Felix Felicis [9.1/10]

http://www.acornrack.com/felix/

Hello my subjects! This is the long awaited review of...Felix Felicis a Harry Potter site! Now don't stop reading on me just yet! I'm sure this site has many things that separate itself from the other ones out there! Quick shout out to @MoonwaterBlu who is a follower of mine on Twitter! Those who are part of my social network have more pull when I decide to be lazy... or not.

Anyway, the AD for this site is short and simple. I think JACFC has a similar concept... or maybe that was another HP site, that basically everything is wiped and you just have the HP universe without the HP part. And as always I love the bullet points, 5 sentences is way too much information for me to process in one sitting... (Joking... mostly...)

Side Note: Can I claim a page for House Points for the Jello Faction?

Now I shall launch you into the review! Expelliarmus! *wave and a woosh and a BOOM!*

First Impression:
That telephone booth reminds me of the Wonka-vator! Anyway the layout looks fine overall and I have no major problems on first glance.

The Public Area:
On the index page is what I'd like to call the "Extended AD Edition" of the site. Basically what most people put on the main AD page is HERE, this is a GOOD thing. As I've probably said numerous times... my attention span is very little unless it is engaging. So if I personally have made it to this point the lore-y information is now filed under "engaging" or "important."

Rules page is overall fine, and I love the separate tabs for house spaces. And believe it or not that's the end for the public area stuff, not too much to take in and so far so good!

The Application:
Knowing what you can and cannot apply for comes first before you get to the actual application, and rats my personal favorites are gone. I was always an Ancient Runes or Potions Prof. I had fun doing the weekly lessons and stuff when I RP'd Harry Potter once upon a time.

Anyway, the application overall looks very good. Again with those lovely tabs! Still good and we're moving into the private area.



The Private Area:
Layout expansion! No major problems, everything is in initial screen load and again... I love these tabs! I don't see any new private pages to look at so we'll have to move on the next section!

Forums:
Gah! No super spiffy tabs for the forums here? =( In any case there are a good amount of forums and descriptions BUT they have the hotlinks which of course is the substitute. Individual post separation looks great as well.

Other:
Member list looks spiffy, everyone has their own little tab. The member profiles are very well done as well, lots of spiff and dish! (I have no idea what I mean there...)

Roleplaying:
From what I read on the forums I categorize the roleplaying on this site to me Intermediate to Advanced.

Rating: 9.1 out of 10 Points

Needless to say this site is very good! The only reason why it isn't any higher is because JACFC is the stopper. JACFC cannot go any higher in score because I cannot see the private area so the 9.2 slot will probably be forever given to JACFC. But anyway, overall this site gets a super high five? (Anyone want to think up a Jello catch phrase action thing?)

This Site has the Jello Seal of Approval!

Reviewed by: The Jello Emperor

Abditi Caelus [7.1/10]

http://www.acornrack.com/abditi/

Look what day it is! It's a good day for a review and that means there should be a review up on this blog thingy right? Well I best get to it then! Today I'll be reviewing a site called Abditi Caelus, a fantasy, elemental...y site that involves a bit of reincarnation of the elemental gods.

Anyway, the AD for the site is written well and interested me enough in the site itself but the text color is a bit light for me and I had to highlight the text to really read it. But otherwise it's a good AD, I always like overviews and such since with all the pretty words and fluff I tend to lose concentration. Sometimes... Maybe... Okay MOST of the time...

Maybe I should upgrade my status to Jello Deity! ... I'll have to look into that, but anyway onto the review!

First Impression:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your ... hair! ... What'd you think I was gonna say? Crazy people.... Anyway I have no problems with the layout it looks nice and all the links are easily seen.

The Public Area:
The index page double functions as to where you can read the story in lore form, as opposed to the AD form and it is always a good idea to be efficient with pages.

Rules page, just a small note first of all if I haven't said it yet. Placement of the links and information is important, as it directs the visitor how you want them to see the site as a form of soft control. Anyway, rules are short and sweet. Also I like the whole "fade to black" thing, it's good visual reinforcement even though it is the rules.

Races page, text... there's lots of text. Which is good and bad, first of all I'd prefer hotlinks to each section of the races so I don't have to scroll down past everything to find what I really want to know. Also, I personally would have put the short descriptions first and then linked to the detail as opposed to how it is now. (The quick info should be hotlinked as well...) Oh, and even though it seems redundant a link on the quick info back to the detailed ones would be nice.

Note on Wyverns: Overall fine, not a fan on the whole land based horse wyvern though. Wyverns should be as they are, legendary reptillian winged beasts. But I digress...

Culture page, the only thing I'd like to see is the separate cultures to have larger text for their names. Like "Amid" maybe in a larger font size insead of just white. This way one can quickly scroll down to whatever they want to see. Festivals page should link back to the culture page, for the same reasons as the races.

No real important comments on the other pages.

The Application:
Overall looks nice, the descriptions for what you should put in each section are writen on site as opposed to inside the text area. NO ROLEPLAY SAMPLE REQUIRED.



The Private Area:
Layout Chaaange! It's more like a remix really, but anyway... everything looks fine here the generally everything is within the first screen though the image does take up a bit more space than I generally like. And one small thing, your affiliates are waaaaaaaaaaaay at the bottom. Just pointing that out, won't affect the score.. lol

There are no new pages to review as far as I can see, so lets move on to the next section of the review which is of course...

Forums:
Good amount of forums and descriptions here, and they have of course my preached about hotlinks! The separation between posts is a little odd for me, there isn't any really distinction aside from a long line of -'s.

Other:
Member list is just the default listing more or less, so nothing flashy but sometimes simple is just as good as flashy.

Member profiles are generally filled out well and is organized into different sections. Again nothing too fancy here except some table coding.

Roleplaying:
From what I read on the forums I categorize the roleplaying on this site to be Intermediate to Advanced.

Rating: 7.1 out of 10 Points

There's a good amount of things going for this site, mostly the plot the layout for me is just okay but sometimes becomes a hinderance. Also with sometimes odd navigation routes and the rather lengthy pages of info it can discourage people from joining. But overall the site is good, and the idea is solid.

Reviewed by: The Jello Emperor

Nocturne [7.7/10]

http://nyx.acornrack.com/

Time for another review my subjects, as I'm trying to keep my schedule intact here! Anyway today I'll be reviewing a site called Nocturne, an RP based on the books of P.C. and Kristin Cast (I don't know who P.C. is... but it's on the AD so maybe other people would know) .

I really should catch up on reading because I haven't heard of this series either but it appears to be a school RP with vampyres and such and reminds me of an RP I made a long time ago aside from the whole goddess blessing tattoo...thing.

The AD is a bit hit and miss for me personally, I didn't really care about the Death Note (cue anime joke here) as it wasn't as interesting for me as the points below it. Most importantly the announcement that the site was being reviewed by yours truly. *cough cough* I love being advertised! .... ! .... !

Now lets move onto the review but first, I'll take a potato chip... and eat it! (Jello points if you got that reference!)

First Impression:
I think one of those buildings is trying to tell me something. Overall the layout looks fine, I'm always a fan of things being centered as opposed to things being oriented to one side though.

The Public Area:
The index page has something that I think seems more suited for the AD, like this was a second half to it that was cut out and pasted on the front page.

The Chicago link name is a bit misleading, it's really the story for the site.

The Vampyres page is overall written well and I have no problems with it.

FAQ page is self explanatory.

Rules page is fine as well, short and sweet and I have no problems.

The Application:
Basic application which seems to be all the rage nowadays, but for the ranks perhaps popping up in a new window would be better. (Like how you did the user profiles) RP SAMPLE REQUIRED.

Also, I don't remember reading anywhere about anything about the formers... or whatever. So I'm completely confused here, as you claim no book knowledge is necessary maybe bolding that section about formers would be good.



The Private Area:
Look the time changes with your computer at the top! Oh and there's a layout change also... also a thing of note is the plot related image/letter thing which is always nice to have. Images and thing to support your plot or the site in general. The private area pages have to do with solely IC things which is great. Small note though, since you have a Japanese class I'm going to look into it and slam you if there is wrong information. (As is my duty as a Japanese Lang. and Culture major =P)

Forums:
First thing I noticed was that the forums are separated with a code! This makes me very excited and I don't have to harp on hotlinks here! Anyway, there's a good amount of forums with nice descriptions.

Other:
Member list looks nice, everything is organized nicely with the standard info. Plus each rank has separate backgrounds for your listing. Also it's nice that the profiles pop up into a new window instead of going to a whole new page.


Member profiles are nicely organized and generally filled out nicely. The little music player on the top is also nifty on how it fits in there. Also Jello points for Mute for having the House theme song as her song on there. =)

Roleplaying:
From what I read on the forums I categorize the roleplaying on this site to be Intermediate to Advanced.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10 Points.

Overall the site is nice, with fun little things here and there for the detail loving person (like me!). And the whole Nyx goddess was nice but maybe this is just a bad side effect of your site being similar to one of my old ones that I'm just not really seeing that initial pull to join. That or it could just be that vampires just aren't my thing... It's a little complicated to explain, the X-factor that I look for in sites.
Reviewed by: The Jello Emperor

Blood & Iron [7.0/10]

http://www.acornrack.com/ohmercy/

(Any of you pick up that the image is widescreen!?!)

Alright my subjects it's time for another review on this fine day! I'm going to be taking a look at Blood & Iron a dark, vampire, wolf, werewolf RP based on the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. A quick note that the person who submitted the site gave me the link to their AD which of course is always beneficial to me so I don't have to track it down. So if any of you are keeping notes before you submit your site, something to write down there...

Anyway! I've not heard of this series so I'm taking this site at face value so you can whine all you want about how it's not true to certain details and it will simply fly over my head. The AD for the most part is written decent, maybe it's just because I've seen so many of these sites now that I'm over the "You find more of your kind..." approach, but since it's based on a book series I guess I can't fault them there for it.

I've no funny or witty comment here to segway into the actual review... so, WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA!!!!

First Impression:
Someone better get rid of that 5 o'clock shadow! (Get it... there's a clock...) I have no real problems with the layout aside from one small nitpick. There is a link back to the index page however you have to click the main image. Maybe it's just because it's 12 AM now but I'd generally like to not have to search for the link back home.

The Public Area:
The index page is portion of the AD and as you all know (hopefully...) this is perfectly fine!

Werewolves page is overall fine though some places look like they might need some spacing in between certain paragraphs. But I suppose that's just a stylistic preference on my account.

(Grammar: Last note on the Vampire page. "...excepting AIDS and Cancer" )

I'm a bit confused on the Fae's... are they humanoids or ogres or what now? You name all these things and names but I don't know what the true form of these people are... or I missed it. In either case it probably needs to be more prominent.

(Grammar: Walker's page "... ability to scent out emotions.")

The Application:
The application is rather basic and it's my preference to be able to weed out those mary-sues before they're on the site rather than afterwards due to this. RP SAMPLE REQUIRED.



The Private Area:
Layout Change! There aren't any new information pages that I see but the new layout is nice and fits in with the old one as well. Since there isn't any pages to comment on, it's a good time to point out at the time I was looking over the site there was chatter in the cbox and members online.

Forums:
Good amount of forums and nice descriptions here however it's time to play my old record that there should be hotlinks to each section. Again here also has where I think the forum descriptions should be spaced out more from each other but another stylistic choice I assume. Also the layout of the name, poster and description will take some time to getting used to as they are scrunched together.

Other:
Member list looks nice and give you a link directly to their history application link but otherwise you get the normal info and avatar.

Member profiles are generally nicely filled out and well organized, with multiple picture slots and other fun stuff.

Roleplaying:
From what I read on the forums I categorize the roleplaying on this site to be Intermediate to Advanced.

Rating: 7 out of 10 Points.

Overall a good site, just little things here and there that took things away. Also with the boom of vampire sites and other dark RPs probably on the rise with Twilight and the like the Fae's and Walkers gave a small sense of individuality but for me even that wasn't enough.

Reviewed by: The Jello Emperor

Glenbard [6.3/10]

http://glenbard.acornrack.com/

Alright my subjects, it's Thursday + a few days so you know what that means... Time for another review! Despite computer problems I'm still cranking these out but it figures that when I was basically on vacation for a week computer is perfectly fine and now BOOM! Problems. But I digress, this time we're reviewing a site called Glenbard!

Glenbard is an RP influenced by a few books and that make the concept of the site original in terms of that I've never seen one like it before. Maybe I'll have to coin a new term for this type of RP... Human Condition RP perhaps?

Anyway, the AD for the site is very nicely written and the plot idea is as I said original and quite intriguing. It's like Lord of the Flies but in a pre-civilized island. But anyway, grab your pitchforks and join forces with your local orphanage! The teenagers are coming! The teenagers are coming! (BOOM! I went colonial on your ass! ... and an orphan joke?)

First Impression:
Staring Contest, GO! Anyway, I have no major problems with the layout but seeing that the screen is mostly the image and not information is a little off for me. I generally like most of the page to be information maybe like 40:60, image to text ratio.

The Public Area:
The index page is the story from the AD and again I have no problem with this so lets move on to the next section.

The Plot page gives a little more in depth of the setting a bit but what I personally got most out of it is that the main antagonists in this RP are the Deuces Wilde gang.

The Setting page gives us the setting, not much else to say here.

Rule Page, no problems with any of the rules here. I have a minor "thing" with one of the rules but as I'm trying to be impartial I'll just keep you guessing!
The Application:
The application is rather simple, for some sites it works and some it doesn't. And I'm on the fence about this one. Putting everything about your character in a single box seems way too simple for me.



The Private Area:
Layout Change! In fact it's SO different it's actually kind of disorienting, I see two new pages... I think. The site function links and the site info links should probably be separated, even though there are only two new info links it should be clear that it's info.

The two other pages in the private area are self explanatory so no need to comment on them here!

Forums:
Good amount of forums and descriptions here, but there are no hot links and as always I advocate them especially for lots of forums like they have here. The hover color link is the same as the background of the forum (The brownish...color) so that threw me off a bit.

Other:
Member list page is nice avatar and basic info.

Member profiles are organized nicely and generally well filled out.

Roleplaying:
I am unable to give an opinion on this, the individual topics were blocked from guest access.

Rating: 6.3 out of 10 Points.

The idea for the site was good... and then it sorta went downhill from there, it's hard to expand on something like this I suppose since it's a good plot + city RP + battery currency? . I can probably count on one hand how many city RPs I consider "successful" so this is difficult genre to make your mark in.

Reviewed by: The Jello Emperor

Macabre Re-review [8.9/10]

http://macabre.acornrack.com/
FIRST OF ALL: Take a look at the picture (Right click on it and "View Image") Now look at the Google AD.... BEST THING EVER... RIGHT!?!?!

It's time to take a second look at Macabre due to certain factors I'll be conducting this re-review slightly different. In this re-review I'll just be comparing and contrasting the comments I had made before and re-comment on those subjects as I assume the re-review is more for the returning site owner to obtain more insight and criticism and not the average Jello Viewer.

Find the full FIRST review here:
http://arrev.blogspot.com/2009/05/macabre-8710.html

Right off the bat I see the menu has been made into a collapsible menu which makes navigation much easier. So that has been taken care of so yay!

I'm going to simply assume that all the spelling errors I pointed out were fixed, so I'll be looking for new ones! So I'll be "taking a peak within" the pages to find any.

My general comment about genetics still stands.

In the fighting page "* apostrophe refers to objects/items that ward/avert/combat the darks" still confuses me... maybe I'm not seeing something I'm supposed to. I see no apostrophe's ( ' ) in the text below nor the word apostrophe or even any asterisks (*).

There is still no info for Important Darks or Angels (Micheal or Gabriel, anyone?)

As for the rest of the site it's still as good as it was before, as this is a re-review I was trying to point out some new things or additions that may be beneficial. However I wasn't really to come up with much and I feel rather weird that this post will be so short because of the newer re-review format. But anyway onwards to the verdict!

Rating: 8.9 out of 10 Points.
Overall Change: +0.2 Points.

The reason for the small change was that Macabre was already such a good site and the improvement to the aesthetics can only count for so much, and with Naveluce as the 9.0 barrier aesthetics alone can't surpass it.


This Site has the Jello Seal of Approval!

Reviewed by: The Jello Emperor