The redesign bug gave me a tiny nip. I wanted to go in and clean up the roster and honor roll pages. So they've been changed a little. Mostly the layout was a throwback to the old website's design, and that needed tweaking. Now there are multiple names per line, which helps to keep the page from requiring a verticle scroll in order to read the final name. This is important because the iframe effect for roster pages occurs in a fixed location, and when the page is scrolled down the iframe is often not visible. I also added a contextual quote for both pages.
While I was at it I finally decided to move the menu to it's own frame, so we're dealing with framesets again. It's not that I'm a big fan of framesets, it's just that I hate having to edit several locations for a single change to the menu. So that's done, and I hope ya'll don't find it too annoying. I'm trying to keep it as unobtrusive as possible.
Also, I put a pic of the flag logo into the Sept 12 post, so the subject of the post would be visible there (otherwise the post loses a little of it's context).
Well I'm not sure there's much news to report, but it's been a while since I updated, so I figured now would be a good time to update. Right now everything is very quiet in our forums (Unreality, Headshot) and email list. In fact, I'm the only person to have posted to Headshot since early November-- the Green Spam Palace remains a lovely tribute to bile and indigestible canned meat byproducts. Yum!
Practice time has been moved to 9pm EST on Sunday and Tuesday nights. At least, that's as far as I know. Those in inferior time zones are urged to move into the EST time zone. This will simplify many things.
The whole Diablo thing seems to have faded out. I still play quite a bit, but the frequency with which I run into others has decreased markedly. Every now and then I run into Hex, who is usually running around with his psychotic sorceress. It was fun while it lasted, to be sure, but D2 just isn't agressive enough to fit our clan's dynamic. At least it gave some of us something to play together at a time when UT is really showing it's own lack of depth.
Also, while I was in here I decided to do some tweaking to the sight. Colors, backgrounds and general style issues. Again, I'd like to praise Cascading Style Sheets. Being able to tweak the appearance of every page on the site by merely changing things in a single file... damn it, it just makes sense, and that's a novelty when it comes to computer crap. Among my changes are: dimming some of the brighter colors in the color scheme, enhancing the division between news posts (H2 and HR now handle this perfectly), and tweaking the background image (in this case tweaking indicates the background image was removed entirely).
Another change I made was to remove the flag from our logo. Again, no disrespect is meant. It's just that this is a gaming clan. The flag didn't belong there on a long term basis. And that's all the disclaimer you're going to get about that.
...yes, I know the topic headers in this news post are as stupid as they get. So bite me already.
EssiX OUT
I hope no one takes offense to our logo combined with the American Flag. I think at this time it's appropriate to show our respect for those who have lost their lives or loved ones. I know our clan has members who are not United States citizens, and the use of the flag is not intended to designate our clan as a US entity. It is done in the spirit of showing unity in the face of this tragedy.
12/27/01 Update:
Since I'm removing the flag logo from the top of the pages and the openning page, it makes sense to at least have the subject of this news update visible here. So here it is:
Yeah, so I'm updating again. I'm going to try to update at least once a month. I figured since I had some things to say I'd do September's update now.
So, some of the Deviants have formed a Diablo2:LoD division. We get together randomly in a fixed location and kick ass. It's a lot of fun and as it turns out it's attracting some of us who were less active due to bordom with DvT's core game. If you're a member of DvT and you'd like to join our adventure, it's simple to do. We play on the USEast battle.net servers in a game called DvT. It's passworded, but members of DvT will know the password.
Email me if you'd like more information on how this is all working (that's probably the best idea, especially if you're an inactive or former member of the clan). There's also plenty of information about our system floating around in eGroups.
Here's a list of those currently playing in the Diablo2 division:
| Player Name | Character Name | Character Class |
|---|---|---|
| JonahHex | DvTHex | Barbarian |
| Sapient6 | DvTSapient6 | Druid |
| DeathRattle | SparrowHawk | Paladin |
| Tyler | DvT-Tyler | Sorceress |
There's been some grumbling about whether we still play UT. YES WE DO. Even I play UT, although I'm sick of it much of the time. When Unreal2 comes out I'm sure UT will disappear from our playlist within a month or two, as happened to Unreal, but these games will always be our reason to be. Trust me.
So why is playing Diablo2 encouraged right now? Because with the exception of JonahHex, everyone who is in the Diablo2 division was already spending big chunks of their time playing Diablo2. This new division gives us another way to hang out together when we otherwise would not have been. It strengthens the clan, in my opinion.
EssiX OUT
Just popping in here to point out a few tweaks to the site. First, I got rid of those damned serifs. Except in H1's, of course. I think that makes the text feel a little more tidy. I added text justification, and tweaked the colors a bit (especially around the header elements). I've also changed the menu appearance. Not to pat myself on the back, but most of the changes were done via tweaking a single css file. Style sheets rule.
Also, you might notice the new background image. I say "might" because the one I'm using is extremely subtle. If you're viewing this in a small browser window then you might not see it at all... it's the larger views where it shows up.
I've also made an attack on the servers page. Most notably I removed the nolonger existant DvT East (Katmai's old server) and UY's server. I added DeathRattle's server. I'd like to add Tyler's as well... but I don't know the IP. Give me that and I'll add it. I've decided not to touch the roster yet because I don't really know who has and hasn't been showing up at all... and I'm not removing UY's name from the roster. Screw That Shit.
EssiX OUT
So here is our new site layout. I decided to drop a lot of the sparkle and shimmer in favor of simplicity. I think you'll find that download times are a lot more acceptable now. I think the previously overdone state of our site was entirely at fault for my bitchy attitude. Now that our site is simple you can expect a kinder, gentler Sapient6 (What the fuck are you lookin' at? I'll kick you're god damned ass!)
A thing to keep in mind is that News on this site rarely gets updated. Members can find classified news through our private forums. Everyone can find public news in either of our public forums (currently located at Unreality and HeadShot). The public forums are also a fine place to locate Spam, in case you find you're running short.
Also of note: you can find the old news content from the menu above under "Services | News Archive"