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New official Babylon 5 Website...

Is not that hot really...

Seems like someone's first flash project, and has the same naff feel as the DVD menu's about it. Those jerkily floating background images remind me of a 1996 screensaver for Window 3.1.

In fact If I came to that, I would say it is a fan site and not an official one.


www.babylon5.com


Bit depressing really.


The MySpace site it directs you to is much better, even for a Myspace site!

http://www.myspace.com/babylon5losttales
 
You're not wrong. That video that plays as soon as you enter the menu is a less than stellar mish-mash of clips that looks like some fan-made YouTube B5 trailer, too. Still, looking forward to the TLT trailer! :)
 
Put me in the "not a fan" category for the website's update. I really am getting sick of the endless Flash that the internet seems to be turning into.
 
It pretty much makes every obvious mistake in webdesign and flashdesign, so yeah, 'my first flash project' sounds accurate. Visually it doesn't look great, and in usability terms it's using some really bad design ideas.

I mean, take that auto playing video for instance. It doesn't have an obvious play/pause button. There is a way to play/pause, which you do by clicking on the video itself. But it only tells you this... when you're already hovering over the thing. It's a bad design idea. And it is part of the main menu, and auto-plays each and every time you get back to the menu, even if it was paused before. Which is a bad design idea. And the sound toggle option is only for the menu sounds, not a global option, which is an odd choice. Meh.

Oh well, let's hope the trailer is up soon.
 
Hmm, even that awesome trailer does not help, although I love the Minbari presidental cruiser.

Compare it to stargate.mgm.com or even sci-fi's BSG site. Both of those have recieved far more love and care than this, which appears to have been done in a day. The fonts used look cheap, the colours look like a 16 bit video game menu. And why, when I have a 1024 x 768 display, is the text limited to a tiny scroll box in the centre of the screen????

The images used are low res and out of focus, possibly even scanned. The screen moving to follow the mouse that is supposed to make you feel like you are in space is terrible.

I spend my days trying to revamp elderly websites, and then my favourite sci-fi franchise produces this!!!

In short, it sucks.

I know the B5 franchise is small fry for the WB, but I really really think we deserve better.

At least there are no morphing faces.

EDIT - just checked out the way back machine archive:

http://web.archive.org/web/19970418095222/www.babylon5.com/cmp/

It is actually in many ways superior, the navigation is easier, its old image/ table structure is still more accessable than flash, espcially with text only links. Some of the images are even in higher res that that rubbish floating around the back of the new site.

And I can win a 56k Modem!!!

Meanwhile, on the new site, try the 'fans' link at look at this fantastic list of top 5 episodes:

1. undefined
2. SLEEPING IN LIGHT
3. IN THE BEGINNING
4. SEVERED DREAMS
5. THE LOST TALES


Yup. Superb love for the 'fans' there...
 
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As much as I enjoy the content of the trailer, I agree that the website is lame. It doesn't seem to be all that dial-up friendly. Its design almost makes me wonder if it might have been some person's term project for a class they're taking in school. :( Why does it all have to be in Flash anyway; what's their obsession?
 
The Whole WB site is in flash, and not that hot.
Flash as an option is ok these days, now it is an open XML based format, but there is still no excuse for some of the decisions taken there. There should really be some sort of HTML alternative for the folks on dial up.
 
darth_librarian said:
There should really be some sort of HTML alternative for the folks on dial up.

Agreed. I think I might would even like it better if the site was only partially Flash, but the whole thing being Flash, well... aside from the B5 page's specific performance and apperance issues... it's just damn tacky.
 
Bit disappointed as well. The flash file must be pretty big and it does look way below the quality you’d expect from a “studio”. The site I did was a mixture of flash and html, mainly because of the need for workable animation files, and it seemed the best platform (as apposed to tinkering with video codecs), as well as provide a nice way to handle all the text files. The menu system and graphic handling is simple java, and even it looks better.

http://www.themadgoner.com/TMG/Sci_Fi/SciPages/Babylon5/Front_Page/Mark4_Build.htm

There doesn’t appear to be any good reason for this one to go full flash, other than it might be a “lazy” way to get it to run on all browsers, just a guess. Mind you, time for a gripe, it’s hardly unique in one sense, look at the DVD’s and the conversions to widescreen, it could have been done a lot better as well, but wasn’t. I’m starting to guess that they guess fans will put up with it and make the relevant excuses for them.
 
I agree. I mean, it is 2007 and there are still tens of dozens of people in the world who still use dial-up.

:p

Yes, I do still use dial-up. And point in fact, dial-up that's been limited by my phone company to no greater than 28.8 kps (thank you Verizon). The ONLY (I'm serious) option I have for anything greater is satellite, which would cost more than I can afford (not to mention limitations as to what can be installed in the house I live in). So, seriously, I am stuck with dial-up internet no faster than 28.8. It's not funny -- it's not a joke -- it is a fact of life for me. I doubt I'm alone. So, yes, dial-up is something that people -- who aren't you -- have to deal with as a full-on reality of being able to access the internet.
 
And why should those 10 people be disadvantaged in accessing content because of where they live or what they can afford ?

I was on it till about 2 months ago. Large chunks of Europe and a lot of Asia are still on dial-up. Any web designer worth their salt should allow for that.
 
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Ok, just about everyone agrees the site is bad. I was looking at the cast and crew credits for the Lost Tales and they did not even have Peter Woodward listed. He is on the front cover of the dvd . How could they miss that. Pathetic, to say the least.

Then for supporting characters in the cast and crew section for the B5 series they had president Santiago. Supporting character ? Explain this; I can't and the picture they had of him looked like the man interogating Sheridan when he was captured and tortured in season 4.

Just overall a bad job and I think we deserve better. I have a feeling JMS looked at the site and said, they should have just used sock puppets and been better off. Think there is a chance of him calling someone at Warner Brothers to try to get this site fixed up and the attention it deserves. Anyone know where I can send an email to them and put my two cents in.

thanks
dennis
 
So people want attention to detail, a professional and competent marketing campaign, a well-designed website that everyone can access, some indication that the guys in suits understand and 'get' the show, rather than just viewing it as an inexpensive cash cow..

Wait.. we are still talking about Babylon 5, right? :)
 
Bit disappointed as well. The flash file must be pretty big and it does look way below the quality you’d expect from a “studio”.

Doesn't it seem that for a studio, Warner Brothers sites for B5 are well, sort of "amateur" (i.e. inexperienced or unskilled in a particular activity)?




There doesn’t appear to be any good reason for this one to go full flash, other than it might be a “lazy” way to get it to run on all browsers, just a guess. Mind you, time for a gripe, it’s hardly unique in one sense, look at the DVD’s and the conversions to widescreen, it could have been done a lot better as well, but wasn’t. I’m starting to guess that they guess fans will put up with it and make the relevant excuses for them.

...and so why put out more effort? You're probably right. Sci-fi TV is sort of the red-haired stepchild over at Warner Brothers (maybe even more than at other studios, because they have no in-the-family outlet for such shows).
 
So people want attention to detail, a professional and competent marketing campaign, a well-designed website that everyone can access, some indication that the guys in suits understand and 'get' the show, rather than just viewing it as an inexpensive cash cow..

YES.




Wait.. we are still talking about Babylon 5, right? :)

Didn't you mean to say Warner Brothers?
 

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