Monday, May 9, 2011

Back to Blogging

I finally have something new that I can write about. Whoo! I loved Wolf-Haven and all, but I'll admit that digging around my head for topics isn't the easiest thing to do.

Anyways, I'm writing this on Saturday night, but you will not see it until v1.2 is released. So, if something is wrong because it was changed during the small timeframe, my apologies. We'll simply cut to the chase and discuss why v1.2 is so much cooler.

1. New staff members.
-New m0durayt0rz! They're being hand-picked this time, which I personally find to be better than receiving applications. Perhaps you've heard the story about how my friend owned a website and I was an administrator? Well, we used to hand-pick our staff as well, and it turned out to be good for the site. It doesn't turn into a competition on who can write the longest and best application.
-By the way, I'm one of them. Prepare for your death-by-rainbows. *coughsplutter* Alright, I'm done bragging. I still have that "YAAAAY!" feeling about being picked. At least give me one line of text on my own blog! D:

2. New [Need Help?] buttons.
-For nearly everything on the website, there is a button that, when clicked, opens a new window that gives you additional information on what you're doing. It's all of the information that you need, right at your pawtips!
-I'd send you all on a scavenger hunt to attempt to find the two that I wrote... you wouldn't be able to, though, because nearly every page has one. Seriously, these things are LOADED with information. Even the Bank has a nice description! I feel that this is very beneficial for Wolf-Haven. Newbies will no longer have the need to ask simpler questions, and the purpose of everything is broken down into something for you to read.

3. Arrows ON the Map
-Literally, the arrows to control your wolf are ON the actual Map. I'm ensured that users who rely solely on their mouse will be delighted to hear that they won't have to move their cursor up and down and up and down and up and - you guessed it, back down to the arrows that used to be located at the bottom of the Map.
-While on the subject of the Map, you no longer have to enter a Security Code. Hellz ya.
-The new battle system has been added to PvA, and XP rewards have increased greatly. The new system has been a pain for me, though, as I'm terribly used to my regular pattern of WASD, click, E, WASD, click, E. The "E" key to go back to the Map no longer works, and you cannot kill more than one enemy at the same time (clicking three enemies' names and battling all of them ). However, I like it so much. It gives the game a better roleplaying feel to it, because you're actually controlling what your wolf does, and it allows you to become more involved in the game. No more grinding, but it's actually pretty fun to hunt with. Plus, I feel that the rewards make up for the extra two clicks taken to kill each animal.

4. Forums and Messages have been Wiped
-The forums and messages have been completely cleared. The only thing that I can see becoming a problem is lost topics, such as roleplays and biographies. I roleplayed occasionally, and I had a very long RP with -Isis- that I never got to replying to. Many of my replies neared 600 or so words, so I cannot re-do them. However, this means that every spam topic is gone. And that? Well, that means that Wolf-Haven is much faster. Which leads up to... NO MOAR INTERNAL SERVER ERRORS!!!11one!1!!!11
-The site is fast now. Those forum topics took up a lot of space, so a clean start is awesome. Feels refreshing, eh? While you may have lost a few important topics, at least you don't have to post the same topic five times because the ISEs can't haunt you into double-posting.
-The new message system allows you to see the last 10 messages in a conversation. If your short-term memory is bad like mine and you can't remember what the last person said, you can see their last reply while you're typing.

5. Additional Top 5 Categories
-The Top 5 is no longer solely about XP; we now have a Top 5 for PvA, PvP, XP, and even the top user all-around. You no longer have to be a speed-leveler in able to get onto the Top 5, which I find nice. Leveling never really was my thing...

6. Mate Page Update
-The Mate page is now more organized, and information is more accessible. There's a table to the left that displays all of your mate's stats, and on the right side a table is located with the unique options of transferring DP and leaving your mate. I think that it looks much cleaner, and I like it.
-My favourite part is how your mate's Side View is shown instead of their Equipment View. Since the Side View is much smaller, it doesn't overpower the page. Plus, Sheri's Side View is so sexy... now I can stare it as I stalk her by knowing how many PvA losses she has.
-I dislike how it tells me that Sheri and I have been mates since March 13th, because we have been mates since March 14th - Pi Day! D: It probably has something to do with the server's time. We're still celebrating our anniversary on Pi Day, though. 8D

7. Nicer Shop, Item Storage, etc.
-The Shop looks much nicer. The only thing that I noticed is that I own a piece of Equipment that I am not able to purchase. o.O
-The Inventory page also looks a lot nicer. It looks clean, well-cut, and organized. The old one was somewhat cluttered.

To wrap it up, v1.2 is much nicer in general. Everything has a clean look to it, a few new things have been added, and the site is faster. I'm fairly sure that the entire coding was re-done into something easier for Karl to manage, which is also a plus. It makes Karl's life easier, and it enable him to add new features more easily. I personally think that this is a great improvement for Wolf-Haven. Seriously, it's awesome. Be sure to thank Karl for all of his hard work when you get the chance!

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