The 'new games' map type when you look at maps seems pointless, as there is a sort by date published sort, so they both show the same thing.

I like a lot of the changes but;-
Recent Blogs, Forum etc. take up too much width of the page.
Why do you think your COIN GAMES are of more importance than the other games we all joined (& paid) Warlight to play. Please remove from the page & leave them where they were.
At least allow us to customise the page the way we like it.

The "Active games where I am not eliminated" filter was changed to include games with unread chat, as long as they weren't games you declined or where the host removed you.

actually im still getting a game i declined, a game where i was eliminated, and a couple of games where i surrendered. i don't want to see any of these. i mean, i'll deal with it, but if you are going off of people's suggestions, this is the suggestion people are talking about most.

how about a button to hide specific games forever? just click the button when you no longer need to see the game listed in "my games". i don't know anything at all about code, but it seems to my completely uninformed mind that it would be easier to just put that filter back in, and let people have more options on what they see in my games.

anyway, thanks fizzer for designing this game and keeping up with trying to improve and grow it.

I say some of this with experience from the user-interface stuff in my A-level computing course so developers, it might be worth reading. Sorry about the length :P

Positives
I'm really pleased that its moved to html as it used to be that zooming in only zoomed in the top most tabs and the warlight logo, but now it zooms everything! This actually FIXES compatibility with low-res screens, contrary to some comments i have found here, cause it makes up for the extra sub-tabs (which might be under the mail button for example).

I also love how adverts on the dashboard don't pop up, and instead are set to the side. Also I think the fake retirement plan and brothel adverts have gone completely :P Still, nobody is going to really click them but they are fine if they fund the game!

It has already been mentioned, but I really do appreciate the 'next game' button, as many people just power through their multi-day turns and often just go in top-bottom order, so loading the my games page is pointless for them.

AFK takeover sounds like a great idea, I have detailed some features about it you should add in the next section.

Negatives and Future Update Ideas/Essentials
Some little thing I'm not too happy about is the excessive use of (somewhat ambiguous) symbols and having to learn them. It would be nice if some styled tool-tip appeared when you mouse over them too, and that it instantly comes up when you mouse over.

I think that its important that you put a map-title-search-bar in the more easily accessible maps page (not just the one you get when making a game). This maps page isn't even on the mobile edition, so you have to go to create game to view maps?! Please fix this!

AFK takeover sounds great as I said before, maybe it could be some property in finding open games, so you choose if you want to take over an AFK or not. Should get roughly same-level players to the AFK ones, and make some short time period before the game starts again after AFK takeover for teammates to explain current strategy, and have all 'older chat' available to the AFK takeoverer. This could also come with the 'take over from AI' feature, if it stays. As well as AFK players being fairly removed, i think people who have to go should be able to click a button that isnt 'surrender', and have an AFK takeoverer take their place instead. This gets rid of the debate over whether to let players turn to AIs when surrendering, as it would then completely favour being off.

Another thing I really recommend is putting tick-boxes for different game properties on 'my games', instead of a long list of combinations. You should also have a tick box system for open games, where you can select game-mechanic properties (e.g. fog, distribution type etc and AFK spaces too). The tick-boxes for the open games page would be grouped into tabs to save space, and maybe even have the settings in symbols and in a drop down thing like the current 'my games' sort settings.

I do not understand how these can be so hard to add, but switching the code language of a page and making a whole new one can be easy. Yes, the new dashboard gets people interested in the game again, but i don't think people play warlight to be visually interested, unless they want to own a map on an actual game :P. Despite saying that, there is one important visual feature you need to sort out; the white text to black background on the forums is really unpleasant and makes it hard to read lots without your eyes hurting. I think you could have the forum posts look like the pop-up windows on games (e.g. deploy, attack, chat), as those look far more aesthetic and eye-friendly.

Going a bit off-topic here:
A note about the android version is that it all needs desperate sizing changes (text on buttons is only partially shown and part of screen is black etc, my phone is a new samsung galaxy S3 mini i think).
About the AI challenge, I think you should use the bots people have made and rank them in ability, and then have some AI-difficulty setting in the create game thing, as the AIs are all there!

Well done to fizzer and other developers for making such quick progress lately!

Edited 1/11/2015 22:32:54

Mercer: Thanks I discovered that - what happened was I had several "ended" games that initially showed up on my dashboard - once I figured out how to rid the dashboard of them, it's not too bad just more info on the left.

Gosh I didnt realise the new html site can be viewed in mobile browsers and that it opens the app if you have it and attempt to open a game in the browser. I take all my mmobile edition criticism back now! Except for sizing issues

Edited 1/12/2015 13:53:53

I love it. Lots more information about existing games, open games .... all at a glance.

I don't like the dashboard. It's too cluttered for me. The old "My Games" page is much better, in my opinion.

The new system of tagging games is good though. And it put the forums in a place where I could easily find this one. Fizzer should work on incorporating the designs together. Give an option to hide the blog and forums, and I'd have no complaints.

But just looking at this page, I think Fizzer should see that keeping the "My Games" tab is a necessity, if nothing else.

The upside of this is that its now more efficient, and more people know about the forums.

I have to say though, its quite ugly, the dots were nicer than the dash, and those mini symbols make things look more messy and complicated than it is.

Also, it means that every time you open a game you have to go through the Warlight Loading Bar AND the game loading process, instead of just loading bar once. I really dislike this.

The old 'open page' also consists of Auto-boot info, however its gone now.

Btw, did anyone notice the eye is next to the triangle?

ILLUMINATI!!!!!!! ;)

Also, I agree with Pulsey.

Good:
-Love having boot times on the game list.
-The icons will take some getting used to, but they can only help in time
-scrolling is better
-black X through eliminated players shows better than old format


Bad:
-I don't like having that stuff on the left personally. I like having forum stuff separate. I would be OK with blog posts highlighted at the top (along with tourney invites), but not forum posts
-The dot for who still needs to take their turn is too small. Hard to notice.
-Don't like the open games/promoted games on this page. Would like to see that separate.
-what is the sort on this? I have two games which I created but I am not playing and they are on the top of my list. They should be at the bottom like they used to be. A chat game waiting for me to start is at the bottom though (used to be top).

Other:
-would love to not have to see games I declined, games I am eliminated in (unless there is a message), games I was removed by host

Edited 1/12/2015 16:59:33

Better, more user friendly, but probably harder in programming, would be if a player could decide what he see in dashboard. Which parts and how big.

Make a collapsable list for My Games after showing 15 games, it would reduce the scrolling.

Just saw you had an update:

Dots to signify players that haven't moved, instead of dashes.
And there is a filter option "Active games where I am not eliminated".

Thank you for the quick update, keep them coming!

Move the tabs back, please. My Games and Open Games has more priority than that.

I won't mind if you don't, but whatever you do:

DO NOT REMOVE MY GAMES AND OPEN GAMES

Edited 1/12/2015 19:37:17

the new dashboard is confusing as all hell and lacks the confidence of the old one its far too cluttered and really the old one worked fine ive been playing this game since grade 12 and i dont plan on stopping but i hate the way they try to make improvements and loose all positives along the way. in short im quite disappointed with it. as an avg player who is on here atleast 2 hours a night.

When i am on the multiplayer home page i cannot see the Open Games tab because my Browser is Smaller. i would like it if the open games tab was more close to the left, instead of Like past games

I think it looks terrible. Cluttered, messy, and just unnecessary. Not an improvement at all, and I think it would be offputting for newcomers.

This update is making so fucking mad. Put the god damn mother fucking tabs back.

Very cluttered dashboard.... I liked the old layout

I for one don't think it's cluttered or messy, it's quite simple and easy to navigate if you ask me.

EDIT: Although, like others have said, it would be better with collapsable lists so you do't have to scroll so much

Edited 1/13/2015 00:10:48

Get used to it. You will. Force yourself to use it, and it will become easier to do. And he did the suggestion most ppl wanted, so don't complain