I'm guessing it's going to be a Drupal build seeing as about a third of their staff are Drupal developers.
I remember, back when I used to toy with building sites and had wild dreams of huge userbases, I read quite a bit about Drupal being great for high traffic sites. Even communities with a lot of anonymous users. Not very good at all for communities with a lot of traffic from authenticated users. I think they've pretty much abandoned their in house forums and, unless it changed, third party forum integration was pretty hit or miss. Mostly miss. I ruled it out then because those dreams had huge numbers of authenticated users.
That may have changed since then, but it still looks like most large Drupal sites are predominantly one way content. Even the ones that look like they get higher traffic don't seem to touch the post rate, much less the view rate, here. IF (that's big, btw) the site is going with Drupal it may be a case of them making big promises then trying to swim upsteam. And the forum integration is a hydro dam.
Ok, the first time you could blame the developer, even though you are the ones that decided to do this on the cheap with some hack company from India. The second time around though, you really have to accept the responsibility for continuing to use the same people that failed miserably before. This is just a website, this isn't rocket science. I've never seen a website suck this badly at doing a fairly common upgrade. At this point everyone involved looks pretty stupid and incompetent. It looks like you need to just start from scratch with someone else.
These things are complicated. People need to be more understanding. This is a prime example on why so many MMOS have toxic communities. People expect near perfection with zero cost to themselves and zero tolerance for anything less. I wonder if they've achieved this eden in their own lives and thus expect it from others.
The worst thing about this entire process is the arm chair quarterbacks, and ornery senile "leave the site alone" guys.
This site isn't just some blog, or news hub to be simply ported into a new CMS. It's a tough, data sensitive ask, and a pretty expensive one. Frankly it's not "routine" either given the age of the site.
After taking a look at the folks who are supposed to be handling the work I'm genuinely wishing MMORPG the best. You guys might have quite an uphill battle ahead.
"As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*"
The worst thing about this entire process is the arm chair quarterbacks, and ornery senile "leave the site alone" guys.
This site isn't just some blog, or news hub to be simply ported into a new CMS. It's a tough, data sensitive ask, and a pretty expensive one. Frankly it's not "routine" either given the age of the site.
After taking a look at the folks who are supposed to be handling the work I'm genuinely wishing MMORPG the best. You guys might have quite an uphill battle ahead.
Update or no update I'll live and will still be hanging around.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Robin Williams
This old site is pretty close to the end of what we can do with it to keep it on the up and up. We absolutely need a new design, and it's not us out of our depth frankly. But rather the coders who can't seem to get the infrastructure right.
And visually, this site is broken. It's an antique, and not in a good way. It doesn't even have a fully functional mobile site. If we are to survive until the point when this sort of modular design is cool again (these things are cyclical after all), we need a new site and code base that's built to last.
The new website preview looks cold, boring and generic. I think it would be a good idea to spice it up a bit. Particularly colour wise. It was very bland. The sign of a designer who is afraid to play with colours.
These things are complicated. People need to be more understanding. This is a prime example on why so many MMOS have toxic communities. People expect near perfection with zero cost to themselves and zero tolerance for anything less. I wonder if they've achieved this eden in their own lives and thus expect it from others.
It doesn't bother me either way as long as it's productive to use. I must admit years ago, I nominated mmorpg.com to be considered in the worst websites of the year. They didn't accept the nomination. A website devoted to showing the worst said they wouldn't accept it as it was a gaming website. Pretty much saying they expected it to be bad.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
I totally hate how the new site looks. I am glad they had to change it back, Again. If they ever do get the new site up permanently I will no longer come to mmorpg.com.
When I logged in just now, it was just to see if the new site was still up. The next time the new site comes up will be my last time I login here.
I guess outsourcing the work to an Indian company to save a few bucks kinda backfired, huh? Plenty of competent domestic developers would've had this done right the first time. You get what you pay for, after all.
I'll also say that I hate the new site. It's completely generic, and the home page doesn't display half the information that the current one does.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
I totally hate how the new site looks. I am glad they had to change it back, Again. If they ever do get the new site up permanently I will no longer come to mmorpg.com.
When I logged in just now, it was just to see if the new site was still up. The next time the new site comes up will be my last time I login here.
i feel like you're being super dramatic... relax bro
I'll also say that I hate the new site. It's completely generic, and the home page doesn't display half the information that the current one does.
I'm thinking that the new site was made with mobile devices on their minds. For PC users the new layout looked like some sort of an "info-bar" in the middle and 2/3 to the sides of the screen was left with gray blank space. It also had no scaling, but fixed widths/columns.
If anything, they have cleared up the page to make more space for ads i guess.
Sign up to vanilla forums and get those guys to help you migrate to it.
Visit the Chronicles of Elyria official site and the Official Wiki... an upcoming MMO from Soulbound Studios with real consequences to your actions. Finite Resources, WYSIWYG looting to player created and maintained maps and a deep modular crafting system. So much more that hasn't been said, ask questions! Post your thoughts! Spread the word of COE!
If you haven't yet, register with my referrer code on the official website: B0E240
I totally hate how the new site looks. I am glad they had to change it back, Again. If they ever do get the new site up permanently I will no longer come to mmorpg.com.
When I logged in just now, it was just to see if the new site was still up. The next time the new site comes up will be my last time I login here.
i feel like you're being super dramatic... relax bro
No, I am totally serious on this. They change it and I will not be coming back. This site has declined over time from what it used to be in the past. I can understand things change, but changeing to the new site will cause people to leave.
This old site is pretty close to the end of what we can do with it to keep it on the up and up. We absolutely need a new design, and it's not us out of our depth frankly. But rather the coders who can't seem to get the infrastructure right.
And visually, this site is broken. It's an antique, and not in a good way. It doesn't even have a fully functional mobile site. If we are to survive until the point when this sort of modular design is cool again (these things are cyclical after all), we need a new site and code base that's built to last.
You both dropped the ball here. The design of the new site is terrible. This is not objective, it's just a fact. It's just sloppy
Content on the homepage is too closely packed and cluttered Content is divided poorly and everything blends in together. It's hard to tell where one idea ends and another begins. Too much white. This is harsh on the eyes, particularly when viewing in the dark. Poorly placed ads. I understand the need for revenue, but they are poorly integrated. Browsing the new site you just feel overwhelmed with ads.
I wish I had gotten to play around the site more, but I can only imagine what is going in the backend. Are you really using Drupal? At this point you need to dump this design team, get a refund, and start from scratch.
Also, it comes off as pretty unprofessional to pass the blame onto the developers. It makes you seem even more out of your depth. I understand the frustration this situation must cause, but you need better public relations when it comes to problems like this. Issues an apology, accept the blame, and fix it. In the end your team is 100% responsible for the quality of the site and its content.
Developers like this make the rest of us look bad.
I'll also say that I hate the new site. It's completely generic, and the home page doesn't display half the information that the current one does.
I'm thinking that the new site was made with mobile devices on their minds. For PC users the new layout looked like some sort of an "info-bar" in the middle and 2/3 to the sides of the screen was left with gray blank space. It also had no scaling, but fixed widths/columns.
If anything, they have cleared up the page to make more space for ads i guess.
To be honest, many websites these days that design for mobile are crap for desktop. Like it is using 1/3 of the middle of one screen for content. Worse are places such as screenrant that autoplay videos and have the long scrolling of article after article even when you select one article to read. So you end up with two or three videos on autoplay at 100% volume.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
I think it's safe to say we won't be going forward with the Drupal site. We are STILL redesigning the site, but it's more likely we will keep the Cold Fusion back end because at least we know it's stable. The design that Evan created for Axelerant to take live looked a lot different than what you all saw because the Devs couldn't replicate what Evan made. It's very likely that Evan can and will update a lot about the new design of and when we decide to just move forward with a facelift and not an entire back end upgrade.
Post edited by BillMurphy on
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
Comments
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
I remember, back when I used to toy with building sites and had wild dreams of huge userbases, I read quite a bit about Drupal being great for high traffic sites. Even communities with a lot of anonymous users. Not very good at all for communities with a lot of traffic from authenticated users. I think they've pretty much abandoned their in house forums and, unless it changed, third party forum integration was pretty hit or miss. Mostly miss. I ruled it out then because those dreams had huge numbers of authenticated users.
That may have changed since then, but it still looks like most large Drupal sites are predominantly one way content. Even the ones that look like they get higher traffic don't seem to touch the post rate, much less the view rate, here. IF (that's big, btw) the site is going with Drupal it may be a case of them making big promises then trying to swim upsteam. And the forum integration is a hydro dam.
"The more things on the mmorpg.com site change, the more they stay the same -after the Xth rollback"
I self identify as a monkey.
This site isn't just some blog, or news hub to be simply ported into a new CMS. It's a tough, data sensitive ask, and a pretty expensive one. Frankly it's not "routine" either given the age of the site.
After taking a look at the folks who are supposed to be handling the work I'm genuinely wishing MMORPG the best. You guys might have quite an uphill battle ahead.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It doesn't bother me either way as long as it's productive to use. I must admit years ago, I nominated mmorpg.com to be considered in the worst websites of the year. They didn't accept the nomination. A website devoted to showing the worst said they wouldn't accept it as it was a gaming website. Pretty much saying they expected it to be bad.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
When I logged in just now, it was just to see if the new site was still up. The next time the new site comes up will be my last time I login here.
I'll also say that I hate the new site. It's completely generic, and the home page doesn't display half the information that the current one does.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
For PC users the new layout looked like some sort of an "info-bar" in the middle and 2/3 to the sides of the screen was left with gray blank space. It also had no scaling, but fixed widths/columns.
If anything, they have cleared up the page to make more space for ads i guess.
Finite Resources, WYSIWYG looting to player created and maintained maps and a deep modular crafting system. So much more that hasn't been said, ask questions! Post your thoughts! Spread the word of COE!
If you haven't yet, register with my referrer code on the official website: B0E240
No, I am totally serious on this. They change it and I will not be coming back. This site has declined over time from what it used to be in the past. I can understand things change, but changeing to the new site will cause people to leave.
Content on the homepage is too closely packed and cluttered
Content is divided poorly and everything blends in together. It's hard to tell where one idea ends and another begins.
Too much white. This is harsh on the eyes, particularly when viewing in the dark.
Poorly placed ads. I understand the need for revenue, but they are poorly integrated. Browsing the new site you just feel overwhelmed with ads.
I wish I had gotten to play around the site more, but I can only imagine what is going in the backend. Are you really using Drupal? At this point you need to dump this design team, get a refund, and start from scratch.
Also, it comes off as pretty unprofessional to pass the blame onto the developers. It makes you seem even more out of your depth. I understand the frustration this situation must cause, but you need better public relations when it comes to problems like this. Issues an apology, accept the blame, and fix it. In the end your team is 100% responsible for the quality of the site and its content.
Developers like this make the rest of us look bad.
To be honest, many websites these days that design for mobile are crap for desktop. Like it is using 1/3 of the middle of one screen for content. Worse are places such as screenrant that autoplay videos and have the long scrolling of article after article even when you select one article to read. So you end up with two or three videos on autoplay at 100% volume.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Something like memepool? Dole/Kemp '96?
Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
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