First Impressions:
My first impressions when going to the site is I was first greeted with a nice simply pleasant theme that while it doesn't make the forum entirely stand out for me but it works at making reading text on the site a pleasure. The forum layout is easy to navigate though I did have a bit of difficulty in figuring out just what kind of forum was I on as it didn't make itself apparent in that regard when first viewing the site which I think is a major problem from a first impression standpoint as I should not have to ask nor do an investigation to figure out your board's genre however it might be to not recognizing things that I would have otherwise recognized if I was this board's target audience. I will take note that I was pleased to see your music player not start playing music on its own as that is a major turnoff and a quick way to get a bad first impression from a guest when they see music playing on its own.
Average
Design Quality:
As stated earlier, I was glad to see the music player not start auto playing music which is a plus. I did find it interesting how one could change the theme via a broad selection of color choices which also included a dark option to make your color choice be dark rather then light which was an interesting touch for themes and something I haven't seen done before so that's a plus. I also like how the navigation "follows" you as you scroll down the forum so it is also easy to access no matter if you are at the top, bottom or somewhere in between the layout which is another plus. The forum names and descriptions seem to be mostly in order but I did find a few errors that I will list below.
From News and Announcements..
You'll also be able to locate to guidelines for the community here.
The second "to" should be "the".
From Song of Ice and Fire
It has also spawned a tv show "A Game of Thrones".
"a tv show "A Game of Thrones" should be "a TV show named "Game of Thrones"."
Other then those two, I didn't see any other issues so not too bad in my opinion.
Average
Site Structure:
There isn't a whole lot I can say here as the categories, descriptions and the menus are all set up well and the entire site is rather easy to navigate to find what you are searching for. The layout is a classic set up of announcements, feedback and intros followed by the main category and the two secondary categories of entertainment based discussion and then followed lastly by general chat, debates a forum shop and a site promotion forum which works well here.
Excellent
Originality:
The forum has stuck to many tried and true principles which is great as doing what works but that also means that there is going to be little in way of innovation or originality which isn't necessarily a bad thing as doing what works is good too. I did find the theme changing an innovative touch and the menu that follows you as another nice touch that I don't see get used much if at all. The categories and layout is pretty much what I expected so not much to say there in terms of originality.
Average
Activity Level:
Unfortunately, there is little I can say in terms of the activity because this forum lacks any sort of community at all. I understand that this forum was just recently made public so I shouldn't expect much so early on but I find that there being no one on the community from the beginning is not a good idea and is going to extremely hamper and even prevent a community from forming. Most people tend to like to follow those who are already being followed by others and seeing you all alone there with no one following you is going to turn many away even those who would have otherwise stayed if they saw that it just wasn't you there by yourself. I strongly suggest inviting friends especially those who have an interested in the subject to join up so people who don't know you can see there are already people there as that would encourage them to join up. It's not to say you can't get a community started without doing this but it would make the task far easier to accomplish if you did this.
Average
The thing I liked the best: The theme changer and menu setup
The thing I liked the least: The lack of a community and with that the activity as well
Final Score :
3 stars
Out of 5 stars
Overall Mark: 3 out of 5 Stars
All in all, this looks to be a forum with a lot of promise as it has the foundation to become a great community some day but right now it lacks a community which is a real shame but I hope that will turn around for you as you work to bring a people together to make this place into a fine community. I hope to see this forum grow over time as you continue to work on it and I wish you the best of luck on making this happen.
