb, but an explanation of the basics of the setting.
2) An easy to digest break-down of information of how the world varies from others.
3) A simple and straightforward history. Timelines, as boring as they may be to write, are good for this, because they break down history into "this happens, and then this, and then this."

Well, I'm sure Christina and I can put something together concerning the first two, but the third has been available since the site went live. The summary could easily be added to sit ahead of the timeline.

As a note, though, I've bumped up the font size to make it easier on the eyes.

 

[Steve Conan Trustrum]

The editing is inconsistent. Hopefully there's been another pass.

If you can think of an example where you see this, let me know and I'll definately have a look.

 

[Riggs]

That font size is much better!

Now the issue I have most is the orange font on red in the strip headers.

If you want to keep the orange on red (it's not so bad on the left frame where it's all red, but it's bad to me in a thin strip with light yellow above and below) then maybe make the headers just the text font color on the light yellow (remove the red strip essentially) and just set off the text in a different way? Like maybe underline, or bigger font by a point? I see it's bolded already.


my .02