[wakey]

IF i was the one in charge of the game id be doing the following with. The site structure would be

		        		Splash Screen
					      |
					      |
					      |
	  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	  |		    |		      |			   |		   |
	Forums		Jumpgate	   Manual		DevBlog		PAWiki

And no I havent forgotten the Portal, its intentionally not there as I dont think its needed

Splash Screen - We need a slick, stylish and professional looking spalsh screen that looks appealing and gives off the idea that its a professional company and thus a cut above everyone else. Fer.ion is a good example I think

Forums - The forums are vital as a community tool. They can also be a perfectly adequate way of news delivery system just like in days of old. In fact using it to delivery news would help bring players to the forum which is something we could do with more of. If players dont come here to read news they sometimes never come here, where as if they do they sometimes read threads and contribute. This is good for the community which is good for the game

Jumpgate - This sounds a great feature for the game and is exactly what is needed.. Something like newage3.com or star.sphere.net would be ideal. It should ideally be iun the same style as the Splash screen BUT as i will go into more detail below could even replace the splash screen

Manual - The game obviously need a manual bit it needs slimmed down. Its simply too bloated and theres too much pointless stuff in it and that can make finding what you need hard. If some of the other stuff is needed maybe it can be split slightly so its not masking the important info

Dev - To make up for losing spinner column where he can keep people informed of whats going on development we could a blog type system where regular development updates can be posted. Perhaps it could be done as another forum under announcements. Also perhaps some other people could be giving access to it if its done this way, for example Kal is heading up a development team to look over some ideas so perhaps he could have access to post whats being discussed there.

PAWiki - This should be advertised on the site BUT should retain its indipendance. This is the type of project thats by the community for the community and is very useful. I mean lets be honest really in the grand scale of things PATeam and Jolt are insignifican because without the community their roles are pointless. As such we need things like PAWiki which involve the community again and keep them intrested more. If PATeam/Jolt were to try and do it themselves but with some controls it would just stiffle it and kill it as has happened numourous times when things that are community projects and should have remaind community projects became official


Alternativly it could go to a SS type setup of

		                    	  Jumpgate
					      |
					      |
					      |
	  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	  |		    |		      			   |		   |
	Forums		Manual	   				DevBlog		PAWiki

This is a structure many online games take, however many try and go too portally, much like PA does or too "My first homepagey" so it either gets swamped with rubbish or doesnt give off a professional feel. It needs to remember to KIS like SS does. It should have links to Forums, Manual, Devblog, PAWiki and probally then links to an About page, the news(announcemnet forum), screenshots, feature list ect

Either way the important part is that things stay relevent, it looks professional and isnt too overwhelming and that it gives a way for the community to feel like they are doing things by things like the PAwiki and by getting people onto the forums WITHOUT interfering in a way that kills these 'community' movements.


Now I know theres a few problems with the idea in generally for example

• Professional look from unprofessional people. Those doing the design and graphics are going to be hobbists or people who are in education with the view of going into that industry. They simpky wont be able to produce a look like youd get from these big commericial online games such as those produced by CCP, Sony ect ect BUT it doesnt mean you have to plump for the first person and the first design. If its not perfect the problems should eb pointed out and work on fixing them started
• Jolt. I know they like control of things and arent going to be happy with things which are more community based like the PAwiki being given too much of a prominat place but hopefully they can look and realise that the game relys on the community and can see that anything which motivates and involves them is good even if perhaps their attitudfe seems anti jolt and as such can give things like this a chance to really serve the community

but it streamlines things and keeps them relivent and brings the community into play which is good