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Reviewing Boards and Granting Wishes!

Discussion in 'Closed Shops' started by Kyubey, Jul 16, 2012.

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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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Kyubey's Miracle Reviews

Hello friends, old and new! Are you excited about your new board, old board, or in-the-making board, and looking for a neutral, third-party opinion? Would you like to be guaranteed at least one review? It would be my personal pleasure to help you!

To initiate a review, or add yourself to the queue, please use this form:

Code: Select

[b]Name:[/b] [b]Board Name:[/b] [b]Board Link:[/b] [b]Areas of Interest:[/b] [b]Areas To Exclude:[/b] [b]Links To Review Thread:[/b] (optional)

Example 'Areas of Interest' include, but are not limited to:

Plot,

Site Documents

Rules

Layout

Accessibility

Site Culture / Atmosphere

If you do not specify, my review will be more general and less intensive on any one area. If your board is in the making, or still developing a particular aspect of the site, and you do not want it to be reviewed, please make a note of it.

If you do not link to a review thread, I will PM your review to you, as well as post it under a "Spoiler" tag here, for my own records.

I look forward to granting your wish!
Kyubey, Jul 16, 2012

#1

Lily Lilac and Desi! like this.
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( SHIVER ) -- does the harlem shake!
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Name: Desi!
Board Name: Gifford High!
Board Link: http://z10.invisionfree.com/Gifford_High
Areas of Interest: Site documents, skin and graphics, atmosphere, accessibility, navigation! Everything you notice! All the good and the bad!
Areas To Exclude: Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Thank you so very much.

( SHIVER ), Jul 16, 2012

#2
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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REVIEW: GIFFORD HIGH

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Organization: There are places where things are definitely worded awkwardly. Here is my suggested re-write of the plot. I have only added commas, dashes, colons, and semicolons.

Welcome to Stoneview Ohio, a small town that seems to be frozen in time: where change doesn't come often, and where periods of excitement are few and far between. There is only one shining star in this town: Gifford High. The high school is the only thing that keeps the town alive; it provides the pulse, it provides the action. There seems to be something a little off about this high school. The students seem just a little too perfect, like long lost princesses and storybook heroes. Students come from all across the world, and often board at the school because they're so far from home -- which has locals scratching their heads. What's so special about the school that it attracts such marvelous students? From honors students to prime-of-their-life athletes, Gifford seems to attract them all. But you have to remember, it's not all fun and games. Where there are good people, there are villains, waiting for the perfect chance to take them down, and you can't have a High School without the riff raff to go along with it. So who are you, and what is your purpose in the pulse behind Stoneview?

Across the documents, commas are a little spotty, but I am just a big commas fan; it sticks out to sticklers like me.

One of my favorite things was your inclusion of an actual high school curriculum! I was so pleased. I would only suggest that you add a little bit more flesh to it -- what classes does a student need to graduate? What are the electives? I saw that soem of the clubs required prerequisites, which I also deeply appreciated.

Appearance: Layout is easy on the eyes. Font is small, but still readable. Lots of Disney pictures. Hmmm, but why green as an accent color? I think it throws off the warmer colors and the general cohesion of said colors. Sometimes a bold, different color can be used as a contrast and an accent, but I don't think that works here. Here is the current color palette, as a note:

One rule of thumb I like to play by is, "If a new person is coming to this site, how easy is it for them to find the links?" By having the 'Quick Links' below 'Announcements', you are more likely to have new members clicking right into 'Information' and getting lost in the browsing. Your current members will already be scrolling down for the other subforums; they will still see 'Announcements' if you have it switch places with 'Quick Links'.

As another personal preference, I think it is unnecessary to list the Administrators. At the bottom of every Invisionfree site, there is the link 'The Moderating Team'. Additionally, if you introduce the administrators and moderators in the rules and information sections, any member needing to contact you will easily be able to find you. Having an extra box for the Administrators just takes up space and pushes the Chatbox further down the sidebar.

There is a large gap between 'Communication' and 'Post Details' due to how the 'User Details' are squashed.

Layout: The pictures for the subforums are neat, clean, and decently sized. However, too much variety among the sidebar graphics can clash with the rest of the layout. Selective coloring can allow you to use a variety of different Disney pictures, while still having all their colors cohere.

The plot is short and simple, which is good. However, you may want to elaborate a little more on what 'draws' characters to Gifford High. Is there magic involved? Is there a secret information pipeline that informs these special characters / people of Gifford? Does Gifford offer extremely exclusive benefits, on the condition that it can hand-select its 'special' students?

Staff: Staff seems well-organized! I checked the acceptance period for the last ten applications. There was a serious outlier of 42 days for 'Accepted' to be posted on one, but I reason there's some sort of explantation for that. On the other nine, the longest it took was six days, with the majority of the applications being accepted within one day.

General Feedback:

MEMBERS & ATMOSPHERE: From what I could see of the Chatbox and the Out-Of-Character sections, everyone looks very friendly and talkative. Your forum is still small, and I would recommend adding an 'Introductions' section, so new members can introduce themselves outside of their characters, which can make it easier for roleplayers to connect. It can be hard jumping into a forum if you don't know everyone there, and 'Introductions' allows people to get acquainted outside pure character plotting threads.

I hope this grants your wish! Happy roleplaying!

Kyubey, Jul 17, 2012

#3
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Laura!? Member
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Board Name: The Sun's End
Board Link: http://thesunsendrpg.b1.jcink.com/
Areas of Interest: Site documents, atmosphere, layout, canons and plot. That is all I can think of
Areas To Exclude: Nothing comes to mind

Laura!?, Jul 17, 2012

#4
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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REVIEW: THE SUN'S END

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Appearance and Organization: Chatbox is immediately visible -- a good thing for new members who are looking to talk to other people immediately. The sidebox / Dais statistics immediately familiarize me with some of the character types I could apply for. The Navigation is immediately under these groups, making it extremely accessible to guests.

I'm using a 1280x800 resolution, and when I scroll down, the Statistics and Chat Box clip the sides of the forum.

The skin is practical and simple. The graphics are not excessive or over-the-top. The forums and subforums are organized nicely; I can see all the subforums without having to open up the parent forum.

The different member colors are nice, but the different name colors definitely clash with the skin. Most skins don't use neutral or grayscale palettes, which means that using a bunch of different colors for different member names can quickly disrupt your color scheme. It's your call if you want to keep them, but I think custom member titles serve the purpose of differentiating member types, and the colors really only clash.

The black font on the board header describing the plot is a little difficult to read.

(1) Is there a real purpose for having the Latest Visitors listed? It feels like a lot of clutter.

(2) The extensive use of doHTML screws up posts in 'My Content'.

When you click 'Open Thread Directory' in the Chatbox, it opens within the Chatbox (at least for me.)

Informational Topics: The 'Application' section in the rules is a little baffling, as it jumps from a discussion of advertising to application length without any transition.

I like the creatures, but I am skeptical of where you could incorporate creatures like Centaurs and Dracaenae into New York City, unless they had additional transformation powers. There are a few typos, and a few questions arise. What are the 'bad things' that happen if you hear a siren's song? How much power do Erinyes have, and what kind of damage can they do to player characters?

Board Strengths: I enjoyed the built-in spaces for the Member's Application, Plot Ad, Wanted Ad, and Thread Tracker beneath each member's icon. This gives every member an easy way to link to their threads.

The Open Thread Directory is a helpful resource, but it is curiously located in the OOC section, when it definitely feels like an IC thing.

Board Weaknesses: Is there any really good reason why there are completely separate OOC accounts for any members other than the admins? It seems like a lot of unnecessary account clutter. Typically, the first character a member makes is their 'Main' character, and subsequently their 'Main' account. I saw that all sub-accounts can be linked, but I'm still in the dark about the purpose of that extra OOC account.

All of the canons were white, and most of the men were blond. (Milla Jovovich is Serbian, but that's stretching for some diversity.) Variety is the spice of life! Even if you're more committed to a certain 'look' for your canons, you can always describe the personalities of the canons, and allow members to select their own play-bys that would 'match' the personality.

Staff: The Staff are listed right on the top of the board, making it clear who they are. Unfortunately, I couldn't click on their names right away, and had to click around to investigate further.

General: On the atmosphere -- hmmmm. It's your call what kind of Chatbox you want to have, but I wandered back on July 18th, just to probe a bit more on the members, I sure got knocked off my feet by that "Father dashes Make-A-Wish dream for daughter" article. I'm not someone who discourage dissent or discussion, but that felt polarizing in a really emotional way. I saw that there's an OOC board for general discussion, but it looks like the only way for new members to introduce themselves is through their applications and the Chatbox. As said in an earlier review, that can make it tough to get familiar with other members.

I hope this grants your wish! Happy roleplaying!

Kyubey, Jul 18, 2012

#5
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Molione Sunshine and Enthusiasim!
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Name: Molione (Rachel on my boards)
Board Name: Living the Dream
Board Link: http://livingthedreamrpg.b1.jcink.com/index.php?act=idx
Areas of Interest: The list you made are all things that I'd like to have reviewed.
Areas To Exclude: Nothing! (Though we are mostly without a plot, so you can exclude that.)

*provides cookies* :D

Molione, Aug 7, 2012

#6
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slayer Member
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Name: Slayer
Board Name: Hallows and Horcruxes
Board Link: http://xhallowsandhorcruxes.proboards.com/index.cgi
Areas of Interest: Site Documents, Layout, Design, Accessibility, Site Culture / Atmosphere
Areas To Exclude:n/a

Thank you for your time!

slayer, Aug 8, 2012

#7
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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REVIEW: LIVING THE DREAM

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Appearance and Organization: The header is square while the forum edges are curved. I like the original background picture, but the addition of Latios and Latias -- who are implied by the statues, aren't they? -- makes it feel a little cluttered. Also, the header adheres to the immediate top of the board, and then has a space between it and the rest of the forum. That makes the board feel a little uneven.

I think 'Navigation' and the 'Log In' functions could be separate sidebar sections. 'Log In' isn't typically what someone 'navigates' to, and it feels like it would fit better on its own.

The names for the staff members in the chatbox are a really bright turquoise that also doesn't match the rest of the board. The general forum seems to be tamer blues and reds, including the different colors for the members, and so the bright blue really threw me.

I can't quite figure out what the forum markers are.

Overall, I'm wondering if this is the right layout for such a bright and cheerful board. The admins and the setting seem very bright and upbeat; the setting is described as being very tourist-y and resembling Venice. The layout does not give that kind of impression at all.

Informational Topics: In the Rules, I feel like the Three Strike System could also be its own section. It is sort of crammed into bottom of general rules, but I imagine that the system still applies to the other rules. Or does it not? Is there a different system for if you break the character rules or the pokemon rules? If that's the case, then that should be specified.

The rest of the topics are informative and clear, including the description of the city's geography, the limits on pokemon, etc. One thing I would suggest is a better explanation of 'realistic', when it is stated, "As many pokemon was would be realistic." Is there any good number that could define that? Maybe a few examples and descriptions of what would be realistic, and what's not?

Board Strengths: The atmosphere of the board is very friendly and welcoming! The laid-back atmosphere and easy rules make it accessible to roleplayers of all levels.

Board Weaknesses: Browsing through the Alto Mare city guide, I found this little gem:

Quality of your post (not length) determines which Pokemon you receive in your thread.

Hold on there! Isn't this a no word count board, with unlimited characters, and no pressure? And who's deciding the quality here? What makes a quality post? I looked in the 'Useful Documentations', but I didn't see anything else explaining this.

The little 'Hot Topic' Latios/Latias buttons are much larger than the other buttons.

Staff: It is easy to figure out who the Staff are -- they are listed in the sidebar. The Staff chatter in the chatbox was very friendly, and honestly rather endearing.

General: ...is there any reason why someone is playing Loki? From the Marvel universe? That threw me off too. Is this a cross-over board as well?

I hope this grants your wish!

Kyubey, Aug 8, 2012

#8

Molione likes this.
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JaeFeathered Member
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Name: Jae
Board Name: Depths -- An Elemental Familiar RPG
Board Link: http://xxdepths.proboards.com
Areas of Interest: Rules, Plot, Information, Skin, Layout
Areas To Exclude: The header image, as we're working on getting a new one

JaeFeathered, Aug 10, 2012

#9
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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REVIEW: HALLOWS & HORCRUXES

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Appearance and Organization: Due to the arrangement of the three header images, it appears as though Dumbledore is standing behind Snape, and -- that Draco is a miniature person, like he has been on the bad end of a shrink ray spell, and Snape is about to ram his wand into Draco's ear. This is mildly hilarious, but probably ignorable.

One thing I noticed is that the sidebar and header are just chock full of faces -- faces that I don't even know! Sure, there's some main characters in that header, but suddenly I'm seeing Robert Downey Jr. and that Hiddleston guy, and what does this have to do with Harry Potter? It feels more like a face claim site than Hogwarts.

The font used on the front page, probably Georgia, was incredibly hard to read. I ended up enabling the 'Zoom' function on Firefox so I could go through everything. I zoomed not once, but twice. On the bright side, the default font size is plenty readable in the roleplay threads themselves!

The Ministry Bulletins thing essentially looks like a three-column table... without a third column. It looks very unbalanced.

The nature of the hover gradient means that some things are almost invisible until highlighted.

Informational Topics: I was almost immediately overwhelmed upon opening the 'Hogwarts Letter' subforum, where the rules and documents began. Seven different threads, just to begin thinking about joining? Again, this is looking like a lot of work for potential members.

The font for the registration guide is tiny as well. Tiny, while it may be 'cute', is very inaccessible. Think about it: you want people to be looking at your site for hours at a time. Is a tiny, hard-to-read font really persuading them to do that? The medium gray font on a dark gray background was not very clear.

Why is OTM Hall of Fame listed next to all these other required reads? It does not seem like it contains any relevant or important information for any potential member.

The general Rules thread and the ICC Rules thread should be merged. It will take up less space, be more comprehensive, and make the 'Hogwarts Letter' forum less intimidating.

Why does only the 'Classes' doHTML have a scroll box? If the scroll box is preferable, why not apply it as the template for every other Hogwarts' Letter thread? Having a totally different doHTML layout for the Classes is jarring and makes the overall presentation of the subforum inconsistent.

I wanted to check to see how many characters the staff had, but it turns out I couldn't check out any characters without registering! I know people are afraid of character theft, but this keeps anyone from getting an impression of what's acceptable and what's not on this 'literate' site.

Why do characters need middle names in their account names? Middle names are a pretty random detail, and they take up a lot of space.

Board Strengths: I liked the idea of the board Olympics corresponding with the real Olympics. It is an example of a unique and creative way to keep members engaged and active. The Olympics was an especially good idea, since it happened in London this year.

The Wizarding World Guides are also very good! They are different from the initial cluttered Hogwarts Letter threads in that they are made up of multiple posts, and aggregate a lot of information by general topic. Additionally, they are designed so that someone who knows very little about the Harry Potter universe could do some reading and feel much more familiar. Their thoroughness also means that a committed reader who has forgotten a few things, such as the names of a spell or potion, can look through and find it.

Board Weaknesses: The forum's front page font is small and hard to read. The information offered to new members is cluttered and overwhelming. It's impossible to view any applications or glimpse at any OOC discussion beyond the c-box due to the locked nature of the forum, which makes it the forum seem mysterious and foreboding.

Grammatical errors involving commas popped up quite a few times, like in the FAQ.

I saw no icon for 'sticky' or 'stickylock': it was text only.

Staff: Staff are listed in the sidebar. The chatbox is pretty friendly. However, it really rubs me the wrong way that the Staff have their own little introduction blurbs, and there is no OOC introductions forum. (NOTE: if there's an introduction forum, I can't see it without creating an account.) It feels like the staff get the opportunity to introduce and describe themselves, and no one else does. It also feels really, really self-congratulatory. Members don't want to read about dedication to a site: they expect to see it in the site.

General: Log into all account daily? Why? I've heard of activity checks before, and I've been on forums where all the accounts link, but to log in separately to every account, every day? That smacks of tedium, and the kind of work that most people aren't going to want to do.

I hope this grants your wish!

Kyubey, Aug 10, 2012

#10
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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REVIEW: DEPTHS

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Appearance and Organization: The header was ignored, as requested. So, first thing I see is the sidebar. And look at that! I know immediately what this site is about. Though this is a simple thing, it is vital. The summary was crisp, clear, and no-nonsense. I would suggest a small rewrite of a sentence, however.

Here, people interact with creatures known as elements, which are [definition of familiars] that possess elemental powers.

Wikipedia defined familiars as "supernatural entities ... that would appear in numerous guises, often as an animal, but at times a human or humanoid figure." I invite you to adjust this definition to what fits your game, but just to fully implement clarity, I recommend explaining what 'familiars' are, so someone who knows nothing at all will understand perfectly.

I would recommend that the 'Home + New Topics + Help etc.' links bar be centered instead of aligned to the right.

The layout is sweet and simple. It is not high contrast, like some really bright skins, and it's not unreadable, like some dark skins. I liked the little symbolic forum markers. The sidebar is pretty intuitively organized, though I would switch 'Staff' and 'Chatbox', so the 'Chatbox' is higher up.

Informational Topics: I don't really like the double ampersands in front of the topics. It makes them show up as a little funky in the front page preview. The forum layout is narrow, so you're doomed to cope with things getting squished, and extra characters make things unnecessarily more squishy. The plain word 'Rules' is fine for a topic.

I really enjoyed that 'No discrimination or harrassment' was your first rule: it makes a great impression for new members. People like to feel safe on the sites they are on. I also like 'No cursing in the C-box'. Even though I'm a person that enjoys mature sites, I still squint if the first thing I see is gratuitous cursing.

For the plot, I would move the last sentence to somewhere else in the last paragraph, probably as the second sentence, so it looks like this.

Many of these elementals are kept as companions and assistants, but there is only one true match between a human and their familiar. The best bonds are between those who balance out each other's faults and allow them both to become self-actualized.

This way, the cool questing line is your final sentence, and makes for a snappy ending.

I would change 'Ranks' to 'Careers', since it's more about employment. Also, I would like to see how many spots are open for each position. Presumably, there are tons of peasants, and only a few oracles, so the peasant position would have unlimited openings, while the oracle positions would be scarce. On that note, how do you encourage members to keep the population proportional? If it's only Oracles and Consuls running around, it might not make for a plausible setting.

I didn't see any Earth elementals beneath the magic dotted line! That made me a little sad. Where are the special Earth creatures? They deserve some shine too! And same with Water, which only got one super special familiar. Even if it just means making some of the already listed familiars rarer.

I saw something in the C-box about needing 1,000 silver for a new character, and I didn't see that in the Rules either. If that's true, it should be added.

I feel like some of the Handbook topics could be merged, just because I've found that it's easier to have fewer threads with multiple posts in each thread. Something like 'Culture' and 'Map' could be merged; 'More on Familiars', 'Stats and Levels', and 'Elementals' could all be merged.

Board Strengths: The forum is easy to navigate and easy to look at. The information is simple and clear, and it is conveyed very pleasantly. I actually enjoyed that there were only a few subforums -- sometimes having too many can be really, really overwhelming.

I feel like 'Advertising' could go under 'OOC', instead of 'Administration', and that 'Archives' could be moved to the bottom of 'Marisen'. 'Away' could be moved into the 'Common Room', since that's where the 'Introductions' subforum is.

Board Weaknesses: The double ampersand thing is excessive, and could be gotten rid of all across the board. Having the Staff Discussion Board viewable to the public seemed a little tacky, even though all members know that the Staff have to talk to each other. I was also confused that there were multiple staff, after only one was listed in the sidebar.

I feel like the subforum descriptions would look better centered as opposed to being aligned to the right, but that might just be a matter of taste.

Staff: The sole administrator is shown right in the sidebar. I really liked the congenial tone of the board! The Newbie Guide gives me the impression of talking to someone really nice and helpful. The personalities of administrators can make or break forums, and a pleasant, non-elitist tone can change everything.

But how many staff are there? I saw only one, but there was a whole Staff Discussion subforum!

General: Nothing else comes to mind

I hope this grants your wish!

Kyubey, Aug 11, 2012

#11
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Thief Has Brooklyn Rage
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Name: Thief
Board Name:Chasing Our Spirits
Board Link: Link
Areas of Interest: Site Documents (They're on the wiki under "Core Mechanics") I'm worried my wording is driving potential members away.
Areas To Exclude: Anything about the skin, we're getting a new one soon.

Hopefully it's not too bad. ._.

Thief, Aug 12, 2012

#12
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GothicDan Mythology Fanatic
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b]Name:[/b] Dan
Board Name:- Shattered Heavens
Board Link:- http://shatteredheavens.b1.jcink.com/
Areas of Interest:- New Users Guide, Character Workshop, setting docs
Areas To Exclude:- Ad section, character apps, IC areas (the board is unopened)
Links To Review Thread:- http://rpg-directory.com/threads/shattered-heavens.43810/#post-459342

GothicDan, Aug 18, 2012

#13
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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REVIEW: CHASING OUR SPIRITS

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Appearance and Organization: First thing I see: the side header describes the roleplay. I know right away that this is a Pokemon game. That is excellent! However, as someone who's not too familiar with the Pokemon world, I do wonder, 'Is it important to pitch what region this is in?' You would know better than I, but I feel like 'A dark Pokemon adventure' is enough of a tagline. Whatever you do with the skin, this is good to keep in mind.

The next thing after that is the chatbox, which looks pretty friendly. This might be another arbitrary point, but it's something that I'm starting to think about when I look at an RPG's chatbox: how much are people talking about the roleplay? How much are they talking about posts? I think it's interesting to consider what sort of RPG culture you cultivate with your cbox: is it more idle chatter, or more central to the RPG? Though I don't think it's a big deal, I'm going to casually suggest you try to get people to talk about the RPG itself a bit more, especially since the cbox is the first thing potential members see after the header.

On a pure readability level, black text on a dark gray background isn't good. The only things that were really readable were the blue links. Again, I know you're changing it, but just to keep it in mind!

I did not like the justify text alignment for the subforum descriptions. It just spaced the text out in strange-looking ways. Also, the little labels are a bit baffling? The way that the picture is on the side; the way that the paragraphs of text stretch out the markers so much. I feel like they could be rearranged with the image on top and the text beneath it, and it would save space in terms of the height of each subforum marker. I like that the sub-sub forums were visible without having to open each subforum up.

Informational Topics: On to the plot! You've got a pretty interesting pitch going on here. I'd add another catchy line after 'Your character may be shaped by the world, but they can also shape it.' Then I would chop off everything after it, especially the part about Gijinkas and Pokemorphs, and put that somewhere else in the rules. Your plot should try to be as simple and appealing as possible: it's about selling it to potential joiners.

Next up -- the wiki.

I'm going to start by saying, 'Don't link the Wiki in the sidebar.' Link the newbie guide -- that is a lot less overwhelming than getting linked to an entire wiki, where a totally new player is supposed to somehow grasp all the complicated things that are going down. And good lord, there are so many complicated things going down! I don't want to knock what comes off as brilliance -- it's very artful that you've thought this through -- but you have thought it through so much that there is this giant barrier between liking the board and being able to actually play on it.

I ended up directing myself over to the Newbie Guide, to try and reorient myself. Again, there is just so much overwhelming information. If you intend to keep all your documents, you need to really tier them, probably in tiers like, 'Required', 'Important', and 'Extraneous'.

The player needs to know the setting, the plot, and the types of characters / races they can play. That should be in a Newbie Guide. That is what makes a person decide to join.

After that, there's 'Helpful'. The Application Template, Face Claims, and Approved Characters fall under 'Important', because they are what new players go to after they decide to join.

Then, there's 'Extraneous'. Tagging system? Levels? Loyalty system? Irrelevant to a new potential player. They are goodies that keep your current players engaged. In that way, as said, they are really quite clever! You have really put your heart into this, and it's very much visible.

Board Strengths: It is very, very well thought-out! There is plenty of information to work with and inspire the players. The layout relates well to the site's content, and none of the graphics are overwhelming.

Board Weaknesses:There is just a tidal wave of information that creates a giant barrier for potential joiners. It needs to be better streamlined and organized to appeal on a broader scale. Here are my suggestions.

Rework the guide so it manages to tier the information, as I've explained. Make it easy for someone to jump in and get started. They can learn the complicated stuff later.

Alter the layout from a black font on a dark background to either a lighter font or a lighter background. When there's so much to read, you have to make sure your forum is extremely readable.

I am a giant stickler about having an 'Introductions' subforum. This is the kind of forum that will really, really need inter-member support: the oldies gotta be there to help the newbies out, and the newbies need to be able to introduce themselves, so the oldies can take them under their wings. I'd highly recommend that for the General Chat subforum.

Staff: The staff are shown in the sidebar. And Thief, I saw you everywhere. You come off as extremely visible and involved, and in that way, as someone who really cares about the site.

General: I liked your special little site icon (the one that shows up in my Firefox tabs.)

I hope this grants your wish!
Kyubey, Aug 20, 2012

#14
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Hastur Carcosa The Madness of the King, the Sign of Carcosa
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May 20, 2011

Total Posts:

62

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13

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Male

Location:

Carcosa
Name: Hastur
Board Name: Heiroth
Board Link: http://www.heiroth.net
Areas of Interest: Layout, Rules, Accessibility, Readability, General really
Areas To Exclude: Plot, there isn't really so yeah.
Links To Review Thread: http://rpg-directory.com/threads/heiroth-board-analysis.44161/

Hastur Carcosa, Aug 20, 2012

#15
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Foxfire Last of the Kitsune
Member Since:

Jul 31, 2012

Total Posts:

24

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7

Gender:

Female

Location:

Somewhere...over the rainbow.
Name:Fox
Board Name:Transformers Universe RPG
Board Link:http://tfuniverserpg.proboards.com/
Areas of Interest:Layout, Rules, Plot, Accessibility, Readability, and so on.
Areas To Exclude: Nothing if you can avoid it. Though you could probably skip the games section.

Foxfire, Aug 23, 2012

#16
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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Jul 12, 2012

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REVIEW: SHATTERED HEAVENS

REVIEW HERE!

Kyubey, Aug 24, 2012

#17
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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REVIEW: HEIROTH

REVIEW HERE!

Kyubey, Aug 28, 2012

#18
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Kyubey Would you like to make a contract?
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Jul 12, 2012

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464

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REVIEW: TRANSFORMER UNIVERSE RPG

Spoiler
Toggle Spoiler

Appearance and Organization: The header tells me right away what this forum is about. However, the black Autobot and Deceptacon emblems are hard to see within the header. Similarly, the solid black font doesn't read well. For a more professional-looking forum, I'd suggest a slight header revamp, even if it's just changing the font/emblem color or adding a white border to each. The static background looks relevant, even if I can't see all of it.

Very quickly, I had a "Huh?" moment.

Welcome to Pokemon League Online! Please ( Login / Register )

Pokemon? I thought I was on a Transformers site!

The forum markers are simple and relevant as well. There are only four forum sections, which is awesome -- you've streamlined your subforums, and avoided overloading potential members. Excellent. If there's a way to do it, I'd try to add a bit more space to the Subforum Group Titles, e.g. Character Archives. Whether that's making the font bigger, or breaking them up into their own little islands (like how the Private Message Panel is separate from the Universe RPG News) is your call! I'd prefer the latter, but if you can't do that, an increased font size will do.

I don't quite see the point of having the forum moderators listed under each subforum. It seems unnecessary to see their names appearing under every single subforum -- listing the admins and mods in the Rules will do just fine.

Informational Topics: Things were going well until I started peeling through the rules.

If an admin makes a decision don't go over their head to the head admin and think its going to change anything because it won't. Admin's have the right to ban any member for any reason including no reason at all.

I pretty much gasped in horror.

This is the worst rule ever.

Let's be real: we're all human here. When we make these little sandboxes we call RPGs, we want everyone to place nice with us. We don't want them to kick sand in our eyes in our sandbox. And deep down, we only really want to play with people we like. But quite frankly, a good RPG is not run like someone's secret treehouse club, and you are in for a rude awakening if you think advertising your unlimited admin power is going to endear new members to you. Your friends might believe, or even know, that you're fair, just, and patient. Everyone else reading this? They're wondering if they're not going to piss you off somehow, even on accident, even harmlessly, and you'll have an absolute temper tantrum and ban them from a game they're enjoying. And once they think that through, they are very likely to move on to some other board, where the admins aren't flexing their internet muscles.

It's a generally understood rule that admins will ban trouble members, even if it means making the rules flexible. No admin should ban a member for no reason, not if they have any kind of common respect for their members.

I advise you to trash this rule A.S.A.P., and never again let it darken your board.

Moving on from that!

Any particular reason why you maintain one giant thread of New Character Applications, instead of just having a 'Pending' subforum? It looks like you'd have to recreate / duplicate all the Accepted Applications as new posts, and that just seems inefficient and messy.

I really wish the RPG Guidelines (Posting and You, Combat: Good vs. Evil) had been broken up into separate posts within the Guidelines thread. Without better text design (larger fonts for section titles, underlined titles), they really blur together.

For the Combat section, I wish there were better guidelines for battling. How do you actually determine who wins a fight when characters are equally matched? Does a mod step in? Does someone roll dice?

Board Strengths: The initial forum layout is simple and well-organized. The layout is readable and relevant.

Board Weaknesses: The rule I discussed is bound to drive members away. The subforums are where things get a little disorganized, like the New Applications subforum. I'm also a little weirded out by what appear to be subforums -- except as threads? One example is the "Kaon - The Decepticon Capital" thread. Isn't this a place? Why is it a whole thread? Does anyone wanting to roleplay anything in the Decepticon Capital post there?

Staff: It's clear who Staff are, since they are listed everywhere. As said, I was really put-off by the 'we do what we want' rule.

General: There's no Chatbox! That's unusual. Consider adding one, for pleasant OOC chit-chat.

Kyubey, Aug 28, 2012

#19
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Hastur Carcosa The Madness of the King, the Sign of Carcosa
Member Since:

May 20, 2011

Total Posts:

62

Likes Received:

13

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Male

Location:

Carcosa
Kyubey, could you try to access and review my site now? I /think/ I've got it under control finally!

Hastur Carcosa, Sep 7, 2012

#20

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