Topic: review please

yo. i asked a friend where to go for some feedback that does not include the words "ur site is kewl" or "plz link me" and he said go here.
wyvern.symmetry
please inform me of anything obviously annoying and/or badly designed. since it's version 10, i thought it was about time i got my act together and took some criticism. thanx in advance.

Hey dude! Ur site is kewl! (ahem.)

OK, to start. Before anything loaded, I had to look at that awful plaid background, in green. Something about it made my eyes water! Then the big splash image dropped into place and I was much happier! The background works now, but I'd still do something with it, it just annoys me the way the lines form that moiré pattern.

As I surf through the content, with my monitor set to 1024x768 (as I, and over 50% of all websurfers have it) I have two options, scroll to the top and choose a link, or scroll down and read the content, I can't do both at once. I would prefer to se a much less tall header graphic, or perhaps a large one for the intro and a smaller variant for the interior pages?

In temrs of the content, I'm still confused about the Final Fantasy connection. Do you just really like FF, or is this a fan site, or....? Anyways, I was confused, and the above problem made browsing the content a real pain.

I love the picture, did you do that? Great work, looks like pastels maybe? Nice, it saved this site from a bashing, made it pretty to look at, at least.



Your pal, -doc-

*taps fingers while he waits for it to load....... hoping that he isn't wasting on a splash page*
*Thinking to myself*... that's a fuckin ugly background pattern...

-and relief washes over me like the first waft of water on your face just after a good shave...... it isn't a splash page... *exhales*
As the page finishes loading I am left alone in my room... staring at an eye-pleasingly rich layout.
Such a tasty green... i think to myself and making a murmering sound that resembles "mmm...".. in a playful, light-hearted manner. I wonder why the background wasn't washed over with a nice low sat green as opposed to that plaid non-sense....... but nevermind that.... i want to explore.
The main character image... very appealing.... yet... i can't help but allow my own mind to wonder and know that you didn't make that grahpic yourself. Considering the nature of this website, however.... it's completely understandable...... *looks to the bottom*.. ahh. yes.. a note to the squaresoft copyright. good.
As i take in the overall feel of the site.... no clicking or mouse movement.... just a staring contest between a screen and a beady set of tired eyes.
*looks everything over*
*still looking*
*goes back to the top and looks some more*
*analyzes*
mmm...

Ok..
here we go.
A delightful little mix you've created here... no doubt. I like it on the whole.
However.... there's a slew of minor details that are scratching at me like a feather to an ear.
The "version 10" and "TIDUS" texts are a tad blurry it seems. They just don't carry the crispness that is held in that beautiful image above it. Perhaps it's only a minor difference... but when arranged in this manner... the text gets beat down.
Another possibility is that I'm being silly... and i should be wearing my glasses right now.
But i don't think that's the case.
I'm not overly fond of this "dotty" text either.... but i seem to see a lot more of it these days.... perhaps it's something i'll just have to come to terms with.
You've put the words "wyvernsymmetry" in 3 different locations in the top portion alone. So i have to ask.... Why?
People are already at your site if they are looking at this page..... you don't need to beat them down with the site name.
I think the "wyvernsymmetry.com" located under the Final Fantasy logo in the center of the page is nicely placed... and that alone, should suffice.
Furthermore.... you've gone along with this somewhat "boxy" style of a website.... a top portion... and a bottom portion.. and a colourfully integrated border. So don't kill it.
In other words.... Don't go overlapping shit into the border.
example 1 : Upper right corner.... those damn dots are running over into the border... take those fuckers out altogether.
example 2 : Lower left corner of the upper box.... once again.... dots running rampant.
example 3 : More dots down towards the bottom of the page.... it appears they are part of the "collage-ish" background/boarder..... however.... they are out of place.... make them go "bye-bye"
In the 4th case of overlapping... I like the scenario... which is, the circular shape that kind of helps the eye connect the upper half of the page, and the lower half of the page.
However... with that circle... I think it should be whole.. and not snipped by that lower portion's boarder... get what I'm sayin'?
Make that circle be above everything.
As long as i'm discussing depths in images.... i think that the HUGE circle around the navigation should get slipped behind the hair of that character... don't let it be ontop/overlayed/low opacitied like that.

*just refreshed the Ozone.. and i see doc has commented in with a few things about this*
So allow me to skip around now that he has me thinking...
Doc is absolutely correct in that a sufer of this site needs to scroll up and down to click the links.. and to get to the content.
That's far too much work for us lazy people. So cut and snip what you can for usability purposes.

Okay... back to the beat i was on before the Doc posted.

When sites say stupid shit like... "graphics intensive and slow loading ... but oh so kick ass"
I'm inclined to close my browser.
Don't tell me your site is kick ass.
It seems you're wasting the space right there for non-sense when the NEWS could load directly to the front page. That's what the repeat visitors will want, no?... they want "what's new".... so give it to 'em... without the fuss.

I don't know what this "trying to escape from reality... blahzay blah..." stuff is...... i'm assuming it has to do with this version of FF?
I'm not all that in tune with the final fatasy rage... so you'll have to excuse me.
But i see this quote in two different spots on the main page. Again... my impression is that you're trying to fill the void of the bottom portion for the front page... when it'd make o' so much more sense to just load the NEWS there.

Pressing on.
I don't like hit counters.
So that annoys me.

When i mouse over buttons in the menu... I get the "clicky finger" for like a split second... and then my mouse returns to the normal pointer. If there aren't going to be bells and whistles on the buttons (ie... some little colour change to that dot on the right part of the menu) .. then visitors need that "clicky finger".

So i click the NEWS button.
First thing i notice.... (after scrolling down) ... is that it says "..... friday 5st april @ 10:16pm"
Hrmm... i'm thinkin that should probably be changed to "5th" ... unless "5st" is the new in-thing.
When i mouse over the links... they've got a slow fade that i find annoying. Even more annoying than the slow fade itself, is that they fade to a colour that can't be read on that background.

The STORY button...
A bunch of links..... it'd be nice if there was like... a little thumbnail or something accompanying each link.... but it works peachy as is.

ART.
There's a copyright thing plopped right into the middle of the whole thing.
The rest of the page seems okay... nothing more than thumbnails... pretty straight-forward.

The BIOS and WRITING buttons just take me to some lists of links.... once again.... straight-forward.. nothing to comment there.

FAQ.
The FAQ summed up a lot of questions about the content and the overall bits and pieces of the site... it was a little eye-opener.
Good stuff. If you can find a link to this "FFX Visual Arts Collection" book on Amazon.com or something.... i'd turn that little bit into a link..... kinda like giving extra credit for the image.

I can't say too much about the blog, or the profile... that's all personal prefrence stuff there. And um... the rest of the links are pretty simplistic... nothing much to discuss. I might add... i was competely under the impression that you were a guy until i hit the profile section.... i'm not exactly sure why..... but i thought i'd throw that out there as long as i'm writing a damn book here.

Overall i get a good feel. I like the colours/imagery. There's plenty to work on though.
Having to scroll up and down should take priority in any layout changes you make.
Mmm.. that's all for now.
Post back with updates/questions or whatever...

Cheers.

Wyvern: Some great comments already and I don't see much point in repeating them. A couple of quick thoughts:

1. Slice up the image and have rollovers on the navigation.

2. Do something about the page length as it makes life really difficult in 800x600.

3. Iframes are tricky beasts as they won't show up in NS4.x. I can see why you are using it as the page is a biggish size just make sure you have an alternative.

Its a very nice looking site - a few tweaks and it could be even better!!

Emps

Well, since everyone else has done a pretty good job of 'critique-ing' your site, I thought I'd concentrate on your writing...ok, it's not bad...however, from someone who has written a bit...it is always better when one writes from what one knows...since you write a lot from war, I was just wondering...have you been in one? My impression is, that you have not been. Why? Because I have, and although your writing is pretty good, I don't really get the impression of what war is really like, esp. for an individual. Otherwise, the writing style is pretty decent, esp. considering your age...

holy crap! thank you so much!! that was great. i am in your debt. *bows humbly*
esp. thank you michael, i really appreciate the amount of time you took to write all that. it was most certainly worth posting here. i think i will be making quite a few changes around my place (background=ugly, got it).

i had one question, michael...i missed your meaning when you said about little thumbnails next to each link in the story section? call me stupid, but if you wouldn't mind elaborating? and yes, i'm a girl. but online i can't be bothered to go out of my way to make it obvious. you're not the first to think i'm a guy, and truth is, i don't really mind either way. guys usually make better company.

as for my story, webshaman, well...i don't take any of my drawing and writing very seriously to tell the truth. its all just a way to pass time instead of doing my homework. i'd be the first to admit i know crap all about war, and i didn't really bother to find out mainly because the war is actually completely unimportant in the story. it was just a place to start off. i don't even know why i chose a warzone since it has nothing to do with anything in the end. in a little while, the characters are going to fly away in pretty little spaceships and that particular planet will be utterly forgotten. nonetheless, i honestly appreciate your thoughts and i'll keep it in mind when i'm rambling on about things i know nothing about. i actually feel a little guilty now, with all that stuff happening in the middle east. it's a little insensitive of me to make light of war, isn't it?

thankyou all again.

mmm.... elaboration...

okay...
My meaning behind the "thumbnail" comment about the STORY section..... mmm... yes.
You see, you have an "art" section... and you have a "story" section..
So why not combine your creative efforts and create some art that depicts the specific scene in each part.
For instance.... in part 1, "aurith".... you open by describing these abandoned university buildings....
Why not have a little thumbnail to an image you've created that suits the scene.
You've told us in words what these buildings are like..... let us see what you see in your mind.
I realize that most writers hope that a reader will create an image in their own mind of what the scene is like....
However..... you could give us your interpretation by having an art piece per part.

This is nothing major mind you.... this is a simple suggestion....... something that just happened to cross my mind the first time I was looking through your site.
This most certainly falls into the "bells and whistles" category..... so please, by all means.... tend to the layout/usability issues far before approaching something as miniscule as this.

Press on.... let us know how the updates go.

Cheers. =)