Review: Recipe for Disaster

Forum; zetaboards.

Sci Fi.

The concept of the RPG is unique and wacky; I've never seen an RPG based around a fast food resturant.

PG 13.

Unknown; Guests cannot view character profiles. At a first glance it actually seems as though there are no characters, I was only able to find one as it could be seen as the last topic in that section. This gives the RPG an impression of being inactive and doesn't allow potential members to explore the range of characters already created.

July 7th 2011

None specified.

1 - 3 paragraphs per post.

New replies appear to be every day although there are very few topics available to guests on the board, so it is difficult to tell how active the RPG actually is.

Original.

The layout is very simplistic, almost too much so and feels as though the RPG owner has not put much effort into it. Not being good at graphics or layouts is not really an excuse as there are plenty of forums out there offering help. There are also many free skins available; a simple google search will reveal plenty of sites to search. The choice of colours used in the layout are quite off putting as the aqua blue is almost blinding against the dark background and the 'glowing' text effect used on the links makes this worse. The plot summary is particularly difficult to read as it is all hyper-linked to registering an account. I would suggest just posting a link beneath the summary to it rather than having the entire text linked.

The site is easy enough to navigate, the only issue I see is that certain areas are unavailable to guests which can be off-putting to potential members.

There is only one piece of information on the plot, however, considering the nature of the plot this is sufficient and does not leave any questions unanswered.

This RPG is designed to allow members to be creative so only a basic setting has been created by the admins. The only suggestions I would make regarding this is moving some of the information posts in the Pending Application section to the Bulletin Board so that they are together. At present the alien species are mentioned but anyone just looking under the information section wouldn't be able to find them. A bit more organisation of these topics helps to attract new members.

Again it is present but could be better organised. There is a small note above the c-box to say guests can use it and there is a suggestion box. However, the suggestion box doesn't specify it's guest friendly and looks to be for members only. I only found out it was guest friendly by trying to post there. Even if it may seem really obvious to you, remember that it might not be so obvious to everyone visiting your forum. So make it obvious that you're welcoming, that visitors can ask questions without feeling silly or unwanted.

A profile template needs to be filled out by a prospective member. There is no OOC information or a writing sample required.

This site has a lot of potential as it has such a different concept but as mentioned in this review there are a lot of things that could be adjusted to make it more friendly and welcoming. At present it seems very inclusive and gives off a cliquey vibe.