So I've finally, got home, caught up and had some time to browse the site. I actually kinda like it - I know I'm in the minority. I'm kinda glad it didn't turn me off immediately, as Neo is my one big stress-reliever and I currently have a lot of stress in my life. Most of my pets made it through without being butchered (and the only butchered one is my current lab pet), so I guess that helps. Here's my two cents:
Having played Neo now for about 6 1/2+ years, I was a little startled that they dumped the layout change on us so quickly, but I was not surprised about the customization. I had a feeling that after the "beta" of it last weekend, they were going to be initializing it sooner than later. I do agree that they should have given us a lot more notice about the layout change, though, and some sort of poll on the site would be helpful (unless they're expecting us to post at the Beta Board?). I've sent a few comments in on smaller things (a few glitches I've seen in artwork, particularly the Faerie Uni's wings, which show up OK on the pet lookup but no where else).
As far as navigation, it has actually been easier on me. I don't have my favorites anchored to the side as I use Firefox and have my bookmarks at top, and currently use the resolution they designed this for. I poked around for a while and got the feel of how it works.
My family in general seems to actually like it. My brother is excited about the Meerca redraw, because now painting a Meerca would actually not be so much a waste of a p/b (since previously they barely showed the color). My sis isn't so happy about the Christmas Usul (the hat look REALLY weird), but aside from the hat, she's OK.
I do not like the redraw of the Elephantes, Krawks, Bruces, or Lutaris. Period, end of story. However, I didn't really like Elephantes or Krawks to begin with, and had none of the ones I don't like the revamps, so that's kinda a moot point for me - but I definitely feel for those of you who had these pets. One of my good friends is horridly upset about the Elephante redraw. As for the Unis - I actually really like the redraw. My very first pet was a Uni (still have her), and I picked her because the My Little Ponies were my absolute favorite toy as a child (I still have them). Robot pets - I think it's hilarious to undress them. My husband did that with his robot Lupe, and I can't stop laughing at it now. He thinks it's great and plans to leave it that way. Also, it cracks me up that invisible pets now have faces and nothing else.
One thing that seems to be passed up a lot: the fact that they *did* incorporate some requests in the new layout regarding the "site themes". Many people had wanted different plain colors, and now that is an option. The "plain" bar is also a little bit less plain than it was before, and the yellow is more muted and easier on the eyes. Also, it's no longer a bazillion clicks to get to your favorite games (which irritated me because I was too lazy to make a bookmark to it). Now, if only they'd add a shortcut to the WC in that little games drop-down...
I'm not too thrilled about the side modules, and from the FAQs on them, they are not going to be removable. I think it'd be nice if we had that option, or perhaps some other modules we could replace them with. I did see my active pet make some sort of comment, but I was playing an HTML game and clicked too fast to read it. (The pages are loading rather quickly for me, too).
Overall, I think they did put a lot of effort into this, and they'll probably be making a lot of changes to tweak it over the next few days/weeks, so likely, it'll get better.
Set by KiTeNcHeTu! Find me at WGF, where werewolf rocks!
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