D&D 4E Video Review of the 4E D&D Website

[Chibbell]

Good points Kenmarable. I'll take them to heart.

I didn't expect to garner this much interest from folks so I didn't spend the time on the video I probably should have. I think in my attempt at brevity I missed some of the broader problem with the site and narrowed in on a few specific examples.

And yeah, the WoW portion is the least solid. I think you can tell I was figuring out the review as I went. Next time I'll script it up.

Thanks for the constructive crit.

Oh and if anyone wants to make a video like this without spending oodles of time and money learning Premiere, I HIGHLY recommend Screen Flow. http://www.varasoftware.com/products/screenflow/

It's too bad its mac only but it is quite excellent. The video, start to finish, was made with Screenflow.

 

[Dragonblade]

The problem was not WHAT the guy on the video said, it was HOW he said it. Even if I agreed with him, he didn't get my sympathy, and I won't be going back to Dragon Avenue site looking for information about D&D whatsoever.

That's great feedback. Chibb's reads these posts and takes all feedback into account. The video review thing is new and a little Chibb's can go a long way for some people!

But also keep in mind that DA is a community and Chibb's is just one voice among many. We value your opinions and feedback.

And I somehow sympathize with Charwoman Gene 's opinion, that video is not 4E news, it's just another guy from teh internets ranting about something.

I guess Morrus made that call. But I think it definitely stirred up some interest. And I guarantee someone from WotC is taking notes and/or has pointed their web team at this. As D&D fans, we all want to see WotC do well and hopefully some good will come of it. I'd like to see Gleemax and WotC's web offerings really achieve the goal that WotC has set for them and that is to be a real mecca on the web for D&D and tabletop gaming. So far, I think they have some work to do on that front.

 

[kenmarable]

Thanks for the constructive crit.

*whew* Glad I didn't come off as snarky especially in the extra comments. I tried to be constructive.

Oh and if anyone wants to make a video like this without spending oodles of time and money learning Premiere, I HIGHLY recommend Screen Flow. http://www.varasoftware.com/products/screenflow/

It's too bad its mac only but it is quite excellent. The video, start to finish, was made with Screenflow.

Thanks for pointing this out! I'm Mac preferred, so I'll definitely be giving this software a look.

 

[HeinorNY]

I guess Morrus made that call. But I think it definitely stirred up some interest. And I guarantee someone from WotC is taking notes and/or has pointed their web team at this. As D&D fans, we all want to see WotC do well and hopefully some good will come of it. I'd like to see Gleemax and WotC's web offerings really achieve the goal that WotC has set for them and that is to be a real mecca on the web for D&D and tabletop gaming. So far, I think they have some work to do on that front.

Since you quoted my post, allow me to correct my words:

"And I somehow sympathize with Charwoman Gene 's opinion, that video is not 4E news, it's just it sounds just like another guy from teh internets ranting about something."

Glad I could help

 

[Sammael]

Am I the only one bothered by the fact that the D&D main page is 2 megs in size (I saw it the other day when I opened it on my mobile phone, which logs the size of each visited webpage for bandwidth control)? I know most people now have broadband, but even for someone with 2 Mbit/s, the page would take some 10 seconds to load, which is dangerously close to the "giving up point."

I am also not quite sure what it is that's taking up all that space... there must be an embedded flash applet somewhere which I'm not seeing.

 

[Minicol]

Review of the new D&D site

I've always been impressed with Wizard's print products. They only seem to be getting better as time goes along. I was particularly impressed with Races and Classes and Worlds and Monsters. They seem to have finally gotten over their desire to put headlines at the bottom of a page.

I have never been impressed with their online offerings. And now that everything is online I feel that someone needed to tell them just how far short their website falls.

[/URL]

I really agree with that review.

Let's see wasn't 4e a bet about being willing to butcher the sacred cows of D&D and gettting rid of the "tradtionalist" player base, for the (understandable) benefit of drawing in new blood into the hobby ???

Good luck on that. The first part is achieved, way to go for the rest.

 

[PatrickLawinger]

Strangely, I have complained about the WotC website design on several message boards over the past few years, including this one. I generally got flamed to hell if anyone commented at all.

The website is a KEY piece of marketing for their new online initiative as well as for the new edition itself. I am sorry, but the website is a pale, sad imitation of what it should be, particularly as a key marketing tool.
People have said that the video critique is overly picky when referring to different shading and the line up of some of the boxes. Well-designed websites DO focus on these little details because they can be distracting to the eye and make a website difficult to navigate. Proper font usage and menu/table design is also extremely important in web design. Does the website have a huge amount of information on it? Yes! The question is, is that information easy to find? My answer is NO.

The website is WotC's tool to attract customers to the online initiative and it is failing miserably. I am an avid buyer of RPGs and RPG material and *I* have no interest in the subscription. A number of people I know that also spend TONS of money on RPGs don't intend to subscribe either. This is NOT a good sign. As far as I am concerned, if WotC can't maintain a good, FAST, easily navigated website, then I can't trust them to deliver online content in a fast, easy-to-use manner.

Will I be buying 4e? Hell yeah. Will I be buying into their online toolbox and online initiative? Not for a long while after it is out, if at all.

Patrick

 

[RPG_Tweaker]

The guy has some legitimate complaints about the shortcomings of the D&D website, but his supercilious attitude was exceedingly irritating.

Basically the message is correct, but the bearer of that message came across as a dorky arrogant snob akin to the Comic-Book Guy.

 

[Mercutio01]

Gotta love ad hominem attacks.

 

[Argyuile]

Didn't watch the video cause I'm at work. Honestly I could care less about the pretty pictures on the site. I LOVE the amount of content they have. Having said that, like many have said above the site is a absolute BEAST* to navigate.

Also don't get me started on Gleemax it feels like they've been in alpha for 20 years.

*(Probably an animal or an aberration now)