Web Site

[Mike Holmes]

Ralph and I continue to try and improve our web site for Universalis, and already we have quite a bit of support up.

Check out Ralph's essays that didn't make the book due to space considerations. Also on the same page are ideas that people have had for new and interesting ways to use Universalis (people's ingenuity with the system never cease to amaze me). Soon we'll have a listing of add-ons, our favorite gimicks on that page as well. Also, slowly but surely, we're posting examples of play that highlight certain features of Universails.

As we continue to make changes and add things, we'd really appreciate any feedback as to the site, and suggestions as to how to improve it. If you have an idea or comment, just reply to this message with it.

Thanks,
Mike

[Roy]

Mike and Valamir,

Before I critique the site, I just want to say congratulations to both of you.  Universalis sounds great and I intend to order a copy sometime during the next week.

I've been moving towards this style of gameplay for the last several months and Universalis sounds like the game I've always wanted to play.  I can't wait to get my hands on it and start my Universalis cult!

Now for my comments on your website:

1)  I've never seen the need for a title page or splash screen on a website.  The very first page has nothing but a large image of the cover with the words "CLICK TO ENTER" at the bottom.  I'm your potential customer, not a dog.  Don't make me jump through a hoop just for the hell of it.  I want content and I want it now, damnit! :-)

2)  Your second page should be your first.  I like that you've made it easy for me to find the way to buy Universalis, but why are you making me click again to find out what the hell Universalis is?!?  You're killing me!  :-)

Seriously, I would put the contents of your "What Is Universalis?" page right on the front page of the site.  That way, you'll only have really interested people poking around the rest of your website.  You won't be wasting their time or your bandwidth.

3)  You have awesome content.  I love the essays.  I love the play examples.  I love all of your content.  Do you want me to read it?  

Light colored text on a black background makes your content very difficult to read for any length of time (more than a couple of paragraphs).  You would be much better off with black text on a light colored background (preferably white).  

4)  How do I get a hold of you?  Oh, wait ... there it is ... down at the very bottom of the "Links" page.  Do you really want me to contact you?  Don't bury your contact info.  Always make sure your potential customer knows how to contact you from anywhere on your website.  

I hope you don't feel that my comments were harsh.  They were just a tongue-in-cheek way of letting you know what goes through the mind of a potential customer.

Your content is great and does a good job of exciting the buyer.  Just remove a few hurdles and make it easy for me to buy.  

Roy

[Valamir]

heh, heh  Yeah you saw the bare bones of the site where our goal was to get it up and running as quickly as possible.

I just uploaded a full update that pretty much replaces everything on the site with a brand new look and some cleaned up content (it also seems to have done away with that nasty splash page...which our hosting service inserted by default, btw...we hate 'em too...)

I still have a few tweaks in mind that I want to make and there is still more content to add but you're now looking at the fully functional site.

I'm a little concerned about the light text on the dark back ground.  But I'd really hate to give up my cool new background.

So yup, your feedback is more than welcome...feel free to redo it relative to the new look

[Ayrizale]

I'm a little concerned about the light text on the dark back ground.  But I'd really hate to give up my cool new background.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but the background has got to go.  I was just trying to read the Alien Love play example and 'bout near had a migraine after just a couple of minutes.

It is an unfortunate fact that backgrounds that shift from very dark colors to very light colors just don't work with any color of text.  Invariably you will have an overlap where the light text is lost in the light background or vice versa.

At least for the portions that have large amounts of text, a solid background of one color or the other would be far preferable (at least to me).

Great site.  I'm looking forward to reading more of the play examples, and I expect that I'll be ordering at least two copies of the game (possibly three) next friday.  And I am *still* trying to get a game together to get a review of the game up for you guys.  My weekends have just been hell lately, but I am determined to get it done.  My next, best, opportunity is going to be Sunday, Sept 1st.  Wish me luck.  If I can't get an Actual Play reveiw done, then I'll just review it as best I can without the actual play element to help get some exposure for you and then get the Actual play reveiw up ASAP after that.

Good luck with the game, I hope that is does as well as it deserves to do.

Later,

Lael

[Roy]

Hey, I just ordered a copy of Universalis today.  I can't wait until it gets here!

So yup, your feedback is more than welcome...feel free to redo it relative to the new look

You're killing me, Valamir!  I just poured my blood and soul into the first review ... and now you want me to redo it?!?  Uh, ok.  :-)

1)  No splash page.  Yippee!

2)  

I like that you've made it easy for me to find the way to buy Universalis, but why are you making me click again to find out what the hell Universalis is?!? You're killing me! :-)

This still applies.  You really need to make sure a visitor knows exactly what Universalis is right off the bat.  Don't make them dig for the info they want.

3)  

You have awesome content. I love the essays. I love the play examples. I love all of your content. Do you want me to read it?

Light colored text on a black background makes your content very difficult to read for any length of time (more than a couple of paragraphs). You would be much better off with black text on a light colored background (preferably white).

This applies more now than it did before.  I understand that you're wanting a cool background, but your site isn't for you.  It's for me, your potential customer.  And I want to read your content.  

A quick way to keep your background but still make it more readable is to put the text in a white box with a black border.  It's not the most elegant solution, but it would help without doing a complete redesign.

4)  I like that you put a way to contact you on the first page.  Now, just make sure I can contact you from anywhere on the site.  I would suggest you make it a part of your menu.

5)  Make sure I can buy your product from anywhere on the site.  I would suggest you make it a part of your menu too.

6)  Great content.  I can't stress that enough.  Although you made me jump through a few hurdles to get to the good stuff, your content sold the product and made me order it.  Just remove the hurdles and let the sales flow!

Once I get the book, I may have to put together a Universalis cult site. :-)

Roy

[Mike Holmes]

Roy, Lael,

thanks to the both of you for the feedback; good notes there. Sorry that you had to deal with my original layout, Roy and then have to comment on the changes. I should have waited for Ralph's changes before soliciting feedback.

I agree that we need to do something about the readability. I'm not sure how we'll adress that, but I'm sure we can do something.

I think that we can probably put a contact button on each page, too. That seems to ba a very good idea as well. Ralph had already improved that a bit from the original layout, but it can be further implemented, I think. Also having it purchaseable from anywhere is a great idea. What we want most is for people to buy the book and actually play. Talking about it is fun, but we're all about the play.

Lael, I hope you get your play in. Looking forward very much to your review.

To the both of you: we'd love to see sites based on the game. We can probably put links to them in our links page. The more people see the game supported, the better.

Thanks for your enthusiasm gentlemen; makes it all worthwhile,
Mike

[Valamir]

yeah, throwing a contact button, and even a buy button on each page (or at least each of the top level pages, is a trivial thing to add.

As for the background...what I'm going to try first this weekend is to play with the image and see if I can't wash it out a bit to make it lighter and then use a darker shade of blue for the text.  If it works that change should be easy to make because I should only have to actually change the theme.

Thanks alot for your interest.

[Matt Machell]

Thought I'd join in here. Universalis looks interesting, but the website doesn't do you justice. I read though some of the play examples, and the game sounds really innovative, but it hurts to read. If I didn't know you guys from the Forge, I'd not have bothered.

A few quick suggestions: Optimise that cover image a bit, it's way too big for a slow connection. Try and use a font other than Book Antiqua, since most people won't have it installed. Also, use plain colour behind text, it'll aid readability.

If you're interested, I could put together a cleaner template for you.

-Matt

[Roy]

I took the liberty to play around with your cover image a bit and I managed to reduce the file size for you.  It was originally 724k but now it's down to 63.6k.  That's as small as I could get it without the lens flare going nuts.

Email me at roypenrod123@yahoo.com and let me know what email address you can receive attachments at.

Roy

[Valamir]

Ok, messed around a little bit with the site this weekend.  I think I fixed a big part of the readability issue by darkening a couple of particularly bright sections of the background.  See if that does the trick.

[Valamir]

Added the last play example from my GenCon Demos to the site:  The Gangs of New New York.  Eugene will recognize this one.  We played it in his graciously donated booth.

Soon Mike will begin adding his own demos and older play experiences, and we'll have quite the collection going.

We'd love to have some player contributions to the page also, so if you've played a game that you thought was pretty fun, write it up and let us hear about it.

[Valamir]

Well, another update to the site is finished.

I added a seperate link for international orders (can't believe I forgot that).

Mike has a new play example for us, and there are a couple brand new downloads available on the resources page.

Check it out.

[Fabrice G.]

Hi Ralph, Mike,

I just tested the international order link...so I'll see if I ear from you. :)

The site looks great, the deeper blue and the tuning of the background image worked great for the reading thing.

Hum, there's still a minor point. The visited links are grey, and barely "read-able" (is that an english word ?).

The exemples of play are greatly interesting, and show how the game can be used (I know you knew that already, but I felt like telling you they were great).

Well, I hope you'll be able to link the Add-ons soon.


Fabrice.

[Valamir]

Hi Ralph, Mike,

I just tested the international order link...so I'll see if I ear from you. :)

You have :-)

The site looks great, the deeper blue and the tuning of the background image worked great for the reading thing.

Good to hear.  I was hoping it wood.  I would have hated to have to give up the background.  Its hard trying to find a theme for a game with no built in setting.

Hum, there's still a minor point. The visited links are grey, and barely "read-able" (is that an english word ?).

Much easier than what I originally tried...a really cool shade of deep red that got entirely lost in the clouds.  I'll play with in a little in my next update and see what I can do.

The exemples of play are greatly interesting, and show how the game can be used (I know you knew that already, but I felt like telling you they were great).

Always nice to hear.  I know Mike has a few more he's working on putting together.  Hopefully we'll soon be able to add a few fan additions as well.

Well, I hope you'll be able to link the Add-ons soon.

I have a bunch that I haven't found time to convert from earlier editions fully yet.  And I know Mike's been working on a few.  You should start to see some go up in the next week or two.

[Tony Irwin]

"I'm a little concerned about the light text on the dark back ground.  But I'd really hate to give up my cool new background." Valamir

Well on behalf of all your customers who like to take 5 minutes out their working day and sneakily check out games that they've seen reviewed on rpg.net...

Black backgrounds always look suspiciously unlike reports on European economic trends. Its easy to tell a browser to show no pictures but the backgrounds are still a give away that someone's not working. (and yeah its also very hard to read) :-)

Great site though - tonnes of great info on the game.