First off, I want to say this is shaping up to be something really special. It's awesome to see Wizard's take D&D into the modern age finally, and you seem to be doing it well so far. Below are a list of some of the few critiques I have after fooling around on the site for the last little bit.
Login:
I, as many others have mentioned, were a little puzzled by the Twitch login. While I don't think it should be removed, as I think Twitch is an amazing tool, especially for playing D&D and utilizing D&D Beyond and Twitch integration could create some awesome features, it feels strange having it as the only option. Personally, I would prefer everyone have a simple Email Login, with the option to integrate Twitch, Curse, etc. Speaking of which, D&D Beyond currently offers the ability to connect your Slack account. While this is awesome, and I really love slack, I would really love to see a Discord integration option available.
Forum Posts:
While the forum is alright, it looks like most other forums, and functions fine, there are some design aspects I think need to be addressed.
The text used for viewing, writing, and editing forum posts should be changed. It's very difficult to differentiate between what is bolded, and what is not bolded. Currently the forum posts are using Roboto, which is a much better heading font than a body font. I would personally use something along the lines of Open Sans or Oxygen
Linking these fonts brings me to my second point, there is not way to tell what text is a link while writing or editing a forum post. Highlighting link text in green, as it is when viewing a forum post, should be present when writing or editing one as well.
Compendium:
The Compendium is awesome and is shaping up to be a fantastic tool. But it is lacking in the search department compared to the Spells, Items, and Monsters area of D&D Beyond.
The Compendium needs some sort of basic and advanced search function added in order to bring it more in-line with the other areas of the site.
The tiles that hold each of the Compendium sections need a visual rework. I understand the look of the torn pages, but with the design being one simple one, which repeats throughout, it becomes too much, and looks boring. Standard, bordered boxes would look much cleaner, and simpler. In addition, the tile links need some sort of indication that they are indeed links. A simple underline on hovering would be great.
Beyond this I think the compendium looks awesome. The inner pages when viewing sections are great, and the breadcrumb links allow you to easily access other aspects of the site.
Spells, Items, Monsters:
These sections are nearly perfect from what I can tell. My only complaint is that information used to find a monster (Environment, Type, Size etc.) is not available when viewing a monsters page. This is a large oversight, as it feels like information is just plain missing from their pages.
Features I'd Like To See:
I mentioned in response to another members thread, but i'd really love to see some sort of Unearthed Arcana integration. I am a huge fan of the Unearthed Arcana, but one of my biggest gripes, is how hard it is to find all of its information in a compiled and easy-to-read format.
Beyond my points here though, the site looks fantastic. I will continue to play around with it, and I can't wait for phase 2!
information used to find a monster (Environment, Type, Size etc.) is not available when viewing a monsters page
Well, I randomly chose several monsters to check that, and there is. For example, The ancient black dragon page contains its environment, its type and its size. Am I misunderstanding something in what you said ?
Other than that, I agree with what you said. This site is really cool.
Personally I'd rather use Curse/Twitch than just Curse. Having the two combined will save me a lot of trouble remember passwords, seeing as I can link Twitch to Amazon too.
I like the design on the forum, overall its clean, and spaced, its easy to view text with a quick glance. I've probably spent more time in the forum than actually testing. Should really get my beta butt in gear !
I'd love to see a button to be able to link monsters, items and rules to the forum. Maybe that's in the pipeline. I'd also like to see a dice roller in the forum. Surely a little bit of API magic?
This little button under Notifications is sort of easy to miss. A nice little Ampersand or colour would go a long way.
I'd also like to see you take up Discord rather than Slack.
I'd love to see the ability to @mention someone in the Forums so they get notified. Also agree with the editing of a post and using links, it's really hard to tell wt you've linked until you post it.
This little button under Notifications is sort of easy to miss. A nice little Ampersand or colour would go a long way.
It seems on my Notifications page, everything auto-expanded, which is great, except that the timings are all over the place. At least I know I can collapse so I only see the latest notification per thread.
Second the non-Twitch login, and the Unearthed Arcana bit.
Also, is there any way to see the non-OGL spells in books I've purchased? I just got Sword Coast Adventures in hardcover, and would prefer 1.) not to have to buy a digital pdf also, and 2.) Not have to enter WotC content as homebrew to avoid paying for it again. I know that's a big ask, but some resolution to the physical-digital disparity would be awesome.
In fact, you know what would get more of my money? Digital DnD Beyond keys included with my hardcover purchases. I won't pay for content twice, but I might pay for a service that recognizes the content I have already purchased, and makes it much easier to use.
Whilst I also think of it - when we look at our profiles (or another user's profile), we can see how many comments they made and how many tanks (+1s) they have, yet I can't click on these buttons to go to a listing of them.
Related to your format items, I see a fair number of times that links in sentences, as well as to profiles, are a yellow or light green? As someone with one of the more common color vision issues, this is not easy to read on white, and worse on the light grey.
A little more attention to contrast ratios is needed.
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Hi D&D Beyond team & community!
First off, I want to say this is shaping up to be something really special. It's awesome to see Wizard's take D&D into the modern age finally, and you seem to be doing it well so far. Below are a list of some of the few critiques I have after fooling around on the site for the last little bit.
Login:
I, as many others have mentioned, were a little puzzled by the Twitch login. While I don't think it should be removed, as I think Twitch is an amazing tool, especially for playing D&D and utilizing D&D Beyond and Twitch integration could create some awesome features, it feels strange having it as the only option. Personally, I would prefer everyone have a simple Email Login, with the option to integrate Twitch, Curse, etc. Speaking of which, D&D Beyond currently offers the ability to connect your Slack account. While this is awesome, and I really love slack, I would really love to see a Discord integration option available.
Forum Posts:
While the forum is alright, it looks like most other forums, and functions fine, there are some design aspects I think need to be addressed.
Compendium:
The Compendium is awesome and is shaping up to be a fantastic tool. But it is lacking in the search department compared to the Spells, Items, and Monsters area of D&D Beyond.
Beyond this I think the compendium looks awesome. The inner pages when viewing sections are great, and the breadcrumb links allow you to easily access other aspects of the site.
Spells, Items, Monsters:
These sections are nearly perfect from what I can tell. My only complaint is that information used to find a monster (Environment, Type, Size etc.) is not available when viewing a monsters page. This is a large oversight, as it feels like information is just plain missing from their pages.
Features I'd Like To See:
I mentioned in response to another members thread, but i'd really love to see some sort of Unearthed Arcana integration. I am a huge fan of the Unearthed Arcana, but one of my biggest gripes, is how hard it is to find all of its information in a compiled and easy-to-read format.
Beyond my points here though, the site looks fantastic. I will continue to play around with it, and I can't wait for phase 2!
Well, I randomly chose several monsters to check that, and there is. For example, The ancient black dragon page contains its environment, its type and its size. Am I misunderstanding something in what you said ?
Other than that, I agree with what you said. This site is really cool.
Personally I'd rather use Curse/Twitch than just Curse. Having the two combined will save me a lot of trouble remember passwords, seeing as I can link Twitch to Amazon too.
I like the design on the forum, overall its clean, and spaced, its easy to view text with a quick glance. I've probably spent more time in the forum than actually testing. Should really get my beta butt in gear !
I'd love to see a button to be able to link monsters, items and rules to the forum. Maybe that's in the pipeline. I'd also like to see a dice roller in the forum. Surely a little bit of API magic?
This little button under Notifications is sort of easy to miss. A nice little Ampersand or colour would go a long way.
I'd also like to see you take up Discord rather than Slack.
I'd love to see the ability to @mention someone in the Forums so they get notified. Also agree with the editing of a post and using links, it's really hard to tell wt you've linked until you post it.
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If you have questions/concerns, please Private Message me or another moderator.
Wary the wizard who focuses on homebrew, for he can create nightmares that you wouldn't even dream of
Second the non-Twitch login, and the Unearthed Arcana bit.
Also, is there any way to see the non-OGL spells in books I've purchased? I just got Sword Coast Adventures in hardcover, and would prefer 1.) not to have to buy a digital pdf also, and 2.) Not have to enter WotC content as homebrew to avoid paying for it again. I know that's a big ask, but some resolution to the physical-digital disparity would be awesome.
In fact, you know what would get more of my money? Digital DnD Beyond keys included with my hardcover purchases. I won't pay for content twice, but I might pay for a service that recognizes the content I have already purchased, and makes it much easier to use.
Whilst I also think of it - when we look at our profiles (or another user's profile), we can see how many comments they made and how many tanks (+1s) they have, yet I can't click on these buttons to go to a listing of them.
Site Rules & Guidelines || How to Tooltip || Contact Support || Changelog || Pricing FAQ || Homebrew FAQ
If you have questions/concerns, please Private Message me or another moderator.
Wary the wizard who focuses on homebrew, for he can create nightmares that you wouldn't even dream of
Related to your format items, I see a fair number of times that links in sentences, as well as to profiles, are a yellow or light green? As someone with one of the more common color vision issues, this is not easy to read on white, and worse on the light grey.
A little more attention to contrast ratios is needed.