Guild Wars 2
The GW2 website is what I would consider to be an example of good website design. The entire website has a very cohesive and artistic theme. It is pretty to look at, but minimalist and easy to navigate. The nav bars make good use of mouseover effects and in the case of the dropdown menus, transparency. Pretty much every element on the page, from the hr (horizontal rule) tag to the slight gradient background behind the date on the news posts, has been customized to tie the site theme together. The site also resizes itself (to an extent) to fit the viewer's browser window. Unlike many game websites, GW2 does not make heavy use of flash applications. I consider this to be a huge bonus because flash embeds can quickly become overdone and a resource drain. Even the fading mouseover effects found on the character info pages is done entirely with HTML/CSS.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Getting Lost
For the 'Get Lost' activity I chose to explore the world of Guild Wars 2. I
logged on one of my lower level characters, hid the UI/map with Ctrl+Shift+H,
and started running around with only visual cues to guide me.
I began at the northern entrance to Black Citadel, the racial city of the charr. My own character is an asura elementalist.
Watching a squadron of charr patrol through the city.
On the bridge leading to the Black Citadel asura gate, which are long-distance fast travel teleporters that connect the cities.
Taking the gate.. (EVE pun not intended)
Entering Lion's Arch
Lots of asura gates
Took another gate into Hoelbrak, racial city of the norn.
Looking at the center of the city from the edge of a cliff.
Going up the central flight of stairs. The norn are a big people. Asura are the tiniest race, being half the height of a normal human. Norn make humans look tiny. Go figure!
This is what greeted me at the top of the stairs.
Even warrior guys appreciate concept art
The tooth of Jormag, an elder dragon.
Zone portal leading out of Hoelbrak, to places where there be monsters!
Wayfarer Foothills
Super random minotaur attack!
The norn like bears.
Bear Shrine
Entrance to another part of the same zone.
Snowball fight with the local kids
Birds.. I love birds.
Bonus: This is where my human character is currently located.
This was an interesting experience. With the music and UI turned off, I was free from many of the distractions that would usually be commanding my attention as I moved through the game world. I paid a lot more attention to the little background things such as birds chirping and the rustle of wind through the trees. It felt quite different.
I began at the northern entrance to Black Citadel, the racial city of the charr. My own character is an asura elementalist.
Watching a squadron of charr patrol through the city.
On the bridge leading to the Black Citadel asura gate, which are long-distance fast travel teleporters that connect the cities.
Taking the gate.. (EVE pun not intended)
Entering Lion's Arch
Lots of asura gates
Took another gate into Hoelbrak, racial city of the norn.
Looking at the center of the city from the edge of a cliff.
Going up the central flight of stairs. The norn are a big people. Asura are the tiniest race, being half the height of a normal human. Norn make humans look tiny. Go figure!
This is what greeted me at the top of the stairs.
Even warrior guys appreciate concept art
The tooth of Jormag, an elder dragon.
Zone portal leading out of Hoelbrak, to places where there be monsters!
Wayfarer Foothills
Super random minotaur attack!
The norn like bears.
Bear Shrine
Entrance to another part of the same zone.
Snowball fight with the local kids
Birds.. I love birds.
Bonus: This is where my human character is currently located.
This was an interesting experience. With the music and UI turned off, I was free from many of the distractions that would usually be commanding my attention as I moved through the game world. I paid a lot more attention to the little background things such as birds chirping and the rustle of wind through the trees. It felt quite different.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
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