ZylonBane on 3/4/2009 at 11:29
Quote Posted by Garras
Obviously I can do BETTER than that, I am a web designer after all! :)
And I'm a Chinese jet pilot.
Garras on 3/4/2009 at 11:39
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
And I'm a Chinese jet pilot.
Nice to meet you. Do you fly MiGs? :D
Adam Nuhfer on 3/4/2009 at 17:15
Quote Posted by Garras
Cut me some slack guys, I don't even like SS2 that much. I just had loads of links for it, so I thought I'd bung a page together. I've built all my other websites with Cool Page, and never had this level of criticism for all of them put together! I came here in good will, and all I get is this disrespect. Why did I bother!?!?!?!?
You have no idea how much slack you were cut from some of these guys including myself. I figured you for a System Shock 2 fanatic whom was spreading the gaming world of System Shock 2. Sorry, my fault.
Glad to hear you came here in the spirit of good will. I've seen a lot of good will being posted back about your efforts in the form of constructive criticism. Just because some of the criticism wasn't to your own liking doesn't mean we're wrong and disrespectful..
As for the disrespect issue, there isn't one. You posted about your site. We gave feedback. Has nothing to do with respect. Has to do with your attempts at a System Shock 2 site you built. When it comes to respect around here one has to earn it with time. A quick web page isn't a short cut to respect.
Why did you bother? Can't help you on that one. I'm at a loss as for why you would do what you did if you "don't even like SS2 that much".
Do you have any links for some of your work you put forth 100% of your efforts into so as I can view what you are capable of if your heart is truly into what your doing?
Garras on 4/4/2009 at 12:47
Quote Posted by Adam Nuhfer
Do you have any links for some of your work you put forth 100% of your efforts into so as I can view what you are capable of if your heart is truly into what your doing?
Well I do, but I don't think they'd be relevant or appreciated here. Just know that I can make some really good websites.
Certainly anything on par or exceeding these examples:
(
http://tsshp.sourceforge.net/)
(
http://www.trioptimum.com/)
(
http://www.ttlg.com/ss1/triop/)
Adam Nuhfer on 4/4/2009 at 13:28
I liked all three of these better than the link in your first post. Of the three links above I liked # 3 the best, #2 next and #1 last of those three.
This just shows you do have the ability to do better than what you linked us to in your first post. If you yourself were to compare all four together I think even you [Remove personal emotional ties to it] would agree that the one you originally posted a link to is plain Jane with last name Lame.
For someone whom doesn't really like System Shock 2 that much, I'd love to see what you could do if your heart and mind loved the game as much as some of us here do.
Hollow Man on 4/4/2009 at 13:31
How can you assume it wouldn't be appreciated here? We all have interests that have nothing to do with System Shock 2. It's a cop-out to point to very old sites and say your magical mystery sites are better than those.
Here's my issues with your site:
1. You chose Geocities, which has always been awful due to the way they use ads, plus, it hasn't been in vogue for at least 10 years.
2. You used a tiled background, so it's hard to stay focused on what one's reading.
3. Text is white on black, which is very hard on the eyes.
4. Your collection of links seems random and not thought out, thus, would be of little interest or use to anyone currently playing the game.
5. Your links don't do good job of focusing the reader on the single most important thing most people coming to it will want to know: how to get the game running on a modern PC. Simply providing a link to one of the FAQs here is a cop-out (not to mention that it's not even emphasized).
Web design is all about knowing your audience and providing content to them in a coherent fashion that will satisfy their needs. This site doesn't accomplish those goals. It's simply a poorly organized set of almost random SS2 related links. A person would have better look information-wise simply searching for "System Shock 2" on Google.
Al_B on 4/4/2009 at 13:35
Those sites are from about a decade ago (even longer for the last one). Things have moved on from then - don't use them as examples of good web design.
Lose the background, stop trying to centre everything, divide the links into sections and add a brief description about each one. Your webpage will be a lot more readable and also a lot more useful.
While you're at it, run your site through the (
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.com%2Fhl%5Ffreak2k%2Fss2.html) W3C validation service. Whichever tool you're using - it's generating a lot of bad markup.
Garras on 4/4/2009 at 13:40
Well of course my webpage is lame compared to those site examples I listed, it's not meant to be anything special. Just something I knocked together in a few minutes.
It's not that I don't like SS2, I love the whole world of it and everything... it's just that I find it a bit hard to play and a bit bland as the whole game is set almost entirely on the spaceship. I find the enemies annoying and I keep getting lost. I do however, love the controls, interface, the fact it uses the Dark Engine, and the complexity of the weapon upgrades, research, etc.
I don't see why the fact that I use Geocities is even a concern. It's what I got free with my Yahoo! e-mail so obviously I used it. My main project sites are hosted at a custom domain name, so you don't get ads on my proper sites. Who cares if Geocities "... hasn't been in vogue for at least 10 years."?
Loads of good sites are hosted on Geocities, the webmasters just pay for the usage. I don't.
I know all about what web design is about. I know my audience and do provide content to them that very much satisfy their needs. Again, for my 'proper' sites though.
I have run my sites through the W3C validation service in the past, and yeah I know I get a lot of errors. However, the W3C validation is not the be-all and end-all. Most WYSIWYG editors (what I use) don't adhere to the strict coding. I've seen many big business websites that aren't compliant either, and if it's good enough for them... it's good enough for me!
Hollow Man on 4/4/2009 at 13:48
Number one, if you want traffic to the site, then don't use Geocities in this ad based form, because most people will instantly click right off it.
Why did you ask what people think if you're going to balk and be defensive regarding every piece of criticism? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've seen you say even ONE piece of advice that anyone has given is worthwhile.
Final bit of advice: a good web site is not simply a bunch of links pointing to other people's content. I'd much rather visit a website that had thoroughly explored one piece of valuable information.
