Hey folks, I just wanted some opinions on the current layout for the AHS forums (PunBB <3)

What do you guys think of it? Too dark? Perfect? Start over?

A Hero Story Forums

It looks good, though it's not terribly unique. Not that there's really much you can do to make it unique.

Agreed, though in the end, I'm not sure how unique I'd want it. Functionality over style, for a forum I guess.

Any suggestions, I'm open to them.

In my opinion, you have way too many separate forums for a site that isn't that popular (at the moment :P). Do you really need so many?

Well The Arena section will be for a mini-game that we'll start playtesting shortly, and the Library sections will be the location where members post their fiction.

While I agree there is a lot for something so unpopular, but it doesn't hurt to start off with some organization.

All in all once I'm more familiar with PHP I'll be coding the Arena mini-game apart from the forums themselves. But we'll need them shortly for playtesting.

Very well then, I approve.

By the way, if anyone have any roleplay experience and want to give their opinion on my diceless (fiction-rp) character system, I'd be more than happy to hear your opinions and suggestions.

For credit's sake : Kirby helped develop the system with great suggestions and debating, I wrote and "balanced" the system and wrote these guides.

Here

I like the look of it, real pretty (YAY Gats in the top right). Only problem is that Im not totally sure what Im looking at. You need some kind of page about "What is 'a heros story'" For new people and those that want to join your little band of misfits.

The noise in the background should probably be changed to a not so obtrusive texture.

The background is too noisy. It takes away from the rest of the sex.

THAT is a nice character creation system. Who made it?

Well actually those are merely the development forums, I'm currently building the main site. I had a design ready but I had an urge to make a new and better one that spans with the browser rather than be a set width.

We are still in planning stages, but the idea behind the club is :


What is A Hero Story?

A Hero Story is at first and foremost a OFFRC (Online Fantasy Fiction Roleplay Club). The goal of it is to create a persistent world where writes and roleplayers alike can co-exist and contribute to the continuity of that world.

We are a group of people who love to roleplay and write literature (poems, short stories, epic stories, novels), people who have come to enjoy our hobbies together in an online environment. We all must face it, unless you are a greatly talented author who publishes his books, writing fantasy literature can often be worthless and a waste of time when you have no one to share it with. You finally have an opportunity to meet people who love the same things you do and exchange your stories together! The same goes with roleplay, which can become a very expansive activity if you start buying a lot of Dungeons and Dragons book. Not only do you need the money, you will need the people to play with, while this website will allow you to meet tons of people to enjoy roleplay sessions with!

What is my part in the world?

As a member, your part in the world is to help its growth by writing stories, taking part in competitions and in RP sessions (which you may also be able to run as Storyteller). Your part is to enjoy yourself and do as you like to do. Enjoy the features of the site, chat with people who like the same things you do on the chat channel and on the forums.

As for your RP characters, they may take any part in the world. From a soldier in the Scarlet Crusade to a greedy merchant, a travelling bard to a relentless assassin. The choice is yours and unlike in a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Play Game, à la Everquest, World of Warcraft, etc.) you are not limited to be a simple warrior until the end of eternity. You can give your characters a true sense of heroism and even gain prestiges as becoming a king or the master of a guild (or lots of other possible outcomes) by winning competitions held by the High Council!


What kind of competitions will there be?

Competitions will come in many forms, from story competitions to forum run-ons, to special roleplay sessions. Often competitions will include saving the world from certain threats or running candidacy to become a ruler and such. (Of course these are two quick examples out of the blue) As time will pass and as the club will grow, new features may be implemented providing more and more fun things to do!

Will we always have to write/roleplay in this world?

Of course not! There will even be a miscalleneous and fan-fiction / fan-art section to the website where you will be able to write stories or roleplay stories that do not take part in Ariel. Whether you want to write fiction about your own world, or are a great fan of Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Wheel of Time, or even Lord of the Rings and want to write a side-line story, we will not stop you, and will even post it on the site for you!

Competitions, on another note, will ALWAYS be held in the world of Ariel, never in another. Development of our world is what we encourage and appreciate the most, and that is what we will reward you for.

Rewards? What kind of rewards?

Ha! Greedy aren’t you? Heheheh. Unfortunatly, we cannot reward competition winners with real-life gifts or money as are as broke as you are, but we will reward players with artefacts, prestige positions and other interesting deals that will help the growth of their characters.

Are we allowed only one character to roleplay?

On first becoming a member you receive a total of three character slots. These character slots are empty character sheets that you can fill to create a character for your roleplay sessions. You cannot have more characters than the number of character slots you have to your account. More are earned through competitions and devotion to the club as a whole by bringing it new ideas, new stories and new concepts. One may choose to “kill” a character to free up a character slot but you must be warned that this character, along with any rewards that were given to him will be considered as dead and cease to exist. You may not change your mind at a later date and return to your old character.

Can I be an elf, dwarf or Halfling?

Other than humans, the other races found in the worlds of Lords of the Ring, Dungeons and Dragons and such will not be available in the world of Ariel as they were decreed to be too cliché and over done these days. In due times races unique to the Tiassale Satu may become available as player races.

Read, p<midget>s. Read.

I like the look of that- although maybe the fuzzybackground is a bit too intense- mayeb it would look better toned down just a little? Also, my first impression when I loaded the page was that the actual text itself was too dim to be read clearly, especially in the titles for the groups of forums.

*nods*

I'll see what I can do about the background and text color.

There, Desertpike, I added a header announcement for anyone who happens onto the page.

There, I updated the background and the text logo in the header.

I love the banner, Jep, did you make that?

Yep I did. I did NOT however get credit for the character art and pictures. I do get credit for the actual conception of both the logo and banner, and overal ambiance of it. The characters to the right are merely "extra fluff" for people who use large resolutions like 1280x1024 and 1600x1200.

Thanks

Yeah, it's very cool Jep

The new background is a lot better. Other then being a little monotone, it looks good.