new CA website - 2.2 Competitive Analysis

[V1ntage]

Summary

Generally both starcraft2.com and dawnofwar2.com share good webdesign. starcraft2.com has a better visual design, consistency and offers a very wide range of images and multimedia. dawnofwar2.com feels like a derative from starcraft with more focus on delivering interaction. The difference between the two lies within their goals. Dawn Of War tries to be community friendly while StarCraft 2 creates a hype.

The website from Command and Conquer could have been better if there would have been more focus on creating a better navigation and quality content. Warzone 2100 does the exact opposite. It delivers quality content but fails to catch the eye.



Command & Conquer 3
http://portal.commandandconquer.com/cnc3/

Design 6 good looking, lacks visual flow and hierarchy, some usability issues, clutter!
Navigation 6 clear main navigation, unfortunately using dropdown lists which decreases usability
Readability 6 font size and color varies too much, lack of proper line-spacing
Consistency 7 visually quite consistent however "support" and "forums" head to external sites
Layout 7 little or no variation in the right column, header and footer are ok
Interaction 8 twitter, forums, user registration and login
Ease of use 6 visual usability issues and dropdown in the main menu
Images and multimedia 6 many videos, no screenshots or art?
Content 6 lack of unit descriptions, guides, wiki, introductory guides for new players or visitors
TOTAL 6,4


Starcraft 2
http://www.starcraft2.com/

Design 9 very professional design, not optimal for all pages
Navigation 7 ok, but not prominent enough to get enough visibility, subnavigation not always clear
Readability 8 overall good use of lineheight and width, dark background makes reading longer texts harder
Consistency 9 all elements and structures are consistent among all pages
Layout 8 clear vertical and horizontal distribution, unfortunate positioning of navigation
Interaction 6 only forums
Ease of use 7 ok, subnavigation and some links can be unclear
Images and multimedia 9 introduction video, screenshots, fanart, videos, ... It's all there
Content 8 very complete site with lack of news and guides
TOTAL 7,9


Dawn of War 2
http://www.dawnofwar2.com/us/home

Design 8 ok, not very innovative, good use of graphics
Navigation 6 unfortunate positioning and dropdown lists in the main navigation
Readability 7 text is too small, sometimes black on dark blue background
Consistency 8 ok, but separate sites for community and support
Layout 7 waste of space on the top of the page
Interaction 9 RSS, twitter, newsletter signup, support site, community site
Ease of use 8 pretty easy to use due to clear visual structuring
Images and multimedia 8 videos and screenshots, introductory video
Content 9 news, introduction, guides, story, .... It's all there
TOTAL 7,8


Warzone 2100
http://wz2100.net/

Design 5 there's little to no design, the site is designed as a wiki
Navigation 8 clear and present on all pages, but aligned to the top right which is not always clear on first sight
Readability 8 ok but text uses the whole width of the page, which makes it harder to read
Consistency 8 the site structure is consistent, but the design isn't
Layout 6 vertical space distribution is ok, there are no columns nor a grid-based structure
Interaction 6 only forums
Ease of use 9 clear structuring and consistency make it very easy to use
Images and multimedia 6 only screenshots from which one fullscreen
Content 9 pretty much complete
TOTAL 7,2

[Licho]

Starcraft got me most interested because of their video on top of the site...
Producing something even 2 orders below would be a challenge for current community talents.


Warzone 2100 is something i would not try to download after visitng the page.

[V1ntage]

That really depends on the purpose of the website. StarCraft 2 has a very good marketing site, but it's not ideal for creating and sustaining communities. Stunning graphics remain just stunning graphics. In the case of StarCraft they succeed in their goal, which is presumably creating a hype even before the game is released.

I wouldn't recommend creating a website as visually rich as the one from StarCraft for CA. The more graphical you go, the harder it is to add or change content. It would require an immense effort in renewing the content to keep it interesting for a growing community. However a little less focus on the graphical side should meet the requirements.

[maackey]

Yeah, the warzone site is not very appealing at all. The StarCraft and Dawn of war were essentially the same :hmm: They are nice, but also slow, especially when trying to scroll . Command and Conquer has some nice images and borders, but feels a little clutterd.

Unless someone can make a good intro video (as Licho mentioned before I doubt it will happen) I think the top can be reserved for a slideshow of screens from the game.

The layout I have is still missing some sections (like recent events etc.. will be in a column on the right, or left... haven't really decided) and border images. I apologize I have yet to do them and they may take some time as I get into the hang of school scheduling once again

This is a very much WIP. But if you have any suggestions now is the best time!

[V1ntage]

Layout is offtopic, but anyway, giving suggestions is very hard at this stage of the analysis. I'll get there within a week or two.

[maackey]

Ehh, i thought you might like to compare it to the other sites

I'll also probably be unable to do much work in the coming weeks, due to school registration. (even now I'm beginning to have troubles, like always )


AARRGH Power Outage right before I was gonna post >:/

Edit: Shoot, I uploaded an older pic in the previous post. Just ignore it.

[Saktoth]

Something up to the standards of the spring site itself might be enough, though the more eye-catching stuff that can be added the better. Clean, visually appealing, images integrated into the design, video on the front page, some text. Probably could do with some more screenshots too, and a big 'DOWNLOAD ME' link

Only the first page needs to be crammed with pictures and videos etc, and the starcraft/DoW sites are made so that the images and videos can be changed up relatively easily, they are just frames with images in. The flash deal at the top is asking too much though.

[V1ntage]

Saktoth, it requires a lot of time/effort to add or update imagery on the site not because of the way the site is structured or coded, but because you need an artist to update most of the images.

[V1ntage]

added a short summary

[Saktoth]

If they are good enough, hopefully you wont need to update them.

If they are screen captures, that shouldnt be too hard.