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WanderPaw
Originality: At first glance, this site does not seem particularly original. The club is set in
Salamandastron, and the leader is a squirrel named Temmlock. However, the buttons are
“home-made”, and nicely done, which is a plus in this area. I enjoyed the Temmlocology section,
which, though it has little to do with Redwall, is an interesting look into the odd and
occasionally frightening mind of Temm ;)
Creativity: Temm has written summaries and reviews for all of the Redwall books, and has put his ideas into practice throughout the site. I find it interesting that this RPG club has two parts, the good beasts role-players, and also a horde of vermin players for them to interact with. Looking through the message board, you can also see the Temm does not just sit by and let his members do all the role-playing.
Updates: The last update was approximately one month before this review was written, but since this is an RPG Club and not a regular club, it is not necessary for site updates to be done very often.
Navigability:
The navigation bar at the top of the page is very nice and professional looking, as are all of the buttons and banners. It was easy to find my way around the site, but every time I would scroll down and then back up, the buttons in the navigation bar would get extremely blurry to the point that I couldn’t see them. Running my cursor over the buttons solved the problem, but it was a small annoyance. However, I doubt this is something Temm can fix, so it’s not that big
of a deal.
Effort: From my perspective, Temm seems to have done a wonderful job with this site. He keeps up with the message board, keeps everything in good working order, and is sure to start what he finishes. Temm has put a lot of time into this site, and it pays off.
Activities: Since this is an RPG club, it doesn’t particularly need activities. Apparently there is occasionally a contest of some sort, but there wasn’t one up at the time I was reviewing the site. This area will be an average of the other areas.
Achievement: The site has fulfilled Temm’s expectations so far, but he doesn’t plan to stop there. The site is very nice as it is, and it can only get better. Temmlock’s Salamandastron has come a long way, and therefore receives a high achievement mark. I look forward to seeing this site grow!
Initial Impression: This site was very nice looking from the beginning, with quality graphics and a simple layout that was easy to follow. My first impression was that it was a little cold, which was simply an idea I got from all of the computer generated images, but I’m glad to have been proven wrong. The first page is also made up with a mountain theme, which continues into all subsequent pages. Going into the site I expected great things, except for one aspect, which I will discuss in the next area.
Legibility: The text was a good size, and a straightforward font. The buttons and banners were clear and simple, which was a welcome change from the often over-done and cluttered graphics of other sites. The pages were colorful without being overwhelming, had well planned color schemes, and were pleasant to look at. All of the pages had correct spelling and grammar, and it was easy to
understand. My one grievance? Loading time. The main text, graphics, and backgrounds took just a few seconds to load, no problem. The navigation bar, as convenient and impressive as it is, made the loading time, at least on my computer, ludicrous. Now, I admit I have a fairly slow computer. However, when one page takes in excess of 13 minutes to load (and it did, I started timing the page after the first few minutes), then it’s a problem. This site would undoubtedly have more members and activity if it didn’t take so long just to get in. If I had
just been visiting the site, I would have given up after the first five minutes and gone to a different page. This one thing brought the points in this area down a lot. Fortunately, Temm is aware of this problem, and hopefully he will find a good solution soon.
Atmosphere: The members on the message board seem friendly and polite, as does Temm himself. Everyone appears to be respectful and open to new ideas and members, which is always important to having quality RPGs. The atmosphere and attitude of the entire site seems friendly and comfortable, and it’s an easy place to feel at home in.
Viewer Appeal: 73% http://www.geocities.com/temmlockssalamandastron/ Temmlock’s Salamandastron is owned by and copyrighted to Temmlock.
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