The best outfit websites atm...

[Ultimatum]

I would like to know what outfit websites you think are the best available atm...

Now before anybody posts any outfit websites, please DO NOT post your own outfit one because you want to get in some free advertising. Only post a link to an outfit website because you think it truly is one of the best ones out there.

I have no particular reason for posting this thread other than the fact that I am just plain curious (and yes, I know curiosity killed the cat. And yes, 13 is my lucky number :p).

And one last thing before you post away... just because the website has some music file attached or uses flash, doesn't automatically make it a stunning website :)

Thanks,
Ultimatum.

[NightWalker XI]

I think these guys have a website and everyone else should try to do somethign like this cause websites give a possible recruit some sort of input on the clans commitment to the game and how dedicated they may be, etc

http://www.obsidianempire.com/

[OdlyEnuf]

http://www.ncgamers.com very well done, yes, indeed.

[Ultimatum]

That certainly is a nice website (http://www.obsidianempire.com/). Although, the basic layout is actually done via the use of phpNuke. The layout was then skinned with what I would assume to be a custom skin and the forums were done with a phpBB2 forum module for phpNuke and then skinned with a modded version of one of the latest subBlack themes for phpBB2 :)

It would take a fair bit of work to do all of it, which certainly shows their dedication. I have to admit that the website is a little dark though :rolleyes:

*Please don't take any offense from any comments I make. I am overly critical about a lot of things, especially websites. And I probably couldn't do half of what has been done to these websites.*

[Ultimatum]

http://www.ncgamers.com/ is also quite a nice website. However (I only looked in the public area since I assumed I wouldn't be able to access the private one) I feel that they really over-did the website's frames (top and left) and neglected the sections of the website not within the frames...

But then again, I'm just overly critical about everything :)

[DarkDragon]

I think overly critical people are good, they can help make something the best it can be.

[Ultimatum]

I'm glad to hear it :D

[NightWalker XI]

I like phpNUKE, its easy to change the look, I also agree that its dark, if it were NC colours it would be awesome :D

[Ultimatum]

You should take a look at postNuke - as I understand it, it's a more secure version of phpNuke... although finding modules and blocks that work properly for it can often be a real bitch :(.

And yeah, I agree, with the right hue and contrast of the NC colours, that website could look amazing :)

[NightWalker XI]

I have never used post NUKE, then again I haven't made a website in aaaaages.

[Dharkbayne]

ncgamers has THE BEST FLASH INTRO EVER, www.blackwidowcompany.net is pretty nice too, I think thats the site name

[NightWalker XI]

Ya, flash console sites is my kinda thing..eh eh, that black widow company site is cool, map is not in center and stuff but they can fix that

[NightWalker XI]

O.M.G

Have you seen their forums, thats a shame, if they made it same colours as TR it would have been so much better......but...pink?

[SpongeBob]

are there any vanu outfit websites?

[Mamby]

This is a realy good site www.sardukar.org

[Straynjer]

Sometime in the next whatever, http://roguedisciples.com will become a VS outfit site. We been kinda wandering aimless in the wilderness since we all decided T2 sucked the big one (and we sucked at it even bigger). So PS is looking pretty exciting at our end of the world.

If you want to join a VS outfit with a real focus on friendship, loyalty and community that goes far beyond any individual game, drop by and say hello.

[Lion of Judah]

Originally posted by NightWalker XI
Ya, flash console sites is my kinda thing..eh eh, that black widow company site is cool, map is not in center and stuff but they can fix that
Yeah that is a nice site, i like the console :|

The pink forums HAVE TO GO!

[NightWalker XI]

http://www.totalaggression.com/ (TAG)

Awesome site

[Hijinks]

YACPNS.

[Hijinks]

http://www.clanstfu.com/

I'll admit, airlift's sence of style is a little...off.

[Chryse]

Originally posted by NightWalker XI
O.M.G

Have you seen their forums, thats a shame, if they made it same colours as TR it would have been so much better......but...pink? Pink, or "Red Ice," is the default color scheme and, yes, it sucks. But registered forum members get to change it to the "redkaz" color scheme, which compliments the TR colors well.

Thanks for visiting the site!

[PR24]

DragonWolves (http://www.dragonwolves.com)

[Ultimatum]

Ok...

Since I've been working, I haven't had a chance to check this topic in a while, so here goes:

1) www.blackwidowcompany.net

A nice basic intro. for the site, no problems there although it does seem rather strange without any sound (after hours of having my eardrums throttled just for visiting an outfit's website) but I personally prefer that since it is such a brief intro.

As for the main interface (using a terminal), it's a nice idea and it is well done. I am especially impressed by the rotating spider and how smoothly it is incorporated into the interface. However, I don't like the fact that you have to search around to work out which area/button takes you where - it's just not my taste :)

I completely agree about the forums but I haven't registered to check out the other theme that can be chosen.

If you look at the Organisation page, that is also well designed. But the media page on the other hand... lets the site down a fair bit. As does the links page. Other than the above, there is nothing that particularly caught my attention about the website apart from the map thing - which I can only assume is still under construction.

2) www.sardukar.org

Cut out the TR max part of the banner at the top of the page and I like the banner, it really is good. As for the colour scheme, I'm afraid it's rather bland. The contrast between orange and grey is fine in my books but JUST orange and grey (and then the graphics) and it gets a little tedious.

The members section is certainly extensive - to the point that you can click on individual members within the squad. I can only sympathise with the outfit leader having that many members... unless he/she spreads out the admin. load, that must really suck :rolleyes:

The forums are pleasant and go with the colour scheme of the site (the forums use a more recent version of the subBlack theme (I believe subBlack 3d Orange)) but as a consequence of following the website colour scheme, they are a little too "grey" imho. Also, if you look into certain sections of the website such as 'About' guess what you find - more grey... grey text on a grey background with a grey navigation bar.

3) http://roguedisciples.com

Ok first off, the website is a little dark but the use of bright (well, anti-dark) text and a relatively bright navigation bar make up for this. The little characters that follow the mouse pointer around drive me insane... nothing personal - I just can't stand that kind of thing :p

As for the forums, I just don't like ezBoard. I have experimented with a lot of free forums and ezBoard makes me cringe. It appears they paid as they have no annoying pop-up / banner advertisement on the forums... The logo on the forums certainly goes well with the dark background :) but the forums themselves are too dark and there is only so much darkness that I can handle.

Also, I didn't even realise there was a background to the website until I watched it load the 2nd time around. The lights on the navigation bars are a nice feature and help to brighten up the main page. However, the news seems a little out of control on the website - it just isn't clearly separated from the navigation menu. And last but not least, the main logo is almost impossible to see. It's in the top left of the website if you haven't noticed it and is very difficult to see unless you have really great eyesight or a special addition to your pc screen to enhance the brightness so that it is higher than what the mere monitor can handle.

...I will do the other three when I get back from grabbing a bite to eat. Please do not take offense at my comments, they are merely my opinion - nothing more :)

[Ultimatum]

...and here come the other three:

4) http://www.totalaggression.com/

The site is a little dark but I would assume that this is partly due to their attempt to modify the website so that it has the same colour scheme as the theme they chose for their forums (subBlack). It's a nice website but can get pretty damn boring after staring at the colours for some time.

I'm quite impressed with the interface. The use of a frame for the top and left of a website always bugs me (actually, the use of frames at all bugs me) but the interface that is placed there is certainly well designed. The marquee, the date and the time are welcome additions to the interface and give it a little more character. The outfit banner has been blended into the interface well and the top left "thing" (I'm not actually sure what that part of the interface would be called) is good.

As for the "click the text in the interface and a text menu will drop down" feature, well, it adds a certain something to the website. And last but not least, the forums - a bit dark (I used the subBlack theme a while back but it's just too damn dark for my liking) but they aren't bad.

It's a shame that the website was re-designed to suit the theme of the forums because I feel that the webdesigner was skilled enough to have easily come up with their own theme which they could then skin the forums with.

5) http://www.clanstfu.com/

What can I say... I'm off to see an optician since my retinas were just fried. It's actually quite a basic website design but at the same time, an effective one. It's easy to use, does not require you to sit on your ass waiting for five minutes for a line of text to appear via "type-writer style" flash introductions and certainly gets your attention.

The logo itself is quite impressive and blends into the website design well. A little variation with the fonts and a little more attention paid to the news couldn't hurt but it's really not bad. There is no sign of a forum and the downloads page isn't finished (well, it has no downloads) but I guess the website is still under construction :)

6) http://www.dragonwolves.com/

The intro is quite good, I'll grant you that. As for the website itself... the outfit logo is well designed, the general layout isn't bad at all and the navigation section(s) of the website are clear. However, the news seems a little scattered and there is nothing more than a title and the number of comments to divide each post - which is hardly a clear division.

The forums... well vBulletin = Yay! (I have yet to find the reason to spend $160 on a contract to use ONE vBulletin forum on ONE website but I do love the design of vBulletin forums) but using a white background for the forums when the main website has a black background... and not only that but the forums themselves are on a white background but on the very outer edges of the forums is a black background, which I have to admit is a rather painful contrast.

And it appears you haven't customised the forum buttons - which is fair enough but I would've thought it better to customise them. However, credit is deserved for how smoothly the outfit logo blends into the outer edge black background - although it was already on a black background so I guess it didn't kill you to do that ;)


Hmm... now I've run out of websites to comment on, whatever will I do? *starts eyeing up the PSU website* mmmm... maybe not :D

[Airlift]

Originally posted by Hijinks
http://www.clanstfu.com/

I'll admit, airlift's sence of style is a little...off.

You'll admit? You can't admit shit until you've donated more than the current zero hours of your precious time to making the site better. Like I don't have a day job, a beta account, and forums to whore. Top it all off, my basement flooded yesterday morning, and tonight I have to take stock on the damage to my computer equipment.

[Ultimatum]

Woah Airlift, I can understand why you might be in a rather foul mood right now... but go easy.

[Airlift]

On the other hand, thank you Ultimatum. Whereas Hijinks is just bitching (as per normal), I do appreciate your criticism and it is all 100% on the money. The downloads page works, but I don't have anything to put up there, and all of the real site functionality (which really is unfinished / broken) is for members rather than gust users.

As far as the color scheme, the outfit is having a hard time settling on which empire to join in release, which is foiling my attempts to put out a new design with empire colors.

The news is beat up because I haven't had time to post anything, and most of the news I do post goes into the users category instead of guests.

[Kikinchikin]

well im a member of a multigaming clan called the Empire of TiTaNs. I'm starting a Planetside "division" (an outfit). I'm getting one of my fellow members to make me one, so it should be pretty good. the main site address is www.empireofbabu.net. I dont really like the site itself, but the forums are super active and its a great community. Sorry for "advertising" but if u wanna join my outfit when the real game comes out, make a post on the planetside forum. its at the bottom of games in our forum list. thanks :D

[Ultimatum]

Well Airlift, you explaining all I pointed out above basically makes your website pretty much the best one out of all of the websites here because you're the only one who actually went to the trouble of explaining the flaws/issues that I picked out :)

Then again, I guess I didn't specifically ask for the website designers to post the links so I can't really be picky like that but please let me know when your outfit decide on their empire - I'd love to take a look at the website with the new colour scheme.

As for the other websites I have commented on, please feel free to express your own views or if you are/know the website designer, please feel free to defend the website accordingly.

Thanks for all the responses and websites that were put forward,
Ultimatum.

[Ultimatum]

Oh and Lilbird2431, I can't help but lol @ you since you specifically posted an advertisement and the website isn't even up yet :D Then again, I try to avoid flaming and the like so just try not to do it again please :)

[Kikinchikin]

yeha well i said i was sorry b4 i said it...:p

[Airlift]

I promised Hijinks that I wouldn't go easy on him ever. ;)

Don't worry too much about flaming between me an Hi. I typed that response before lunch but forgot to hit submit, so it may look like I was in a foul mood, but you missed the better half of that conversation on instant messenger :D

[Hijinks]

Originally posted by Airlift
I promised Hijinks that I wouldn't go easy on him ever. ;)

Don't worry too much about flaming between me an Hi. I typed that response before lunch but forgot to hit submit, so it may look like I was in a foul mood, but you missed the better half of that conversation on instant messenger :D

Whew, I was worried for a minute there.

btw, I write code for a living. My free time is going to be spent:

1. riding my bike
2. shooting my gun
3. playing PS

probably in that order. I'll leave the website creation and outfit management to you.

[Ultimatum]

I can't decide whether that was a sarcastic or serious comment by Hijinks lol (the first sentence of his previous post).

[Airlift]

He writes code for jesus, you have to keep that in mind when reading anything that Hijinks posts.

[Hijinks]

Originally posted by Airlift
He writes code for jesus, you have to keep that in mind when reading anything that Hijinks posts.

Don't fuck with the Jesus.

[Airlift]

Eight year olds, Dude.

[Ginzue]

I seem to like this site www.chaos-warriros.com
The guy did a good job of putting togeather the site, same guy who did www.eqxp.com too.

[Vrim]

Some 'outfit' sites are mega gaming clans so i'd put them in another league, also some websites are very plain except for a fancy banner. Other sites have a lame gimmick like heavy animation, drawn out flash intro or navigation... they just turn me off.

I think the best sites are ones with quality throughout,
I think newcenturygamers is probably the best site right now but there are others worth mentioning.
http://www.infantry-sector.com/tm is pretty good, has a nice forum. Nice transparency effects.
http://newdawn.planetside-universe.com/ excellent site, good color schemes, forum is crisp


I thought about making another name to post it, but screw it, i'm lazy.

[Straynjer]

Ulti, your comments are quite cool. It is not my prob if you don't like dark sites. :)

I do. :)

Worst thing about roguedisciples.com at the moment is we kinda lost the domain name for a while and just had the forums - which were skinned very consistantly with the rest of the site - so all the graphics broke. So we tore it up and gave it a simple skin to get us by, then the domain name came back online, and I just haven't fussed enough to fix it all back up again.

However, this time around I think I will do the PHPnuke thing. I like Nuke and have been using it for some of my commercial clients. So it will be by-by ezboards after many many years. Huge amount of clan history on those forums. Some that are like sealed tombs.

[1024]

Originally posted by OdlyEnuf
http://www.ncgamers.com very well done, yes, indeed.

Holy shit this intro is crazy. What rendering program did they use to make that intro?

[Hamma]

That is an insane Flash movie. Best I've ever seen for a team.

[Ultimatum]

*winces at the fact that he just hit close on this IE browser window and thus lost about 3 paragraphs of comments he had typed :confused: *

www.chaos-warriors.com - Firstly, Ginzue, I get the feeling that was advertising (both of the links you posted) and well, at least you spelt one of them correctly.

I'm not too impressed by this website to be honest. The forums are my favourite *cough* ezboard with the added pleasure of a couple of pop-ups every time you visit. And I shouldn't really use the term "forums" since there is only one forum (I can only assume because the outfit is still expanding).

As for the logo/emblem of the outfit, I don't think the characters from PS suit it. I mean it's not a bad logo if you take out those characters - the metal has been quite well made and it seems ok but once you stuck those PS characters in there... it pushed it right over the edge.

The banner for the outfit doesn't seem to be must better and the layout of the website doesn't seem to have required too much thought. I mean you have a banner (fair enough - time spent working on it), then a text menu beneath it, then some news/content beneath that in the largest font size that you could find that fits more than three words on a line...

I can only hope/assume that this website is temporary because you may well lose potential members over it. Perhaps the designer is a beginner, in which case, well-done for getting going m8. However, you need to bring in some external help or re-design this website imo because you really could lose members over of it. With the way the content is arranged, I just can't bring myself to like it at all.

http://www.infantry-sector.com/tm - There is no way of not admitting that the skin on the forums is attractive. However, it appears to not have been designed by the outfit to suit the website but rather downloaded because it was a cool template and then installed as a template for phpBB2 (skins for the forums are called templates with phpBB2).

As for the website itself, I'm not very pleased by the overall design and I am truly horrified by the main banner/logo. However, it is clear that some effort was made since they have used a gold version of the pop-up boxes within PlanetSide for their news posts. In conclusion, not really that great but maybe some more work on it could bring it up a hell of a lot since you have the right ideas, just not the quality yet.

As for http://newdawn.planetside-universe.com/ - I am rather fond of this website :) I actually visited this a couple of times to see what I thought and it's good, it really is. The banner fits smoothly into the layout of the page so that it isn't some huge thing sticking out at both ends of the interface. It's also coloured to compliment the website colour scheme (or vice versa) which is a nice touch.

There are clear divisions between the News area and the Navigation area, there are button-links to what I would assume to be the areas of the website that are viewed to be most important/popular.

The links in the navigation bar also fit smoothly into the navigation area and certainly stand out against the colour scheme (although that may just be convenience due to the difference in the colour schemes of the websites).

The forum banner is well-designed and compliments the colour scheme of the forums and suits the style of the website (as does the forum template used). A New Dawn also have an extensive members page (actually several) containing e-mail contact addresses and for those who wished to have their favourite/personal websites seen by the public, those too.

The colour scheme of the entire website calmly blends together and as a result, there is no shocking pain when it first loads, no invisible background due to its darkness. And of course, no ezboard forums :D

The website still appears to be under construction in places but overall... stunning imho. I mean overall, each section of the website currently online compliments the other. And to top it all off, there seems to be plenty of content available concerning their "Charter and Policies" even if some of it is from the NC official website.

If you don't believe me about this website, take a look for yourself. Unless you like hiding from the light in dark corners, then this website should appeal to you. It doesn't go for the coolest introduction with flash, or the most stunning animated drop down menus. It just meets every basic requirement one can think of for a website and then tops it off with a good colour scheme, smooth layout and a good banner.

[Note to self: Currently the best website out there (from the ones in this thread) imo is a New Dawn. Enjoy the spotlight ND :D]

As for http://www.ncgamers.com I may well have overlooked their flash intro and not given it the credit it deserves, but I have to admit that the quality of the website is still lacking. Just because separate things seem cool doesn't mean that when you slap 'em onto a website they will look great...

[Ultimatum]

Straynjer, it certainly isn't your problem that I don't like dark websites :)

I have no problem with the fact that others do and tbh, thankyou for not flaming since a vast majority of people would with such an opportunity.

As for the removal of the ezboard forums, wahey! No offense but ezboard makes me cringe. I'm glad to hear that you will give phpNuke a go since it does have a lot of potential and I can understand the problems associated with losing the necessary skin etc. - no worries.

I wish you the best of luck with your new website using postNuke :)

[Ultimatum]

Just so that my previous comments on a New Dawn are not viewed as completely one-sided...

One thing they could've added was a "This page is currently under construction" rather than a false link to the webpages that were not yet complete/uploaded.

Other than that... perhaps a slightly more colourful template for the forums. One which is more suited to the NC colour scheme.

[Angelos]

NCG's intro is soooo kewl.....

I have been in a few big clans that had talent in them for doing nifty things like that. One clan was just for a single game, but they were huge, and they had a really awesome website at one time. Few websites can match it's coolness.

NCG's flash intro is by far the best I've seen, though only those of us blessed with broadband can enjoy it painlessly. That is one reason why many webmasters avoid using flash intros. In fact I know many that hate them. Just something you have to consider when designing a website.

I can't knock the simple design of chaos warriors. There's nothing really wrong with it. No eye candy like some designs. But that doesn't make it bad. Using ezboard isn't bad either, lots of people do. It's not professional to have all the banners and pop-ups(I don't see any myself), but it's just a small gaming clan.

New Dawn's webpage... similar to my own clan's website. Except ours fits to the resolution of the viewers'. The only thing I don't like is the entrance page. I never liked entrance pages. If I click a link to go to a website, I expect to land on the website. Not on another page with another link to hopefully the website. It's redundant. Just my view on it.

[Straynjer]

For my money, tight integration between general site and forums is the most important and most commonly neglected issue on any clan/community site.

I do like New Dawn - very slick, but the forums still look tacked on (just very smoothly tacked on :-) )

Even though our forums are ezboard, they used to be completely integrated with the site - and I don't mean with frames.

[Straynjer]

And they are again! You got me active Ultimatum. I fixed the forums up.

Av a look now. :)
http://roguedisciples.com

Still dark - but I am going to redo the BG to give it a more VS PSO feel. However it may still be as treachorously dark, because I believe a BG should be barely noticable, and the site is designed for a fundamentally black BG.

BTW, if you are playing VS on Markov and would like to join a PSO with a focus on good friends and good times, please drop by and say hello. Sorry, ad there.

[Joker]

Well I've had a look through and there are a lot of good sites mentioned in this thread. I told myself i was not going to pimp my own outfit, but then PR24 did so :p

If u wanna see a cool flash intro for a pure Planetside only outfit go to www.dreamscapevirus.com and see whatcha think.

[Ultimatum]

Angelos, I agree with you about having to select something after actually reaching a website in order to actually view the website. However, if you take into account that people may well be loading up that website on a 56kbps connection and may not want to view the intro (which is currently under construction on the website of a New Dawn - or so it would seem) because it is most likely to not be worth the wait... Then it is completely logical.

So, it may cause frustration for those of us with ISDN, DSL, T1 and T3 connections but those on 56kbps are saved a lot of frustration because of it. And yes, there may well be ways around it (although I can't actually think of any right now - other than an intro button on the index page of the website) but perhaps the webmaster wanted to make it clear that there is an intro...


Straynjer, I have to agree with you on "For my money, tight integration between general site and forums is the most important and most commonly neglected issue on any clan/community site."

But often, clan sites do not have such a large community and many of the members actually communicate via IRC or some form of IM like msnm... So I think that would only apply to clans of 20+ members (which is almost all the PS outfits out there).

As for you ammending your forums, good on ya! :D I'm glad to see you got cracking on blending them into the website. They certainly look better than they did previously (ezboard) and I like that you followed through with that flashing light from the menu into the buttons of the forum. Still not hugely to my liking ( :rolleyes: ) but I'm sure they look excellent to anybody who prefers the darker websites :) And as for the ad, I think I picked on your outfit website more than enough to justify such a little ad :D

[Navaron]

OK - NCG rocks.

[Kikinchikin]

in my opinion, a flashy website isn't what makes a clan. (although it certainly helps) Having an active community is crucial for a clan's success.

For example: i used to play age of empires conquerors. Theres this clan Zoltron, the website is kinda plain, nothing great nothing bad, just a solid website. but their forums... yikes. over 30000 posts. they r basically the best clan in aoc. not cuz of a grande website but becuz of their wicked forumsl.

thats part of the reason im not gonna bail on my current clan, the empire of TiTaNs. altho im the only one in ps beta so far, ill be starting an outfit when the mainstream game comes out. cuz i mean all outfits and characters are going to get wiped. I considered joining some big clans out there, but think im gonna stick with my clan so i can lead my own division. and cuz ive made friends on the forums. Our forums have been around for about 2 months and we have about 5000 posts total. Of course theres only about 25 people who post somewhat actively, altho the clan itself has about 40or so members.

for all who are interested in us, or if u wanna join my planetside outfit that wil be starting after the game is released, the main site is www.empireofbabu.net. the site isnt that great,, but its not bad either. click on the link to the forums, my forum is at the bottom of games. The Outfit name will be RoD Raiderz of Darkness. Thanks and didnt mean to advertise, just wanted to voice my opinion:)

[Ultimatum]

Next: http://www.dreamscapevirus.com

A very smooth introduction. I'm not sure that the music entirely hits the right spot but the graphical side of it is very good. As for the content, it's certainly different ;)

However, it's a much better introduction than some that I have seen. Not specifically ones for websites posted in this thread but in general...

I have to admit, I quite like the outfit logo. As for the menu at the top, it's a nice touch with the metal and rivet/bolt textures and the text is clear and concise. I'm not too sure about the news page (seems a little like a poorly laid-out set of forum posts).

Also, one thing that's always really gotten on my nerves is when the "about" page or what one would assume to be the about page is the page that is the index page for a website. If it is only until the outfit forms a reasonable community, then that's fine but if it's intended to be permanent, then :rolleyes:.

The guestbook is a nice touch and the way that all the content for each webpage is incorporated smoothly into a pre-determined space is nice to see. This is especially apparent with the forums, which is excellent.

Normally forums are very poorly incorporated into the main website in such a way but these are different. I am definitely impressed by how smoothly the forums are slipped into the site design. And also by the fact that although they do not match the website design perfectly, it seems to compliment it rather than clash with it.

Congrats. on a site well-done :D

[PR24]

Originally posted by SpikeSpiegel
Holy shit this intro is crazy. What rendering program did they use to make that intro?

Yes that flash IS great :)

Only problem is it's 7MB in size which is too large for a intro.

[Big Bro]

Thx for all the props for our flash intro and website, even though Ultimatum didn't have much good to say about it.

CUJO, our clan founder, is the website admin and designer. He does stuff like this professionally for a living. You can ICQ or email him if you have specific technical questions, I'm sure he'd love to talk shop about it. Personally, I think the most impressive thing about the intro is that the Squad rosters are dynamic. When we add someone to the roster, it automatically shows up in the movie.

The majority of the website content is in the Private section, where all our top secret stuff is at. :D Our website is not just a board, but a feature rich environment where our clan leaders can help direct their squads.

The Public section is really a means for potential recruits to check us out and see what kinds of attitudes and standards we have. Our public forum isn't nearly as active as it should be, mainly because our private forums are where most of us hang out. I check the pub forum almost daiily, but I'll miss a day or two here or there. That is where people outside NCG can chat with us, but the majority of all the activity is in the Private section.

[Trol]

Hell's Elite Legions (http://www.hel-guild.com)

Not advertising, just curious as to what Ultimatum thinks of the website.

[Ultimatum]

Heh, I was wondering when http://www.hel-guild.com would turn up in here :)

You see, I have seen a few of these websites previously when I was picking random outfits from the PSU database to take a look at... and this one came up at one stage.

First off, the interface is truly stunning. There is no denying that. It is certainly a graphically rich environment. I think that the small advertisement button at the top is incorporated into the design well and unlike pop-ups or huge banner ads, is rather subtle.

And to be honest with you all, every single feature within this interface has its advantages and its disadvantages. The 'ambience' feature at the top of the interface is quite useful - especially if you end up listening to the music for some time while trying to analyse the website *turns off music* ;)

The background sits comfortably in place, not standing out too much but at the same time, clearly visible. The centerpiece obviously being a rather stylish "HEL" logo.

As for the loading screen, I have no quarrels with it. It's basic, not graphics heavy and it gets the job done. Then of course, there is the interface. The intricate detail on the borders of the interface and the method by which the central component of it is first introduced is certainly impressive and doesn't scream 'look at me!' I would imagine it took some time to produce the overall interface or it required a very skilled coder / user of this "Pro:FX" that you advertise, or perhaps both.

The four main sections that are visible (in the central component) could do with being a little bit lighter - at least the text. The mouseover effect with the different text links solves the problem of not being able to clearly see which link you are about to click and adds a little more style to the interface.

The lower interface (beneath the central component) consists of 7 small buttons, which flash in a sequence. This is a pretty cute addition to an already graphically superior interface. And the text that appears to indicate where the button links to is an excellent touch - flickering etc.

It's certainly an excellent interface and the vast amount of visual overload is cleverly toned-down by having a relatively dark interface and website for that matter. The default music compliments the interface and appears to create the desired atmosphere...

However, it's just not my cup of tea. There is absolutely no way in hell (no pun intended) that I could say this website sucks or is poorly designed or didn't receive much attention... but it's just too much for me. I find a simplistic approach often better for website interfaces and when you delve so deeply into what you can achieve with a lot of skill and hard work, it's hard to view it in a bad way. At the same time, so much graphical detail is just too much imho.

Ignoring the previous paragraph, this website interface (the index page) is absolutely fantastic and hats off to whoever made it... just not my cup of tea ;)


One thing you must always remember: a great front cover doesn't automatically make the rest of the book interesting or of high quality. Now, I have never personally used ClanBuilder but from the looks of the website, you have used it for absolutely everything except the interface on the first page and the "Hell Family Tree".

Fair enough, perhaps with so many members, using something like ClanBuilder is the only way to keep track of them all and maintain all the services that are required. However, compared to the stunning quality of the index page, the rest of the website is a little of a let down on a visual level...

I don't actually have time to read all of the content but there is undoubtedly plenty of it. On a visual level the rest of the site, having been constructed using ClanBuilder, scores quite low. But on a content level, it scores highly. Also, you have at least attempted to use a colour scheme which compliments/is similar to the index page, which contains the interface for both the forums and the other sections of the site which use ClanBuilder.


Overall, a stunning interface for the website, plenty of content and a sensible management system incorporated but the consequence of this was that the rest of the site was let down graphically.

[Ultimatum]

*Leans back and cracks fingers* Now THAT took a while :)

It took me around 5 - 10 minutes to produce that previous post concerning the HEL website and then a further 2 minutes of proof-reading and correcting...

I hope I don't offend anybody with my comments since it is not my intention.

And =NCG=Big Bro, it's nothing personal. It's just that I felt that your website could have been a lot better and it wouldn't take that much work to do it. It has so many separate components with excellent potential, but the hard division between the interface (top frame and left frame) and the content itself is unpleasant. And the interface appears a little 'corny' as such (*shudders* I hate using that word). Each component has excellent potential, perhaps just take a look and consider what you think could make the website better on a first impression/graphical level.

As for the flash introduction to NCG, I have already admitted I overlooked it but with that little snippet of information you gave us in your previous post, it sounds pretty damn impressive. I would assume that CUJO is some kind of flash master :)

However, as I mentioned in my previous post, just because the cover of a book is stunning, does not mean that the content and quality of the book will follow suit. The same applies for websites...

[Big Bro]

Originally posted by Ultimatum
...I hope I don't offend anybody with my comments since it is not my intention.
...

No offense here. Since I personally am not a GUI designer I have no frame of reference myself. I work within whatever framework I'm given.

[Ultimatum]

Glad to hear it :)

[Ultimatum]

bump. :)

[Ratchet]

Err, i know we shouldnt be putting oursleves up there, but er... im not in this outfit. honest :D

www.sghq.com

[Ultimatum]

I'm afraid I have a throbbing headache atm so I can't give you a detailed break down of my views of the website. However, the PlanetSide section appears well designed and aesthetically pleasing. It's a real shame that the forums don't follow the theme of the PS section though...

Sorry, I really would like to tear apart the website but I just don't have the energy :(

[Ratchet]

The forum design actaully changes depending on what portal your a member of. the forums for the WWIIO guys looks remarkabley different than that of the PS guys.

Hope your headache gets better. :D

[Ultimatum]

Many thanks. I will try to analyse the site asap tomorrow if I am feeling any better. Sorry again,

Ultimatum.