Can You Say Something Nice About The New Format?

[Kron_the_mad wants to be deleted]

So, there's no negotiating the current travesty of design and usability that is the current escapist layout. In the abscence of a much needed rollback and bannings and suspensions for the more outspoken users I've devised a little experiment.

See if you can find praise for the current layout and have a post count higher than the threads that are against them.
Can it be done?

Remember only nice things to say here from this point on.
To complain stick to the other threads:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.333280-Poll-New-Escapist-look?page=21#13631385
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.333298-The-New-Shiny-Escapist?page=35#13631377

or actually vote on what you think here:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.336823-Poll-The-Escapists-New-er-Format#13631342

*EDIT*
Back handed compliments though clever are fudging the numbers in favour of this... thing...
Geniune praise or vent on the other threads/redesign group.

 

[JesterRaiin]

Well...
It could have been worse
http://i.imgur.com/c5h3I.jpg

 

[Scarim Coral]

Easy. For one thing the drop down menu is quite convient and being able to see "Your Recent Posts" without clicking onto your profile page is quite handy as well.

 

[StBishop]

Easy. For one thing the drop down menu is quite convient and being able to see "Your Recent Posts" without clicking onto your profile page is quite handy as well.

This and the editable colour back ground.

The messages also pop up in a nice eye catching yellow rather than red. I think that's a reflection of my physiology though. Others don't seem to like the yellow.

 

[Jonluw]

The ability to browse popular threads by different categories is quite welcome.

 

[weker]

I find the messaging system that notifies me of any quotes or group messages is a lot more streamlined, but that is actually the only thing I have so far found to be an improvement in any way.

 

[DanielBrown]

I like that you can easily access the last posts you made. I often check up on how the threads I write in is doing, and before I had to go to my profil to see that. The "Read more" tab in the most recent posts section is pretty nice as well.
That's about it... :'(

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

I do like the drop down menu. And once they finally added the option to change the background color from white to, well... A different shade of white, I started to be able to tolerate the look. Still not a fan of it overall compared to how it was, but its certainly got a few upsides.

EDIT: Plus, the "Recent Post" thing on the front page was a fantastic addition. I really like that.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I appreciate the ability to change the contrast on the background now. No more blizzard white snow blindness.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

I never really had any problems with the new layout to begin with. Sure, it took some time getting used to where everything was now relocated, but that's to be expected. The white background was a main concern there for a while, but they fixed that, of which I am grateful.

I'm just not one to ***** about something as trivial as a website redesign.

[sub]If you thought the complaining here was bad, you should've seen YouTube about a month ago...[/sub]

 

[Idlemessiah]

Everything everyone else has said. The only problems I have is that the community tab which I never used is gone and the news ticker ticks too fast but I use the news tab for news anyway, completely negating the ticker.

So really... all good

 

[latiasracer]

I bitched, i complained when it changed.

1.) I have forgotton what it used to look like. 2.) The new ones alright now i have got used to it. 3.) The light grey is nice, vast improvement on the blinding white

 

[TheRussian]

Grey is better than white, but I was so used to the old blue, so calming.

 

[F-I-D-O]

*gasp* An internet community against change?

Spoiler: Good stuff

Once they got the background set so you could make it less blinding, I find the new layout effective. I no longer have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see the archive for No Right Answer, it's just in the drop down. Those drop downs also help when trying to catch up on features or reviews.
Personally, the forums drop down doesn't do much for me (I really only talk on recent/hot topic threads), so the ability to page through those and change how they're organized (by day, week, or month) is appreciated.
I also like the increased amount of profile info available. Instead of just showing messages, I can see my latest posts, badge, score, and friend. Not to mention the post count on the side of my recent posts. I'm much more likely to revisit a thread if it explode in posts.
Another thing is the ability to go to a page for a specific gaming platform. Maybe I just want to see PS3 news, and it feels like they added content to those pages. The twitter feed is also easier to see at a glance, as opposed to scrolling really far down to see it, it's on level with the not-so-recent news. Also the added Facebook recommendations for features/videos is an added benefit.
Plus, it's really easy to report bugs in the programming.

Spoiler: Bad stuff

A downside, though I've gotten used to it, is the more open site design. It feels slightly less compressed, which on one side is a benefit, but I could always see everything new without scrolling anywhere.
Recent videos, which used to be on the top of the page for an entire day, now get bumped from the spotlight section incredibly fast. The new No Right Answer isn't even on the headline page.
Also, at some points they seem to have taken form over function. What might have taken me one click before now takes two.
The news drop down feels almost useless, as I can see the latest news on the main page (with a little bit of background information) by scrolling down.
Another thing I'd wish they'd add is the ability to turn the background black. On the GameInformer website, it's bright white or black. While being able to change it grey is nice, I'd rather have the option for no shade of white at all. The old blue was really nice too.

Overall, any major change introduces bugs, and not everyone is going to be happy about it. Give it a few more months, and no one is going to remember what the old site looked like (plus most of the kinks will be ironed out), and only the people who rage quit the forums will bring it up as a reason for departure. Maybe a couple of 5000+ posters will remember the old days with a sparkle in their eyes, but that'll be about it.
Remember the old site wasn't perfect either.
Personally, after a few days, I've grown to like it.
EDIT:Oh, and it does feel a tad weird that it's difficult to get to the pub club subscription page without clicking on and add.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Just hoping for some more of the Escapist blue but since the blueish grey got added and my eyes stopped bleeding I've have enjoyed it.
My main problem now is the main page feels a bit odd to the point of disturbing me.

 

[HassEsser]

No one is ever fond of new layouts

EVER

That being said, I really really dig it, just takes, what, 10 minutes getting used to?

 

[octafish]

I only had one problem with the new format. The fonts used had a weird rasterisation that made text unreadable on my netbook, and difficult to read on the 1280x1024 monitor I use at work. I reported this, as I'm sure many others did and it is fixed now. I see no problem anymore.

Drop down menus for the forums are the biggest boon for me.

 

[him over there]

As stated above, drop down menu is really more convenient and the only thing that is a legitimate warranted improvement.

 

[Tanakh]

See if you can find praise for the current layout and have a post count higher than the threads that are against them.
Can it be done?

Blue goes great with my eyes!

At least its not as laggy now as in its lauch.