WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ?????

[old.frankie]

Frontpage

nuff said

first impressions: Its naff, and looks exactly like GI, which i just looked at caus of -Stus comment

 

[old.frankie]

Btw. How long has it been like that ?, caus i have direct link to BW news page, which i have visited every day since around 97

 

[old.Davehart]

m00

 

[SAS]

Went live yesterday.

BarrysWorld always had a problem with navigation, and the portal is designed to help everyone find exactly what they are looking for without having to search around.

Also there are now new games pages which should help newbies and provide players in general with a resource to use when needed, and there's loads more new content

 

[Guest]

but of course the news page is still the best bit

 

[Trebz]

Quit pimping news whore, get behind your desk and WORK WORK WORK!

 

[old.Quorthon]

Er, as someone who had always linked to http://www.bw.com/news rather than just http://www.bw.com (and it therefore being the first time I have actually looked at it), I think the main portal is pretty cool, and probably quite useful for newbies.

I still think you should bring back the old smilies on the bulletin board tho, Im sick of going to cracks site for some decent ones.

Q

 

[kryt]

Personally I agree with exactly what Quorthon says.
So far the people who have rubbed it off as "shit" "tacky" etc have been those who are only looking at it from their own POV... and in most cases that POV is easily changed to bookmarking the news site....
As was said, its a great idea for newbies. As far as the GI similarities go...
Look at the GI site. Shit, isn't it. See, my brother can do that in frontpage express 98. Have you concidered that both companies have the same target audience, covering the same subjects? hence the similarities? -
"omg, look, they link to quake 2 as well! they must have copied!"

Just my tuppence worth on it. Navigation wise for people who have never been to Barrysworld I feel it is almost faultless. People who already use BW often should see beyond their own ignorance of what BW may be trying to acheive.

As I have very little to do with Barrysworld I can not say if any of what I have said is gospel truth : purely my opinions.

Rant over

Moo n stuff.

 

[old.Quorthon]

Just looked at the GI site a minute ago for the first time - and am now wondering wtf the fuss is all about? The BW site is much clearer and looks a damn sight better. I still wont change my links cos I have no reason to (being already familiar with the bw layout), but quit whining guys.


Its like the whole Nutscrape/IE thing. IE was a blatant copy of NS but that doesnt mean it wasnt (eventually) better (IMO).

Q

 

[old.[NC]Sturty]

Originally posted by Kryten
Personally I agree with exactly what Quorthon says.
So far the people who have rubbed it off as "shit" "tacky" etc have been those who are only looking at it from their own POV... and in most cases that POV is easily changed to bookmarking the news site....
As was said, its a great idea for newbies. As far as the GI similarities go...
Look at the GI site. Shit, isn't it. See, my brother can do that in frontpage express 98. Have you concidered that both companies have the same target audience, covering the same subjects? hence the similarities? -
"omg, look, they link to quake 2 as well! they must have copied!"

Just my tuppence worth on it. Navigation wise for people who have never been to Barrysworld I feel it is almost faultless. People who already use BW often should see beyond their own ignorance of what BW may be trying to acheive.

As I have very little to do with Barrysworld I can not say if any of what I have said is gospel truth : purely my opinions.

Rant over

Moo n stuff.

Personally I think it looks 'tacky' (speshly the giant smiley thing on mouseover) and don't particularly like it. I can understand their reasoning behind such a page, but I am still entitled to my 'POV'.

Oh and Kryten, people are entitled to their opinions, and can voice said opinions whilst still understanding the the concept behind what BW are trying to achieve (or whoever for that matter).

Oh and 'see beyond their own ignorance'? Please, I personally think you have little grasp of what you preach and are therefore 'full of shit'.

 

[kryt]

lol?
Of course what the current "customers" if you like, think counts... every voice does... but so far all that has been said is without thought of the OTHER people that may use it.

 

[old.NightStrike]

bah the task of clicking a button

 

[old.[NC]Sturty]

Originally posted by Kryten
lol?
Of course what the current "customers" if you like, think counts... every voice does... but so far all that has been said is without thought of the OTHER people that may use it.

... and you'd know this how? Simply because people speak their own personal opinion doesn't mean to say they haven't taken into consideration what 'other people think'.

 

[Durzel]

So far the people who have rubbed it off as "shit" "tacky" etc have been those who are only looking at it from their own POV...

So what you're saying is that basically the people who have formed negative opinions about the site have done so based on .. their own opinions. Well thats a bit of sage advice for us all I think - "opinions are formed from one's own thoughts". On what basis pray tell are people supposed to base opinions on if not from "their own point of view"?

Look at the GI site. Shit, isn't it. See, my brother can do that in frontpage express 98. Have you concidered that both companies have the same target audience, covering the same subjects? hence the similarities? -
"omg, look, they link to quake 2 as well! they must have copied!"

Just my tuppence worth on it.

Kryten - have you ever had a single thought of your own? Or (as it seems patently obvious) do you just prefer to blatently fawn over and fellate BarrysWorld staff endlessly in the vain hope you'll get some kind of commission from it? I mean, I've seen some major sycophants trawling #barrysworld but never have I seen one person go to such extreme lengths to scan whole messageboards looking for any vaguely negative post, retorting with "your own" (I use the term loosely since I doubt very much you even think about 1/2 the things you're writing most of the time, instead just resorting to saying whatever you think "the powers that be" want to hear) well-balanced, completely unbiased (sic) views.

A classic example is this:

Of course what the current "customers" if you like, think counts... every voice does... but so far all that has been said is without thought of the OTHER people that may use it.

Generally speaking people speak on behalf of themselves, care about themselves, have their own opinions. What kind of demented fantasy world do you live in where people give feedback that says "actually I dont like it much, but I guess everyone else does so well done chaps!". Are you so devoid of intelligence, logic and reason that you need to try (clearly without thinking how stupid you make yourself look) to rubbish anything that anyone says "bad" about anything BW related? Wake up and smell the coffee mate.

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if you would sing the praises of BW from the highest mountain if Trebz were to shit on a piece of paper, scan it into Dreamweaver and use "that" as the new portal.

(Incidentally, I kinda like it personally - although since I'm not raving about it clearly my opinion "isn't that of the customer demographic" and is thus irrelevant.)

 

[stu]

And that's the bottom line, because Stone Coleman says so

"Candyass"



Darren 3:16

 

[old.fatty-]

*parP*

hhuehuehueheuhee

 

[kryt]

Right, It seems something needs clarification.
Yes, I do like Barrysworld. Yes, I do back them up when people take a biased view on something. Ok I admit, sometimes I do go to far. No, I will not wipe their arses, or anyone elses for that matter.
The reason I stand behind Barrysworld so whole heartedly and sometimes unfairly? I'm a PC technician, with a quality a LOT of people admire. I pride myself on being able to put myself in somebody else's situation. I can take the viewpoint of, in this case, a target audience newbie. It's why a lot of my clients prefer to come to me to fix their problems or help them with something, rather then PC World. It's because I know what they are looking at, what they are thinking, why they think it. I can then explain to them in plain english the problem, the cause, solution, I can help them through it in simple stages etc. The relevance here? Ok, I'm not a great webmaster, I don't look at designer sites for a living. But I can put myself in the place of the average joe, just starting out in the world of online gaming, and he has heard about Barrysworld through, say a PC Gamer advertisment. I can see through the eyes of a corporate top bloke checking stuff up on business web sites. I can see through the eyes of the older gamer generation... In all cases... first instance, the new portal makes things easy to navigate. In the second instance, same reason, all the corporate links are there. In the third instance... as most of us are sure we know how to do : bookmark the news page?
Thats all I think I need to explain : They are my views, ONLY MY views/opinions, and I believe that's how I think other people see it.
Apologies to those who believe I go to far in my "barrysworld bottom licking". Then again.. if Barrysworld think I do go overboard.. they can tell me themselves... It's not like I'm afraid of being asked to quieten down or to keep my opinions to myself. This is a public messageboard. Proper opinions should be posted here. If you don't like it, frankly, tough shit.
What I do is MY resonsibility. If I fuck up (I'm only human), I apologise and accept it. If I have a voice, I voice it.

Regards

Nick Mallard aka Kryten-

 

[old.Streaky]

What I Like About It:
Its fresh & new, been looking at the 'old' news page for years now

That nutter Smilie

Its wide !! (The GI one was too damned skinny, waste of space)

I can get to everywhere I need now without scrolling down a list of 400 odd links down the left hand side


What I Don't Like About It:

I can't logon from the portal, without going to the news pages or somewhere else first

The yellow writing on each item/link is fractionaly to large, I'd drop it down a point

It doesn't fit in my browser window without me needing scroll bars




Um...

Thats it, l8r

 

[Testin da Cable]

well said Kryten.

-tdc

 

[Durzel]

You're missing the point Nick.

The issue is not whether or not the portal is any good (it was originally, not anymore) but moreof the fact that people are entitled to an opinion on things - whether that be negative or positive. What seems to be the case on many occasions is that you blindly rush in at the merest hint of controversy or negativity, braveing fighting for BarrysWorld's honour like it's some damsel in distress.

Which brings me neatly back to the "having your own opinion" aspect of things..

You said in an earlier post that:

"Look at the GI site. Shit, isn't it"

Now, anyone with half a brain can see that the new BW portal and the current GI site are "very similar". Now, I'm not personally going to cast aspertions as to "who copied who" since that isn't the issue here. Admittedly, as you rightly say, both sites have the "same target audience" so you would naturally expect content and links to be similar. That said, no one can deny that one of the two has been very significantly inspired by the other.

And since you were quite vocal about the GI site being "shit", and the two sites being very similar - it stands to reason therefore that there is some distinct, impartial bias on your part in your original assessment. Assuming for the moment that the new BW portal didn't exist, or it looked exactly like the GI one does now - you would I'm sure change your opinion from that of it being "shit" to "great". And that's the rub.

If the truth be told the only reason you find the GI site "shit" and that technically "[your] brother can do that in frontpage express 98" is purely (and only) because of the fact that it hasn't got a big green BarrysWorld logo plastered across it. If it did your opinion of it would be entirely different, and you know it.

 

[kryt]

No, actually. I've always disliked the GI site. And surely I can't be one of the only ones... I've never seen one of it's thousands of servers used. Competition is tough. As is business.

"On many occasions you blindly rush in at the merest hint of controversy or negativity, braveing fighting for BarrysWorld's honour like it's some damsel in distress"

I don't believe this is true. There's a common maxim used by the British law system "Innocent until proven guilty". In the way I work, I reverse this. It's a tough old world out there, but somebody has to come out on top. Respect is due for Games Inferno for trying as hard as they do, but unfortunately I happen to be backing the people I started online gaming with. If I do not like something, I do not like it until it is made better.
I do not *personally* like the portal. It means having to click another time to read my news. (Oh, but I can bookmark the news page... wow, there's an idea!). But as I keep saying, for the business to expand, new people must be drafted in to use the service, and from their POV, it's ideal.

So as far as "If Nick See's Someone Have An Independant Opinion that is Vaguely Against Barrysworld then he shall Bite Their Heads Off at Every Opportunity" goes, No. I simply like to ensure that people's opinions are correctly voiced, peoples problems are eliminated from other causes, before pointing the finger at barrysworld.

"The portal is shit" - Bookmark the news page you fanny.
"The dialup is crap" - Get a decent modem. Check your phone line for noise. Get rid of extension cables. Then blame Barrysworld if it is still crap.
"My bookable server isnt up yet" - What time did you book? well, that's 4 minutes away..

People do have a tendancy to jump straight in at Barrysworld, pointing the finger at them, for problems that are usually elsewhere. I'm sure it helps both Barrysworld and the "customers", if their problems are sorted by eliminating other possible causes first.
If I can help in any way, I will. If I hinder more then help, like I already have said, I'm sure Barrysworld would tell me to leave off. Simple as that, and that I shall leave as.

Regards

Nick Mallard aka Kryten-

 

[Embattle]

Originally posted by Speccy
but of course the news page is still the best bit

Da master at work

 

[old.[NC]Sturty]

Originally posted by Kryten
No. I simply like to ensure that people's opinions are correctly voiced ...

*giggle*

 

[Durzel]

True, true (wazzzuppp!)

As technical issues go, I'm 100% in agreement. People often point the finger of blame at BarrysWorld, or indeed other companies/entities when a simple traceroute shows where the bottleneck(s) is/are. Naturally most "newbies" can't take this concept on board - if a BarrysWorld server is laggy, it must be a BarrysWorld problem - so they'll blame BarrysWorld. It doesn't matter that their service provider (NTL or Blueyonder are classic examples) are stuffing their whole customer base down a 1Mb line, what matters to them is that "Im getting 305ms ping on the BarrysWorld CS server!!!! fix it!!".

If the truth be told, what you do on this respect is admirable - but it's a losing battle. You will never convince the legions of people out there who believe BarrysWorld is at fault when they get "higher than normal" pings, simply because a fair majority of them can't understand the concept of "hops before reaching destination".. etc.

Anyway - I was on about non-technical issues.

If someone says they don't like the look of a particular article of clothing, or some television programme, you can't argue with them. One man's wine is another man's poison etc etc yadda yadda. The fact that there are people out there that dislike the new portal is a sign that it is not "perfect" for everyone BarrysWorld hopes to cater for - and it would be dangerous to assume, or attempt to infer that the opinions of NC-Sturty and others are "a drop in the ocean", or simply "not valid"...

Ultimately, as you rightly say, its g-g-great (sic) for newbies who want to be able to be molly-cuddled through the whole getting online, getting onto a server process, but for hardcore and technically experienced people - having a portal page is just an annoyance. Although I like the look and feel of the portal, I prefered (and still do) the original (now /news) layout - was simple and effective. I could bookmark the page, as you say - but that defeats the object of a companies front page doesn't it? Chances are most people wouldn't walk into a shop if the shopfront window wasn't immediately alluring, even if the inside was.

We're probably making too big an issue out of it to be honest, the new portal doesn't completely obscure the various elements of the "real" site.. it just takes longer to get there now.

 

[kryt]

Aye, I can see you're point there. It's difficult enough trying to keep your existing customers happy as well as attracting the newbies in, despite the opinions of eachother. Still, it's hard to pinpoint where the line needs to be drawn. Take you and me for example Daz. We both find it an extra click of annoyance, which is fair enough, we can get around it, but we still have to think about the sort of people Barrysworld are attracting... What I did overlook, and what you have bought to my attention, is that not all customers are newbies. There are thousands of people in the wireplay/games inferno/netplay or whatever communities, that know what they are talking about, and want the "real deal" straight away, rather then being confronted by a newbie friendly fascia hiding the goods behind a smiley face.

Arguments are smelly things, and especially when stuff gets forgotten. I forgot about the already knowledgable people coming from another community. Just like my interview yesterday - I was being tested on a few general PC knowledge questions :

"Nick, I have done something to my screen in windows 95 making windows un-usable, i cant see any text or icons, everything is distorted/too small"

"Erm, I can't remember Windows 95 too well, but windows 98 has a program called Scanreg, simply boot from a boot disk and restore the last working registry"

Got home, thought about the test, and realised I had completely, utterly, smeggin forgotten about the thing called "safe mode"

Someone needs heads testing

Regards

Nick Mallard aka Kryten-

 

[old.Davehart]

enought with the fucking bikering eh?

 

[old.Streaky]

/me puts davehart back in his pram

 

[old.Tinky]

you tell 'em dave