New layout = poo
Here's a breakdown on what I think.
NPC ShopsLoving the new NPC shop layout. The item organizer is quite a godsend! However, I do not like how the NPC images have been cropped (where is Peyo and why is Rufus now hiding?). And not all NPC shops are included in the sidebar (Old Man Logan's, Rina's flower shop, any of the exchanges, the casino stuff).
Also, I REALLY don't like the way the shops display your unequipped items (the ones in your inventory that you can sell). Now instead of having to click once and see your whole inventory, there is a small section displayed that you have to constantly click through to get to what you want to sell.
And not to be nit-picky, but why is the Salon seperated from the rest of the NPC shops with it's own header sublink? I know it's a
salon, but I think it should still go with the rest of the shops.
And, this is just me being incredibly a**l, but if those new NPC images are to stay, shouldn't their shelves have some kind of items drawn in them? They look weird just sitting their empty.
New HeaderI like the idea of the drop down menus, but they are VERY finicky. I also LOVE the descriptions detailing what each selection is about! But the...
limping (?) background image is annoying. Couldn't it "flow" better or either just be stationary? The jerky motion of it is aggrivating and just odd. Also, I miss the old images. The ones of the towns and other parts of Gaia. The new ones that have actual avatar images in them are quite *ugly*. There, I said it.
Also, my name doesn't line up correctly in the space for it (top right hand corner under my avatar), It's set too low. And the 'logout' button looks like some pre-fab button from one of those button generating sites. And it makes me think of The Terminator for some inexplicable reason!
confused And where is the avatar spotlight?
Under 'My Gaia' there needs to be a link that takes us directly to the list of GGN guilds we're members of, not just a link to the GGN registry.
Me being super a**l again, but I miss the nice friendly "Welcome badloki. Your gold is xxxxx". Now there is the very impersonal "Your gold:".
The New HomepageIt looks better, but it's still a bit too "hodgepdgey" looking for my tastes. The homepage is still not looking "adult" enough to me. I know the site is for all ages (13+), but it's still looking a bit too kiddy, IMO. I think the homepage should be completely redone and made to be sleeker looking.
And unless my screen is loading incorrectly, the Rock Puppy is gone again! Bring him back!! I'd rather lose the goofy poll-hamster and keep the Rock Puppy.
DesignI like the newer darker colors and the seeming attempt at making things less kiddy looking, but now NOTHING matches. There NEEDS to be some sort of unified design for the WHOLE site.
Also, the color clash is irritating. The new layout colors SEVERELY clash with the rest of the unchanged parts of the site (like forums and so forth). The blue shades need to be matched better or changed completely to something new.
MapsWith this layout it sure seems like the maps lost a LOT of importance and function. Moving the teleport to the bottom of the screen is totally inconvenient. If Maps had its own drop down menu, the names of the different towns could just be its sublinks.
Technical Of course there are technical problems going on. Pages cutting off, laaaaag, text formatted WAY too big in some pages, laaaaaag, misloaded pages, the old layout still loading up, switching between the flash and java headers, things being generally wonky, and the laaaag. Pages are loading up ENTIRELY to slow and I'm on the fastest cable connection my cable company offers. But even I have to sometimes wait a WHILE for pages to load up.
MailNEEDS ITS OWN LINK!
