[Suggestion] SWTOR.com Optimized for News/Updates

[Marksman79]

This post will be discussing SWTOR.com and the many clunky/obsolete features they spend their valuable screen space on. I will bring up suggestions on how they can improve and talk about what I feel they did well. All examples below are correct as of 1/31/12.

Before I start, I recommend opening SWTOR.com in another tab to see for yourself exactly what I'll be discussing.


Developer Blog Integration

I keep SWTOR.com open in a tab for the latest news and updates about the game. However, the Developer Blogs are not integrated into the Latest News box. I find it silly that I have to follow twitter or some other information stream to find out when new Dev Blogs are published under Community News. Then in order to access them, I have to go all the way into the community drop down menu and then go to the forums to get to the list of most recent blogs. Why? Are developer posts not considered Latest News? I sure consider the blogs newsworthy, and I think many others are interested in reading them, too!

Also, aren't the "Community News" blogs simply developer blogs, since they are written by developers? Why are they separate from the specifically named "Developer Blog" list at http://www.swtor.com/news/blog?


Other Tabs

"Latest News", "News Media", and "Recent Updates" are all the same to me. Perhaps "Recent Updates" could specifically refer to game updates, which would be understandable if it were the case. Every entry in "Recent Updates" sends you to a link describing a planet on the holonet, which are neither recent, nor updates.

The functional and fluid drop down tabs at the top of the website offer a much more streamlined and focused way of finding the news or media you want. There are many sub-categories that allow you to find something specific a lot faster and serve their purpose well.


Community and Download Boxes

The "Community" box serves no purpose other than providing a direct link to the aforementioned "Community News" list, which itself should be on the main page.

The "Download" link should be under My Account. Oh, wait - it already is. I don't see a reason to have this on the main page still. It was helpful during release when everyone needed to download their client, but it has fulfilled it's duty.

These boxes consume valuable front-page real estate which could be used for a very functional and useful news and updates area.


What Works

The scrolling slideshow works great, is kept up to date (though the newest one should be shown first), and really catches the eye. Like I said above, the graphics should be better, but the actual screen space is well used with this feature.

The drop-down tabs at the top offer quick and easy access to any page on the website without taking up much space.

The account bar at the top works exactly how it should.


Conclusion

Dare I say it, and don't jump on me for this, but http://us.battle.net/wow/en/ definitely has the right idea regarding the format and delivery of News and Updates. As expected, they had a lot of time to get it perfect. SWTOR.com will get you the news, but in a very clunky and not optimized fashion. I am confident that SWTOR.com can be vastly improved from it's current state over time, and I look forward to seeing what changes come about.

TL;DR - I took the time to write this, so take the time to read it

[OhpUldum]

Assuming discussion about these subjects can stay civil then this could produce a good thread. I look forward to reading it thoroughly once I get home from work.

[Marksman79]

Assuming discussion about these subjects can stay civil then this could produce a good thread. I look forward to reading it thoroughly once I get home from work.

Though not always the case, I believe that the more objective and organized the post, the more civil the discussion. I, too, hope for others to express their opinions in a level-minded fashion!

[gualdhar]

While I agree the front page of SWTOR.com isn't all that useful, why not recommend this stuff on SWTOR.com forums? It seems kind of silly to put it on a website designed for WoW that TOR devs probably aren't reading. If you want this to be fixed you should put it in the suggestion section of their forums - a number of devs and their customer service department all keep an eye on it.

[Marksman79]

While I agree the front page of SWTOR.com isn't all that useful, why not recommend this stuff on SWTOR.com forums? It seems kind of silly to put it on a website designed for WoW that TOR devs probably aren't reading. If you want this to be fixed you should put it in the suggestion section of their forums - a number of devs and their customer service department all keep an eye on it.

As a matter of fact, I did post the same information in my thread in the suggestions section of the forums. It's a great place for the developers to read my post, but it's a horrible place to get community feedback. Very few people frequent the suggestions forums as the link to them is tucked away on the top of the General Discussion forums and not with the main list of forums.

I do want to hear people's opinions on this topic: Agree? Disagree? Why? What else can be done? The suggestions box is just a bad place to get discussion.