http://www.acornrack.com/XSGII/
It's now time to review the next site on my list, X-Men: School of the Gifted, or XSG for short. As you expect from the title of the site this is an RP about X-men, mutants, powers, sentinels and all things X-men-y. I'm treading into hardcore fanboy/girl area but I'm not going to be all nice because of it.
On the AD there are several things to point out, first would be the that there is an FAQ on the bottom of the AD answering some questions about the site. This also leads to knowing if you can apply as canon characters (You can, though originals are encouraged.) Well I guess its time for the main portion...
First Impression:
Meh. The current layout of the site doesn't really do anything for me, it's black on black on black with some grey. While the reason for such a layout is explained in the FAQ (which I beleive should be also on the site), to me it just shows laziness on the admins part.
"I think that the main point of a role playing site is the actual role playing. In addition to the ease of loading due to a comparative lack of images on the site, XSG's layout is clean and simple. Which allows the quality of writing to be highlighted, rather than the layout-of-the-week."
I'm fine with a simple layout and simple colors with no images but don't give me crap on about how you want to "focus on RPing" it's laziness any way you slice it. Just click the premade layout and go. Devil's Pass is a very simple layout but it is a nice layout and it isn't dull. One banner image and simple color changes isn't going to kill loading time off of anyone's computer.
The Public Area:
The Plot, it is the ultimate cookie cutter plot. There is no innovation here at all, X-men VS Magneto VS Sentinels. I'd be fine if I saw even a little bit of originality but I see nothing.
The Rules page, generally it's okay it's nice and organized however I have a few nitpicks that I'm going to point out. Is it really necessary to have a rule stating that new applicants HAVE to start their first thread? Also, I'm sure somewhere along the way in the history of X-Men there has been a genius kid who has advanced abilities for his age. Though I understand why the rule is there it's not unplausible for it to happen.
Ranks, not really a big issue... but I'd like to point out that for ranks you list "X-Men" and in the memberlist everyone happens to be Jean Grey's son, "X-Man".
Restricted Powers, no real issue here except I'd change "Watch List" to something else, like Semi-restricted or something. I wasn't sure what you initially meant with the "Watch List".
By-Product Powers, There's one particular thing I don't understand... this section is all about by product powers and yet you're still talking about how if the primary is on the restricted list it will be declined...
After Applying, I don't like the name, it implies that after you've applied under this link are things you need to do before you actually get involved in the site stuff.
The Application:
First, I've never come across where AR sends out a password prematurely. It might be just in the settings in there- but at least you're given a warning about it.
Generally it's a normal application however I have nitpicks on it.
Second, having an actual word count minimum is something I don't like. Certain sections make it much harder than it should be like describing powers if one has a simpler power.
Third, in the RP sample you use the word "haranguing". I'm trying to figure out if this is a stroke of genius or you really just whimsically decided to put that word in there.
The Private Area:
First thing I noticed, oh well geez that thing I had about simpler powers it tells you to contact admins about it but nowhere does it say it on the application. That little tidbit should be posted in a public area because not everyone browses the private area.
Second, there are 10 "recent posts", which is more than I like especially with a ShoutBox under it.
I see no new information pages so that means we move on to the next section.
Forums:
Giant Wall of Text. There is a good amount of forums with decent enough descriptions, however it's all a giant block. I'd like to see the different areas spaced out and of course with hotlinks directly to them.
Other:
The member list is your normal list but there are also avatars. I don't particularly understand the admin at all, 25 images loading at the same time coming from multiple servers I thought was slower than 1 image which gets cached after the initial load.
Member's profiles are nicely filled which I suppose has to be to reach the word count minimum but overall I have no problems. However I read some profile where the powers aren't really as descriptive as I thought they should be and left some questions to be answered. I'm not going to single out any people but from JUST the profile it left questions.
Roleplaying:
From what I read I categorize the roleplaying on this site to be Intermediate to Advanced. Some posts seemed to have too much going on at the same time and others seemed wordy.
Rating: 7.0 out of 10 Points.
This site... what I can I say about it other than it's completely average though some parts are very nice (Magneto's Posts for example). Nothing on the site really screamed out to me that this RP is trying to be sucessful in its own right. The only stroke of genius I saw was in the application however brief it was. As a final comment I find it ironic that the site encourages originality and yet it's the perfect cookie cutter RP.
Reviewed by: The Jello Emperor
3 comments:
As the lead Admin of XSG, I'd just like to pop in and say that we are taking this as constructive criticism, although I must admit that it was surprising to have our site rated without our knowledge.
For our one year anniversary (coming up mid-February) we have a new layout in the works, even before this review was posted. My own personal attempts at HTML coding ended in failure so we're hiring someone to do it. Trust me, this is the better option!
The overall site plot is also in the processes of being revamped. It is a year old after all. We have numerous side-plots brewed up by our members. Everything from simple (and not-so simple) relationships, to characters switching sides and a certain metal manipulator setting his plans in motion.
I would like to note that the rule about new people posting first is to discourage applying and simply letting the character lay stagnating. Newbie threads are often pounced upon by our older members, some of which have several characters at their disposal. A fair number of our characters are also out of their teen years, hence the preference for characters who aren't mutant prodigies as far as their characters go.
Finally, XSG has lasted a year on AcornRack. Which is more than I can say for many of the other X-Men/Mutant sites AR has hosted. Inactivity and that beastly 'real life' has thwarted many a site - most with fancier, flashier layouts than ours - which is unfortunate. There have been some really excellent plots in a medium that's been done nearly to death.
That XSG has outlasted the competition implies that we are doing something right.
Thank you for the review and good luck with the Blog.
I'm a long-time member of this site, and I feel the need just to add in a couple words as to why I have stayed with XSGII, while leaving other AR sites as real-life has started to eat up my time. The community here really is great, and tends to be welcoming to new members. I've found that the people who join and get involved with whatever plot is going on tend to stay, while characters who sit around and idle tend to dissapear. As a result, XSG has built up a strong member base of active and continually developing characters. As for the plots, they generally are cookie-cutter and basic but the administration has managed them well (and even learns from their mistakes when they don't *gasp*)
On that note, a couple of the problems that you mentioned have been delt with. The powers section is updated and "Watch" has been changed to "Limited". Also, the application now states a reduced word requirement for simpler powers.
There is never going to be a perfect site, and some of the problems you had with XSG I still do. Sometimes there are incredibly wordy posts that are daunting to match- the best way to deal with them in my experience is just to write with the mentality of quality not quantity and reply. I have not seen a single instance where someone was chastized for writing a three/four paragraph response to a six or seven paragraph post.
From my experience, if you're planning to apply with a more common power and/or X-Student, apply as soon as the window opens for both of those. The Admins make an honest effort to limit the amount of characters in each rank and whenever X-Students are opened, the slots for them seem to go fast.
I've been RPing for over 5 years now, and I have definitely found XSG to be, hands down, the most involved one that I have ever been on. After starting on four failing sites, I finally found one that had an active members list, and plenty of plots. After three long years on the site, I finally had to slip away due to one key factor. This factor being the plot involvement. Most of the sites that I have joined have all had a plague of only allowing cannon or senior members to be involved in the plot. This is where XSG has far surpassed all other sites. Not only do the they not discriminate against who can and can't be involved in the plot (to a completely tolerable extent) but they also leave the plots a bit more open for the writers to get a bit more creative with their posts.
I do agree that the layout is dull, but back when I only had dial-up I found this to be the best feature since it greatly decreased load times. But that's the past and I will not go any deeper into that subject. One thing I do like about the layout is the Navigation. Some may not find this to be a big deal, but when you have to squint to read horribly created buttons/links that hardly register as a button can make navigating around a site quite a hassle. The cookie cutter links on the right side make this one of the easier sites to navigate. Not to mention they actually do something when you roll over them with the mouse. One thing I hate is static buttons. I like buttons/links that do something when I put the cursor over them.
As for Admins... I would challenge you to find better. They are very open to new ideas, easy to contact, very active in the site, and generally all around fun to talk with. They will gladly answer questions and give advice where requested. If you would like for someone to RP with you, they can generally ask around and find someone willing to if your posts haven't been replied to, taking into account that you've already posted in the RP request thread. Oh, and they pretty much read everything and know everything that has happened on the site. Quite cool if I do say so myself. The 10 most recent posts may take up a fair bit of space on the left side, but it is well worth it due to the amount of activity on the site.
Also, X-Student Applications are open at the moment, so hurry on up and hop aboard the uber train!
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