New "Explore" Layout

[Fjorab_Teke]

At first, I was a little confused, then I figured I could get used to it. OK, not so bad.

So I started to do my dailies, and then went back to do the next...

OH HELLZ NO...!

The order of the list CHANGES each time, randomly listed in the table. I DO NOT want to have to resort to spinning that globe each time and "hopping around" for my dailies. I MUCH preferred systematically going down (or up) that list so I knew where I'd been already. That globe is bigger than the one on Subeta, so it's not as easy to navigate (even though I've been playing for nearly 7 years!).

It's like those irritating stores that rearrange their stock each week, much to the irritation of the employees and utter frustration of their customers JUST SO people will keep seeing OTHER merchandise for temptation to buy. This must have been an extra effort on coders to randomize this table and code in more art randomized too for added disorienting effect...instead of a simple, static table.

WHAT were they thinking when they redesigned this?!? I guess they thought it would be too boring or some other lame excuse. Maybe they want more people to download that toolbar for the "dailies link," which still doesn't cover everything I consider a "daily" visit and has a bunch of stuff I don't care about in a sequence that doesn't make sense to me.

And OF COURSE they don't bother to say anything about it in the News, nothing about why or even an "oh hey we changed this."

I'm sorry, but Neopets' decision-making crew OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT CARE about their players anymore. Everything just keeps getting changed into something STUPID.

[Goldenchaos]

OH, well I can see where it can get confusing..doesnt really effect me since I do my dailies through links provided by Petpages. I havent used the map in a long time.

[Fjorab_Teke]

*sigh* Yeah, I could probably resort to that, or put them in my Portal (something not everyone can do), but I visit enough pages for my daily internet rounds as it is even if you don't count Neopets.

I sent a letter to the Editorial:

Hi TNT! Today when I logged on and started my dailies, I was greeted by a shiny new "world list" table. I figured it would be easy to get used to. When I was done with my first task, I went back to the page, and the table had changed order! This is terribly inconvenient, and the new multiple images for each world are also randomized, which adds to the disorientation. I'm sure your programmers had to put more work into this rather than a simple, static table. WHY then did you make it randomized? The globe is a neat feature, but it's difficult to use as a "daily worlds visit" guide. I'm sure you meant well (I admit it LOOKS nifty), but I really don't like it.

[EofS]

I get the feeling sometimes that they don't realise just how much (some) players dislike the conversion of maps to flash. And just how inconvenient they are to certain playing styles. To be honest, I've been expecting this to come for a looong time, but that doesn't make it less annoying.

Oh well. If and when I do my dailies, this is just a stronger encouragement to do them from my Neopets folder of links. (I'll have been playing the site 6 years on Monday and I don't think I've ever regularly done my dailies for a sustained period, except maaaybe when I was under a year or two in.)

Fjorab, is it an option for you to load all the worlds you need in new tabs/windows from the first time you visit the page? Then you only have to hunt for each world once.

I do like the randomised pictures, I think that's a good idea. Just not combining that with randomising the order. That is a Very Bad Idea. And putting it into two columns is a <i>very good idea indeed</i>. I just wish that to make it even they hadn't had to stick Lutari Island in there. I mean, what's the point.

[zebru]

I avoid that map like plague when I can.

I use Daily To-Do List from avatar.starried.net instead. It's terribly convenient as you can edit it completely to your liking (there is check off list of all common dailies, games and avatar spots + you can add custom dailies as well). Every so often I edit it to remove things I don't use as much and add new things. It's image based just like the list you used before so it should be an easy jump if you decide to go with it fjorab :)

[Cranberry]

I adblocked the flash globe itself, so I like having links to each world in the little boxes. I do not, however, like that they're randomized.

[daisybell]

I wouldn't ever have noticed unless people here hadn't pointed it out, as I use avatar.starried.net and have my own daily list set up. I suppose if you wanted to click through to everything instead of keeping the links, that's no use, but I like going straight to where I want to go.

[Fjorab_Teke]

Well, the new Explore page still aggravates me, but with two people here advocating avatar.starried, I might as well try it. I kind-of avoid places "like that," but I've used other Neo help guides so hey what's one more going to hurt?

[Ailiel]

another avatar.starried.net junkie here. I just type in the "a" into the bar in firefox and it anticipates me. I go there before neopets and like others I update it, add and remove, have a few customs, etc. I found it really easy to set up, convenient to use, and to maintain. When the site goes down I almost don't know what to do with myself. I don't even attempt to spin a wheel or use a lab without it anymore. Users, beware; it's a crutch.

[Danish]

I don't really mind I guess. People have made a big deal of it everywhere but all they did was list them in a table. It's not really a big change or anything. :/
But then again I never use the explore map at all, so it doesn't really effect me.

[Fjorab_Teke]

Listing them in a table doesn't bother me. Listing them in an EVER-CHANGING table does. I'm not even using it anymore because of that. I got sucked into avatarstarried.

[Cranberry]

Am I crazy, or has the table stopped changing order? It seems to stay in alphabetical order now, which is great.

[Fjorab_Teke]

Aha! So it seems it has! Maybe enough people complained about it, that *OMG AMAZEMENT!* they took note and changed something for the better.

[Buttersauce]

Here I am still wishing for there to be a direct link to your inventory. I'm getting tired of having to go and wait until my browser stops crying from loading a Flash Neo-central map. -_-

[Fjorab_Teke]

Clicking on your NP on-hand link near the very top right of most pages should do that (even though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense). That's how I get to mine. It's quickstock that I wish were quicker to reach.

But yeah, the Flash maps, though nifty, are a pain to load if you're not on a superfast computer on superfast broadband. And every so occasionally it's Neo that's lagging.